George Lucas Will Be Creatively Involved With INDIANA JONES 5

Distressing news for anyone who didn't appreciate Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Steven Spielberg says George Lucas will be creatively involved with the upcoming Indiana Jones 5. At the press junket for The BFG, Spielberg spoke with reporters about it and ComicBookResources has his quotes:

“George is going to be an executive producer on it with me. Of course — I would never make an ‘Indiana Jones’ film without George Lucas. That would be insane.”

The director also clarified that "George will be inputted in it," so it sounds like Lucas will have more of a say here than we initially thought. When Lucas's name didn't appear on the initial press release announcing this sequel a while ago, I (naively, it turns out) got excited at the prospect of seeing an Indy movie that didn't involve Lucas's ideas. Spielberg has blamed the worst aspects of Crystal Skull on Lucas, and basically admitted he can't say no to his friend when it comes to this franchise — even to terrible ideas like inserting aliens in the mix or having Mutt Williams swinging through the jungle on vines next to monkeys.

With Lucas creatively involved and Crystal Skull screenwriter David Koepp on script duty, I'm now drastically lowering my expectations for Indiana Jones 5. I love this franchise, so I'm obviously hoping it still turns out to be a fantastic movie, but setting low expectations seems like the right move at this stage.