According to production notes in AMPAS library files, filmmaker George Lucas conceived Raiders of the Lost Ark as a story called “The Adventures of Indiana Smith” in the early 1970s, around the same time he came up with the idea for Star Wars (1977, see entry). As noted in Dale Pollock’s Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas (1983), Lucas teamed with director Philip Kaufman over a three-week period in 1975 to develop the “Indiana Smith” project, and Kaufman devised a narrative that combined Lucas’s archeologist-adventurer storyline with the legend of the “Lost Ark of the Convenant,” as it was described in the 1973 Trevor Ravenscroft book, The Spear of Destiny: The Occult Power Behind the Spear Which Pierced the Side of Christ, and How Hitler Inverted the Force in a Bid to Conquer the World. Similar to Star Wars, the story integrated themes of fascism, rebellion, and mysticism in the framework of a B-movie serial adventure, but Lucas became preoccupied with Star Wars and did not pursue Raiders of the Lost Ark until May 1977, when he offered the synopsis to director Steven Spielberg. At that time, Star Wars was set to open in one week, and Lucas had withdrawn to a Hawaiian resort with his close friends, including Spielberg, in fear that the film was going to fail at the box-office. As Lucas received good news about the Star Wars release, he reportedly became more enthusiastic about producing Raiders of the Lost Ark with Spielberg.
       Returning to Hollywood, CA, Spielberg contacted screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the script for a film he planned to executive produce, Continental Divide (1981, see entry). In late 1977, Lucas read Continental Divide and agreed to hire Kasdan, and the three men spent one week in meetings, outlining the story on audiotape. The resulting 100-page transcript provided the basis for the final script, with Kasdan combining Lucas’s general storyline and vision with key scenes created by Lucas and Spielberg. The last name of “Indiana Smith” was changed to “Jones” because Spielberg deemed “Smith” too ordinary. When Kasdan delivered a first draft to Lucas in Aug 1978, he was diverted away from the project to re-work the script for Lucas’s upcoming Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980, see entry).
       One year later, on 1 Aug 1979, DV noted that Kasdan was still at work on Raiders of the Lost Ark after completing The Empire Strikes Back, and Lucasfilm Ltd. was set to shoot the picture in 1980. By early Aug 1979, Lucas’s University of Southern California (USC) film school colleague, Howard Kazanjian, had been hired as executive producer after finishing production on More American Graffiti (1979, see entry), the sequel to Lucas’s 1973 hit film American Graffiti (see entry). Nearly three months later, the Raiders of the Lost Ark script was complete, and Paramount Pictures Corp. acquired distribution rights in a “hefty and unusual deal,” according to a 29 Oct 1979 LAT news item, which listed Lucas as executive producer. The Jim Smith biography, George Lucas (London, 2003), explained that Lucas and Spielberg demanded a contract that was fundamentally different from standard Hollywood agreements, in which they were given $20 million upfront, and 80% of all film rentals, earning profits from box-office returns before Paramount recouped its investment. The filmmakers also insisted upon a large share of four “Indiana Jones” sequels, merchandising, and licensing rights. Although the project was in high demand, other major studios balked at Lucas and Spielberg’s conditions, and, as noted in various contemporary sources, including a 5 Dec 1979 Var article and the 1 Jun 1981 edition of New York, the five-picture contract between Paramount and Lucas was considered the most lucrative deal in Hollywood studio history at that time.
       On 13 Nov 1979, HR announced that principal photography was scheduled to begin in Mar 1980 at EMI-Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England, where much of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back were filmed. As noted in a 30 Jan 1980 DV column, casting was underway as of late Jan 1980, and on 11 Apr 1980, DV reported that actor Tom Selleck was Lucas’s first choice for the male lead. Selleck was a relatively unknown fashion model and commercial actor at that time, but Lucas did not want to hire a celebrity so he could keep the film within a low budget of approximately $7 million. However, Selleck had recently been cast in the title role of the television drama Magnum P.I. (CBS television network, 11 Dec 1980—12 Dec 1988), and its producers were unwilling to release the actor from his production schedule. A 9 May 1980 HR news item announced that Selleck had declined the part, and four days later, the 13 May 1980 DV reported the casting of Harrison Ford, who would make his fourth appearance in a Lucas film after American Graffiti, Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back. According to George Lucas, Spielberg’s girl friend, Amy Irving, was initially considered to play “Marion,” but when the relationship ended she was replaced with Karen Allen, whose casting was first reported in the 13 May 1980 DV. On 10 Apr 1980, HR announced that Danny DeVito was cast in the role of “Sallah” as part of the actor’s multi-picture deal with Paramount, but he did not remain with the project, and was replaced by John Rhys-Davies. Although Lucas reportedly created the character “Belloq” for French singer Jacques Dutronc, the role was played by Paul Freeman.
