<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $185 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $786.6 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American action - adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones series . Released nineteen years after the previous film, the film is set in 1957, pitting Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) against Soviet agents--led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)--searching for a telepathic crystal skull . Jones is aided by his former lover, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and her son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast . </P> <P> Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts before David Koepp's script satisfied the producers . The filmmakers intended to pay tribute to the science fiction B - movies of the 1950s era . Shooting began on June 18, 2007, at various locations in New Mexico, New Haven, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles . To maintain aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer - generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films . </P>

When did kingdom of the crystal skull take place