Paramount Pictures and Lucasfilm Ltd.’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Frank Marshall and executive produced by George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, crossed the $300 million mark domestically yesterday — and topped $400 million overseas last Friday. With a cumulative gross of more than $713 million to date it is the highest grossing worldwide release of 2008.
“Indy” gave Paramount’s distribution arm its second $300 million plus release for summer 2008, joining Marvel Entertainment’s Iron Man, which has grossed more than $309 million so far domestically (and almost $250 million overseas). Paramount becomes the first studio in movie history to release two back-to-back $300 million plus grossing films two years in a row. In 2007, two consecutive Paramount releases, DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek the Third and DreamWorks/Paramount’s Transformers, both surpassed $300 million domestically.