Indiana Jones Will Be (Mostly) CGI-Free, Designer Tells io9

Will Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull feature Indy ducking CGI boulders and reacting to greenscreen aliens? Not according to production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas, who also worked on Superman Returns and X2: X-Men United. We just talked to Dyas, who says he built all of the movie's sets, with little or no greenscreen. More details, and a gallery of Dyas' designs from Superman and X2, after the jump.

Many people had feared that George Lucas' involvement in the new Indiana Jones would mean another spate of greenscreen craziness, along the lines of the three Star Wars prequels. But Dyas says:

There really wasn't much CGI. We built all the sets... We built all of the [moving stone staircases, converging stone pillars and other pieces] so it was very nice.

You can see from looking at these images from Dyas' portfolio that he's designed and built some very elaborate sets for earlier movies, including Magneto's cell in X2. It'll be interesting to see Indy go head-to-head with the 100 percent CGI Speed Racer, also opening in May. [Guy Hendrix Dyas]