       Principal photography began 23 Jun 1980 in La Rochelle, France, where the German U-Boat submarine and tramp steamer ship scenes were filmed. Shooting took place at La Rochelle’s submarine base, in a site used by the Nazis in World War II. As stated in production notes, producer Frank Marshall located a U-Boat replica at Bavaria Studios, which built the vessel for a film that never went into production. The submarine was shipped from Germany to La Rochelle and reassembled in the harbor five days prior to the 23 Jun 1980 start date. The steam freighter in the sequence was an Egyptian vessel, chartered in Ireland and refitted in England before sailing to La Rochelle. The two vessels were anchored three miles from shore, and the cast and crew were ferried to the site for five consecutive days in stormy weather.
       By early Jul 1980, the production had already moved to EMI-Elstree Studios, as stated in a 2 Jul 1980 Var column, where construction had been underway all summer on five sound stages with a team of over 200 crew members. Although the filmmakers planned to shoot the “Well of Souls” scene first, with more than 6,000 reptiles, including pythons, boa constrictors, and cobras, the set was not ready in time, and the production skipped ahead to the “Map Room” and the “Temple of the Chachpoyon Warriors” sequence. To capture "Indy's" race against a rolling boulder, the crew attached the boulder prop to an arm-like contraption that allowed the rock to spin on a hinge and follow the action. The mechanism was designed for reshoots, but when the boulder careened down its chute, the stalactite props on set were broken, and had to be reconstructed for each take.
       After nine weeks at EMI-Elstree, the filmmakers relocated to Tozeur, Tunisia, on 25 Aug 1980, as stated in a 22 Oct 1980 Var article. Shooting took place in the desert in 130-degree heat with over 700 background actors, as well as in the towns of Kairouan and Shrine City. The production base camp took up all 114 rooms at the Sahara Hotel in Monastir before moving to the Hannibal Palace Hotel in Port El Kantaoui. The “Procession” sequence was filmed at Sidi Bouhlel, fourteen miles northest of Tozeur, which was commonly referred to as “Star Wars Canyon” because it served as the backdrop of the Star Wars scene in which “Luke Skywalker” first meets “Ben ‘Obi-Wan’ Kenobi.” Due to unexpected rainfall, the scene was not completed on schedule, and a second unit crew arrived several days later for pick-up shots.
       According to production notes, the “Truck Chase” scene was mainly based on Spielberg’s sketches, with input from second unit director Michael “Micky” Moore. Harrison Ford performed most of his own stunts.
       The production moved to Kauai, HI, on 30 Sep 1980 for the South American temple scenes at the beginning of the film. Shooting also took place at the Royal Masonic School in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England, and in the Northern California cities of San Rafael, Marin, and San Francisco.
       After seventy-three filming days, principal photography was completed in Oct 1980, twelve days ahead of schedule, with a final budget of $22.8 million.
       The film marked the highest-grossing release in Paramount’s history to that time, earning nearly $50 million in its first three weeks, and a total of $135,026,753 in 111 days, according to a 5 Oct 1981 HR news item.
       Raiders of the Lost Ark was nominated for four Academy Awards in the following categories: Cinematography, Directing, Music (Original Score), and Best Picture. It won Academy Awards for Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, and Visual Effects, and received a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing. The film ranked 66th on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies--10th Anniversary Edition list of the greatest American films in 2007, down from the 60th position it held on AFI's 1997 list. Raiders of the Lost Ark was also ranked tenth on AFI's list of 100 Years…100 Thrills, while the character of "Indiana Jones" placed second on the list of 100 Years…100 Heroes & Villains.
       The film was re-released on 7 Sep 2012 for a limited, one-week engagement at IMAX theaters to promote sales of the Blu-ray home video edition.
       The Raiders of the Lost Ark franchise spawned a prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, see entry), and two sequels, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989, see entry) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, see entry). In addition, George Lucas created and executive produced a television spinoff, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from 4 Mar 1992—24 Jul 1993. An extensive merchandising campaign included video games, comic books, toys, and novelizations
       End credits include the following acknowledgements: “Our appreciation for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Cooperation,” and, “Photographed in France, Tunisia, Hawaii and at EMI Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, England.”