“Harrison Ford was more than just an actor playing a role in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ He was involved in a lot of decision making about the movie as we went along,” Spielberg said. “And this wasn’t by contract; it was because I sensed an exceptionally strong mind and a very smart person, and called on him time and time again.”
Filming “Raiders” was a challenge for Spielberg coming off of his previous films, due to its smaller crew and slim budget. Due to these constraints, Spielberg tried his hardest to stay true to the storyboards he had mapped about 50% of the film from. When there was room for Ford to do his own stunts, like actually running from the faux boulder about ten times, Spielberg was happy to oblige. Famously, there was a completely staged and choreographed fight scene against a swordsman in Cairo, but running under time constraints, Ford proposed that it would be faster to “just shoot the son of a b****.”
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” would become a box office smash in 1981, exceeding Paramount’s own expectations. It also proved that audiences were interested in seeing Ford in roles outside of “Star Wars.” According to “The Films of Harrison Ford,” a reporter once asked Ford if his stardom was in part responsible for the film’s success, to which he sarcastically responded:
“Besides the full frontal nudity, the sex with a camel, the free place setting we’re giving away in the theaters, and the opportunity to win the presidential yacht? Folks will see it I guess because it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun. If not, I’d ask for my money back!”