Indiana Jones And the Search for New Product

Sean Connery won't be returning to play Harrison Ford's curmudgeonly father, but the next installment of the Indiana Jones franchise will be getting a boost from some new partners, namely "a plethora of products," the Wall Street Journal reports, from Lego sets to Burger King foods to branded packages of M&Ms. While the first three Indy movies grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, merchandise from those movie didn't sell well, especially when compared to that other franchise from George Lucas--Star Wars. That could have something to do with the products themselves. In the 1980s, when the first three films were released, licensing for Indiana Jones was limited to some T-shirts, posters and an abbreviated line of action figures. But the fourth installment is planning an extensive licensing program, according to Lucas Licensing, a division of LucasFilm Ltd, which owns the franchise. Per the WSJ:

The company, known for its "Star Wars" movies, is well-versed in licensing. In 2006, merchandise marketed through Lucas Licensing racked up $1.5 billion in retail sales, according to License magazine. Without the need to build brand awareness, executives hope to capitalize on the familiarity of "Indiana Jones" across generations. "We're selling to both parents and children," says Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing.

[Photo: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection]