Hollywood has long romanticized archaeology, from Lara Croft to Indiana Jones. Now Taiwan is trying to develop its own blockbuster adventurer.
Indiana Jones will remain one of Hollywood's most enduring figures for some time: Harrison Ford recently said he was willing to do a fifth movie in the series. And the "Tomb Raider" movies starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft were box office gold as well.
It seems moviegoers like adventurous archaeologists.
Now, popular Taiwanese musician/actor Jay Chou hopes to create the next big franchise. The Treasure Hunter, which will be released in Taiwan on December 31st, may be that character.
SLIDESHOW: Hollywood's Best Archaeology Movies
The movie tells the story of a treasure of unbelievable riches buried in the Northwest desert. A notorious international crime group has hunted down the one map to the treasure, in the hands of a young Qiao Fei (Chou).
Qiao Fei is forced to give up the map to save the life of his mentor's daughter; teaming up with a famous archeologist, they embark on a dangerous journey to recover the map and fight to protect the ancient treasure.
Anthropology blog Savage Minds points out that there have been relatively few blockbuster archaeologist films: Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, and the Mummy jump to mind. We came up with a somewhat longer list. Will this film join the genre?
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