Coming to a theater near you... again: True story of the 80s kids who spent seven years painstakingly recreating a shot-by-shot Indiana Jones remake and have now sold the rights to their movie



Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos were just 11 years old when the began making Raiders Of The Lost Ark: The Adaptation

When they finally finished in 1989, they were 18

Though impressive, the film sat on a shelf until filmmaker Eli Roth happened to see it in 2002

There has now been a book written on the making of the film and Napoleon Dynamite producer David Koon has optioned it for a film

The impressive tale of two children in Gulfport, Mississippi, who spent nearly all the 1980s creating a shot-by-shot remake of Steven Spielberg’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark might soon be made into a film.



Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos were both just 11 years old when they began their ambitious venture in 1982. After years of filming in backyards and garages with homemade and often dangerous special effects, they completed their adaptation in 1989.



A book has already been written about the making of Raiders Of The Lost Ark: The Adaptation and now the producer of another cult phenomenon - Jeremy Coon, the man behind Napoleon Dynamite - has optioned it for a film.

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Endeavor: Eric Zala (right) and Chris Strompolos (left) spent most of the 1980s creating what is now called the greatest fan film ever with a backyard remake of Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Zala and Strompolos, now in their forties, are thrilled with the success of their project that spanned both Reagan administrations, but it hasn’t come quickly.



Deadline reports that after the two men premiered their impressive film when they were 18, it went on a shelf and was all but forgotten.

Their friends and family remained impressed with the special effects the two were capable of producing with little more than their own ingenuity, but their star turn ended there.



That is until filmmaker Eli Roth managed to get his hands on a tape of the fan film and showed it before a live and deeply impressed audience in 2002.

WATCH THE FULL MOVIE ON YOUTUBE

Shot-by-shot: Starting at age 11, the boys filmed death defying stunts in their Mississippi backyards and garages. At 18, their movie was done

Brave: Here, the actual scene in Raiders Of The Lost Ark where Indiana Jones clings for dear life to a car. Eric and Chris filmed their version without the aid of stunt doubles or driver's licenses Short-lived: Despite their impressive ingenuity and knack for creating special effects on a budget of zero, their film debuted and quickly faded away Shockingly similar: This gory scene was one of many that were so lovingly adapted by Eric and Chris, though their version flipped this particular moment

Raiders! But after filmmaker Eli Roth saw the movie by a stroke of luck and showed it to impressed audience, it became so popular that a book about its creation was written by Alan Eisenstock

With only 1980s level technology and on no budget, Zala and Strompolos managed to create what has now been dubbed the greatest fan film ever made.



With the help of its handmade, paper replica of the original film’s trademark killer boulder, their movie became something of a cult phenomenon.



‘I thought the movie was an urban myth but when I saw it, from a filmmaker perspective it was more inspiring than any movie I’d ever seen,’ Coon told Deadline.

Coon’s favorite part of the story is when one of the kids - seven were involved at one time or another - learned about special effects and did a mold of Zala’s face. But instead of special effects plaster, they used construction plaster which heats up and becomes very hard as it cures.

Unable to speak or hear, Zala was rushed to the emergency room where doctors finally removed the plaster with a cast saw.



Coon has purchased the rights to the aptly named book about the saga, Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, and plans to turn it into a film.



For that to happen, he says he’ll likely have to get permission from two very famous men behind the original Indiana Jones film: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

Video source Raidersbook

Iconic: In one of the most famous scenes, Chris re-enacts Indiana Jones replacing a priceless relic before a booby trap springs

Not bad! Few scene typify Harrison Ford's turn as Indiana Jones like this one. And true to form, the boys from Mississippi gave mimicking it shot-by-shot their best shot It could happen: Even Steven Spielberg himself is a professed fan, though movie rights and the blessing of George Lucas still stand in the way of Raiders! the movie

Not surprisingly, both Eric (right) and Chris went on to indulge their love of film making with careers in entertainment



Spielberg appears to support the project - he’s already confessed he’s a fan of the ode to his movie. Lucas’s take on it remains unknown.



But enthusiasm for the film is high.

