Seeker of Power, a Rene Belloq story

12/11/2022 1:28 pm | Share to:

I decided to put Raiders of the Lost Ark on this morning while doing some other things. One of my go-to movies that I can watch an infinite amount of times. This morning I was struck by how much I wish they would reboot this franchise in a new way rather than what looks to be Indiana Jones 5 coming our way.

Here's my idea:

Titled: "Seeker of Power"

Movie opens with the finale of Belloq's life, a screaming soul racing at his face, and then goes black. Transition screen (X years before...)
We see young Rene Emile Belloq growing up on his family vineyard, finding an old Etruscan artifact and igniting his fascination with historical relics. Something his family does not approve of, his father expects him to take over their vineyards. And thus he is driven by a constant striving for his father's approval.
Next is him going to college at Sorbonne, where we meet young Indiana Jones as they become friends, bonding over their family backgrounds, before ultimately Belloq betrays Indy to snatch the Archaelogical Society Prize.
We see the schism and the betrayal; Belloq tries to make his own way and leaving Indy behind him, and yet by nature of their careers they keep intersecting. Their stories repeatedly interweaving as they chase the same treasures. Imagine the map with flight paths overlapping or racing, etc.
Then enters the Nazi intrigue as Belloq finds a growing source of money for treasures to be Hitler. And the growing discomfort with the Nazis as a benefactor, but as we've seen - he'll do anything to win. So he does more and more jobs until it leads to the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark.