Laurence Dollimore
STEVEN Spielberg was ‘very sad’ after being forced to give up the Alhambra Palace as a filming location for Indiana Jones, it has emerged.
The legendary Hollywood director had hoped to use gardens of the 14th century wonder for the 1989 hit Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, starring Harrison Ford.
However in a letter from Lucas Films to the palace, obtained by Andalucia Informacion, producer at the time Robert Watts laments that the sprawling estate is simply ‘too famous’.
The team had reportedly been willing to pay 900,000 pesetas (roughly €5,000) a day for the palace.
However in a letter they wrote: “We feel that the Alhambra is one of Spain’s most magnificent architectural wonders attracting many thousands of visitors annually and (is) famous throughout the world.
“But it is almost too visually familiar for us to attempt to use it as a location supposedly somewhere else.
“Our other major fear leading to our reluctant decision is that since we would be filming at a time when there are many visitors in Spain – and understandably they wish to include a trip to the Alhambra in their itinerary – our soujourn within your territory would prove to be too disruptive to the smooth running of normal business.”
It added: “We are sad and very sorry about this, and Steven Spielberg asked me to assure you personally that we hope one day to be able to use the Alhambra for a location on an other picture.
“Please allow me to thank you once again for your hospitality and kindness.”
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