David Koepp Discusses INDIANA JONES 5 Delays and How No One Can Agree on the Script
Lucasfilm has been trying to get a fifth Indiana Jones film off the ground and into production for years. Director Steven Spielberg and writer David Koepp were developing the project, but after a few years of working on the project, they both dropped out, and Spielberg was replaced by Logan director James Mangold.
it was a shocking turn of events that fans didn’t see coming, so what happened? Well, according to Koepp, the movie kept being delayed because no one could agree on the script! While talking to Den of Geek, Koepp explained that everyone working on the project had a lot of ideas but bringing all of these ideas together for the script just wasn’t working.
"I tried a couple of different versions with Steven and they all had some good stuff about them, and they all had some stuff that didn't work, which happens. But it was just very hard to have everybody come together and have all the elements -- Steven, Harrison [Ford], the script, and Disney -- come together at once. And it didn't."
It was because of this that Spielberg and Koepp decided to step away. Koepp explained:
"When James Mangold came in and Steven stepped out, that was a pretty logical breaking point. It's a gracious time to step out the door because I think the last thing a new director wants is the old director's writer. I mean, that's a drag. The last thing you need is some guy sitting around with his arms folded saying, 'Well, the way Steven would have done it is...' I had one nice friendly conversation with him and then I'm sure he wanted to be able to move on anyway. Everybody was pretty polite, I thought."
The writer then went on to talk about the difficulty of developing an Indiana Jones film saying:
"The reason Indiana Jones movies are so difficult is because it's really difficult. It's hard. It has to be great. The first and third movies in that series are just utterly beloved, and 'utterly beloved' is a high bar. So, I did a couple versions of this last one that I thought were good; the last one, in particular. But it didn’t quite come together. Steven couldn’t do it in the end and whatever. It just didn’t come together. Sometimes, they do; sometimes, they don’t. But if there’s going to be another Indiana Jones movie, I think James Mangold is a great guy to explore it. Certainly, what he did with Logan was remarkable…"
I’m rooting for Mangold on this project, and I hope that he is able to deliver the great Indiana Jones film that fans are hoping for. Producer Frank Marshall previously explained that Mangold and his team have just started work on the script for the film and also explains why the filmmaker is the best person for the job, saying:
“His love of the franchise. He’s a wonderful filmmaker. I think he also has a relationship with Harrison. It was all of the right pieces coming together, at the right time.”
The highly-anticipated sequel is now scheduled to be released on July 29, 2022.