Drafthouse Films Bringing RAIDERS! To Theaters This Summer

If forced to choose one, I think Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark might be my favorite movie of all time. It's infinitely rewatchable, and it introduced us to one of the coolest characters in the history of cinema, Indiana Jones. At GeekTyrant, we've written a bunch over the past few years about the kids who set out to make a shot-for-shot remake of the movie in the 1980s and famously had their production become a sensation among fans decades later. To get the complete rundown, you should read this wonderful piece by my friend Amy Nicholson at the L.A. Weekly.

Early last year, we wrote about a trailer for a movie called Raiders! The Story of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, a documentary that traces the history of that fan film and the three kids (now grown men) who were largely responsible for making it. The doc made the festival circuit last year, and now Drafthouse Films has acquired the rights and will release it in limited theaters and on VOD this summer with a Blu-ray/DVD release coming in the fall. This is good news for those of us who have been hearing stories about this movie for years but have never had the opportunity to see it ourselves — while the documentary won't likely include the fan film in its entirety, it should have a considerable amount of footage in it that only people who have seen the completed film have seen before.

In 1982, three 11-year-olds in Mississippi decided to remake Raiders of the Lost Ark. It took them 7 turbulent years that tested their resolve, strained their friendships, and nearly burned down their parents house. They completed every scene except one... the airplane scene. 33 years later, the friends reunite to finally finish the childhood dream.