Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Spielberg

Home media

In the early 1980s, the videocassette recorder (VCR) home video market was rapidly gaining popularity. In previous years, VHS sales were not a revenue source for studios, but by 1983 they could generate up to 13% of a film's total revenue; the U.S. and Canadian cassette rights could generate $500,000 alone.[120] In November 1983, Paramount released a record 500,000 home video copies of Raiders, priced at $39.95. Paramount priced their home videos significantly lower than their competition, reasoning it would broaden the sales audience and promote home video watching.[121] By September 1985, over one million copies of the film had sold, making it the bestselling VHS of its time.[122] In 1991, McDonald's launched possibly "the largest video sales promotion...to date" during which videocassettes of the first three Indiana Jones movies were sold at their restaurants for $5.99 each. Almost 10 million cassettes of the Indiana Jones series had been sold by this point. This promotion was expected to sell at least 5 million more.[123] By 2000, the film was marketed as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark for consistency with other titles in the franchise.[3]

In 2003, the film was released on DVD as a bundle with the other two films in the franchise. Like the VHS, it was a success, selling over one million units and becoming the fastest-selling DVD box set. This set introduced additional materials including Making the Films, a two-hour documentary about the making of the films including deleted scenes, and Behind the Scenes, a series of archival featurettes.[124][125][126] The film and its sequels were released as a collection on Blu-ray disc in 2012, as Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures. Spielberg worked on the films' restoration for the higher-quality format.[126][127][128] This release included the additional content of previous releases.[128] For its 40th anniversary in 2021, the film was released in a remastered 4K resolution Ultra HD Blu-ray based on the original film negative, as part of a boxset including the series' other films.[129] This version was released individually in 2023.[130]

Other media

Raiders of the Lost Ark has been represented across a wide variety of merchandise, including comic books,[131] video games,[132] novels,[15] Lego sets,[133][134] action figures and vehicles, playsets,[135] candles,[136] and board games.[137]

It has received several game adaptations. Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1982 for the Atari 2600 console.[132][138][139] A pinball game, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure, was released in 1993,[138] and a platform game, Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures, was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System the following year.[138][140] Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (1999) includes a bonus level that returns players to the Peruvian temple.[141] The Lego-themed adventure game Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (2008) and its 2009 sequel Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues represent the film and its sequels.[142][143] A 1984 boardgame, The Adventures of Indiana Jones role playing game, was poorly received, and when the manufacturer lost the license later that decade, all remaining copies had to be burned. All that remained from the destruction were encased in plastic and turned into the Diana Jones Award—"...diana Jones" being the only legible part of the burnt remains.[137][144]

A novelization of the film, written by Campbell Black, was released in 1981.[145][146] The book was a worldwide sales success and included details not present in the film. Among them is Marion was aged 15 when she and Jones began their relationship, the staff of Ra headpiece has explicit instructions not to look at the opened Ark, and Brody finds Jones at home after having just entertained one of his students.[15] Black, who was paid $35,000 plus royalties, sued Lucasfilm in 2005 for not paying him his percentage of the book sales profits.[146][147] Marvel Comics produced a comic book adaptation of the film shortly after its release.[131][148]

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! is a live amusement show at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, that has been in operation since 1989. It features several live stunts based on set pieces from the film.[149] Raiders of the Lost Ark was also one of several films that made up the Great Movie Ride (1989–2017).[150]