We had two folks write in who attended what I believe to be two seperate Firewall screenings recently in NYC. The images are courtesy Ken DAlessio, and the full blown report is courtesy of Fan of theForce.net, Jeff Long.



Jeff Long wrote in about his encounter at the Firewall screening that took place at the AMC 25 in New York City on 42nd Street:

"Just wanted to send a note on Joel Siegel's interview with Harrison Ford last night after the Firewall screening. It took place at the AMC 25 in New York City on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th. Pretty good security as bags were checked, cameras taken (but given back afterwards) and everyone was checked as if at the airport. The movie was good as was Mr. Ford in it. The highlight was seeing and hearing him. I was about 10 rows back so I had a good view. He was very funny and engaging with the audience. Before he came out Joel Siegel was taking questions and suggestions for Harrison. The first out was Indy 4, which Joel said "of course". Some dummy yelled out "Star Wars 6,7,8", which a few of us corrected with "7, 8, 9", as did Mr. Siegel.

They talked about the movie first, what interested him in the project, where they filmed (Vancouver subbing for Seattle - all the rain was artificial), why a February release (adult time, post Oscar nominations, didn't want to compete with big special FX movies in the summer, not a special FX movie). Harrison said Firewall was for entertainment, a thriller with old fashion elements, doesn't expect to be competing for any Oscars next year.

Next was upcoming projects. Someone in the audience asked Joel to ask Harrison about the Everton Conger project (Manhunt, 2007 release), the man that hunted John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Without prompting, Harrison discussed this project (why he has his "beard" - I thought it was a goatee), went into his research, talking with Conger's great granddaughter who has some original letters. He said there is only one photo of Congers. He also said that the production has an official invitation to film in the Ford Theatre, the first film ever granted access. He mentioned the director, young South American, but I didn't recognize or remember the name.

Then Joel said "what's going on with Indiana Jones 4?", which the audience erupted with applause and hollering (big smile by Harrison). He said the script is done, in Steven's hands, and he's just waiting. No mention of his 2 years or forget it stance. They talked a little about Raiders, the full story of the famous scene where he shoots the swordsman. I knew the story that he was sick and just wanted to be done with the day, but there's actually more to it. I never heard this before, so sorry if this is old news. Yes, he was sick (as were others) from the local cuisine. He had just finished shooting some of the prior scenes the day before where he's saving Marion, fighting 7 or so bad guys with his whip, etc. This had taken a lot of time and rehearsal. The original scene with the big swordsman was much of the same, fighting with the whip, and it comes to him that he has a gun on his holster, why can't he just shoot the guy. He mentions it to Steven the morning of the shoot and he says "I was thinking the same thing" and the rest is history. Harrison added that he felt bad because the actor/stuntman had been training for months and wasn't told about the change until that morning, like everyone else. They took two takes - the first one the swordsman took 2 minutes to die, the second one is the one on film. Also that swordsman is the German mechanic/boxer who Indy fights when he's trying to steal the fighter before riding off on the horse.

Not too much about Star Wars. He joked around about being second fiddle for parts (thanked Tom Selleck and Alec Baldwin, big laughs). He mentioned that Christopher Walken was the other contender for Han and joked that would've been funny to see.

All in all a great time. Thanks for the post on this, otherwise I never would've known about it."

Special thanks goes out to Ken and Jeff for taking the time to submit this news!