Hello there 🤠

I’m very excited to finally share a project that’s been on my mind for a long time:

1943’s China, reimagined as an Indiana Jones movie!

Yes, it might sound a little crazy at first—but surprisingly, it works. And I’m really happy with how it turned out.

For those who don’t know, the film’s protagonist, David Jones (!), was actually one of the inspirations for Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Throughout the film, he wears a leather jacket and fedora—and conveniently, he’s mostly referred to as just “Mr. Jones,” which made editing much easier 😅 (There are only two moments where his first name slips in—both of which I trimmed smoothly.)

I’ve titled the edit: The Fourth Brother, after the original play on which China was based.
Think of this as a spiritual sequel to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, though in this case, Indy’s not so young anymore.

The premise:
Set in 1941 China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War and right before Pearl Harbor (which is even mentioned in the film), this cut imagines Indy caught up in local resistance efforts—just as he might have been in-universe.

Runtime: 80 minutes, similar to the Young Indy DVD movies.

title card

What’s new in this version:

New title: The Fourth Brother (from the original stage play)

Opening credits: I added the black-and-white Lucasfilm logo from The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (and of course a new title card)

Score tweaks: I used music from several Young Indy episodes:

Spring Break Adventure (main theme, opening credits)
Journey of Radiance (short motif)
Attack of the Hawkmen (used in the final act)

Dialogue trims: Removed the two lines that reveal his first name—he’s just “Mr. Jones” now

Revised ending: In the original film, Jones dies. I reworked the final scenes to remove that. Instead, after the Pearl Harbor news breaks, we cut to his Chinese allies launching an attack on Japanese forces.
To give Mr. Jones a proper sendoff (and connect to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where it’s said he served in WWII), I borrowed a shot from another Alan Ladd film — The Red Beret — showing him joining the military.

Mr Jones

I’m super happy with the final result.

You can DM me if you’re interested in checking this out ☺️