In 1982, in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Chris Strompolos, eleven, asked
Eric Zala, twelve, a question: "Would you like to help me do a remake
Raiders of the Lost Ark? I'm playing Indiana Jones."
And they did it. Every shot, every line of dialogue, every stunt.
They borrowed and collected costumes, convinced neighborhood kids to
wear grass skirts and play natives, cast a fifteen-year-old as Indy's
love interest, rounded up seven thousand snakes (sort of), built the
Ark, the Idol, the huge boulder, found a desert in Mississippi, and
melted the bad guys' faces off.
It took seven years. Along the way, Chris had his first kiss (on
camera), they nearly burned down the house and incinerated Eric, lived
through parents getting divorced and remarried, and watched their
friendship disintegrate.
Alan Eisenstock's Raiders! is the incredible true story of Eric Zala
and Chris Strompolos, how they realized their impossible dream of
remaking Raiders of the Lost Ark, and how their friendship survived
all challenges, from the building of a six-foot round fiberglass boulder
to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
