Talk of Indiana Jones 5 is older than an Egyptian mummy. But Harrison Ford has dropped some news that will delight fans of the intrepid archaeologist. The new movie is good to go… and what’s more shooting is set to start in a matter of months!
“I can deny that it’s not happening,” he told The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in response to a gentle prod about the franchise. A coy Ford added: “We hope to start soon. This Summer.” CBS Sunday Morning got a little bit further, with the veteran star saying April was a possible date.
Director Steven Spielberg will return to light the tombs and unleash the snakes, with Jonathan Kasdan writing the script. He’s the son of previous Indy contributor Lawrence Kasdan, who worked on Raiders of the Lost Ark back in 1981. Other writers involved in the process include Dan Fogelman (Tangled).
George Lucas is on production duties as before. Though he hasn’t developed the story this time round – “not to my knowledge” said Jones scribe David Koepp in a 2016 Collider interview.
This differs from what Spielberg said in 2011 to Empire. “George is in charge of breaking the stories,” he remarked. “He’s done it on all four movies. Whether I like the stories or not, George has broken all the stories… I’ll leave it to George to come up with a good story.”
The fedora-grabbing adventurer was last seen in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull over a decade ago. Despite Ford’s charismatic performance, the presence of Spielberg and Lucas, plus A List villain Cate Blanchett the movie was seen as a disappointment.
It’s suggested the director agreed with audiences. “I am loyal to my best friend,” he said. “When he writes a story he believes in – even if I don’t believe in it – I’m going to shoot the movie the way George envisaged it… I will always defer to George as the storyteller of the Indy series.”
Creating an Indiana Jones movie is a big mountain to climb, and not everybody makes it to the summit. Super fan M. Night Shyamalan – who filmed his own version of Raiders of the Lost Ark as a youngster – was approached to work on the fourth film. “I was asked, but it didn’t work out … with everybody [George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford],” he told Scifi.com. “It was a tricky, tricky thing to get four of us together at the same time on the same page.” Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption and Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) collaborated on a screenplay titled ‘City of the Gods’ which never saw production.
The plot of Crystal Skull introduced Indy’s son Mutt (played by Shia LaBeouf) and brought back Karen Allen’s character Marion Ravenwood. Mutt might have become the new series lead, but LaBeouf appears to have burnt his bridges after being critical of the end product. Ideas of a reboot featuring a new Indy were shot down by Ford.
Speculation rages about who will be in the flick, and what treasures Dr. Jones will be hunting down. One thing that is guaranteed is further exploration of the character of Dr. Jones. Crystal Skull ended with him and Marion tying the knot.
Ford mentioned to IGN that “we’ll see new developments in his life, his relationship. We’ll see part of his history resolved.” Could that history involve the long-retired Sean Connery, who played Jones Senior in 1989’s The Last Crusade?
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Ford is now 77, yet shows no signs of slowing down. His latest movie is an action-packed adaptation of The Call Of The Wild, and he recently strapped on his laser holster as Han Solo for the new Star Wars trilogy.
Will the Indiana Jones saga finally conclude? Or does the iconic star have a couple more cracks of the whip in him? Indy 5 is set for release next year.