Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull focus on the "Star Wars" prequels. In 2000, Spielberg's son asked when the next "Indiana Jones" film would be released, which made him interested in reviving the project. The same year, Ford, Lucas, Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy met during the American Film Institute's tribute to Ford, and decided they wanted to enjoy the experience of making an "Indiana Jones" film again. Spielberg also found returning to the series a respite from his many dark films during this period, such as "A.I. Artificial Intelligence", "Minority Report", and "Munich". Lucas convinced Spielberg to use aliens in the plot by saying
Indiana Jones Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis noted that the inspiration for the series as well as Indiana Jones' outfit was Charlton Heston's Harry Steele in "Secret of the Incas" (1954) and called "Raiders of the Lost Ark" "almost a shot for shot" remake of the Heston film, citing that Indiana Jones was "a kinder, gentler Harry Steele": "We did watch this film together as a crew several times, and I always thought it strange that the filmmakers did not credit it later as the inspiration for the series." Many people are said to be the real-life inspiration of the Indiana Jones