In 1982 a group of friends set out on a journey to remake Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark, shot for shot. It took them seven years to do it, but it was done. In recent years it's become a huge hit among fanboys and fangirls, who say that this is the greatest fan film ever made.
The fan film is called Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation and was made by Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala. Author Alan Eisenstock found the story behind the making of this film so interesting that he wrote a book detailing the fan film called Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made. A great trailer has been released for the book, which is set to be released on November 13th.
Here's the description of the book:
In 1982, in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Chris Strompolos, eleven, asked Eric Zala, twelve, a question: “Would you like to help me do a remake Raiders of the Lost Ark? I’m playing Indiana Jones.”
And they did it. Every shot, every line of dialogue, every stunt.
They borrowed and collected costumes, convinced neighborhood kids to wear grass skirts and play natives, cast a fifteen-year-old as Indy’s love interest, rounded up seven thousand snakes (sort of), built the Ark, the Idol, the huge boulder, found a desert in Mississippi, and melted the bad guys’ faces off.
It took seven years.
Along the way, Chris had his first kiss (on camera), they nearly burned down the house and incinerated Eric, lived through parents getting divorced and remarried, and watched their friendship disintegrate.
Alan Eisenstock's Raiders! is the incredible true story of Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos, how they realized their impossible dream of remaking Raiders of the Lost Ark, and how their friendship survived all challenges, from the building of a six-foot round fiberglass boulder to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
I have yet to see the film, but hopefully one day I'll get the chance. Check out the trailer and let us know if this is a book you would pick up to read. One day we might end up seeing a movie based on the lives of these friends, a few years ago their life rights were purchased by producer Scott Rudin.