Well, given all the brouhaha over the lack of any STAR WARS DVDs from Mr. George Lucas, I suppose it was only a matter of time until some Indy Jones bootlegs/secret box cover art pics started to surface. While very little is known about "official" Indy DVDs, the only verifiable fact is that Mr. Lucas stated at a press conference in France last year that DVDs of the INDIAN JONES TRILOGY was "in production."

However, there hasn't been a peep since, and Lucasfilm has no comment, other than that the film's soundtracks were remixed in Dolby Digital 6.1 Surround EX. But now, a foreign site called DVD Furax (not sure what that means!) has discovered something far more valuable to DVD enthusiasts than any Lost Ark or Holy Grail (and forget about any Sankara Stones...phooey!). Below is a box art that is supposedly the real thing, and for a series of menu screens and a poster, check out the DVD Furax site for the full scoop.

Needless to say, we sent an inquiry to Lucasfilm about this, and of course the answer was that this is a phony, that any DVDs are a ways off, and that there are currently no plans for any theatrical 20th anniversary re-release of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Of coruse, that doesn't mean it won't happen, just that if it is talking about it! Looking at this art and the "specs," the idea of a comentary being recorded already seems a bit dubious, as does box cover art created over a year in advance. So for now, I'm chalking this up to the "I wish" department...but what do you think?

Below is a full transcription of the text from DVD Furax:

"According to a recent source, raiders of the lost ark will be released in 2001 for the 20th anniversary of the film, with the following specs: original widescreen, anamorphic transfer, English in 5.1, Spanish in 2.0, french in 2.0, english su-titles (close captioned), making of (32 minutes) with interviews by Lucas, Spielberg and Harrison Ford, audio commentary with Spielberg and Ford, two picture galleries, storyboards to final film comparison, final scene in multi-angle (before and after special effects shots), bios and filmographies, 3 tele adverts from The Young Indiana Jones television series."

Click image below for an enlargement: