INDIANA JONES 5 Will Not Be The Last Film in The Franchise
Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford are currently in the process of developing a fifth Indiana Jones film for Lucasfilm and Disney. I couldn't be more excited to see Jones back in action and embarking on another adventure. As we all suspected, Indiana Jones 5 won't be the last film to be made in the franchise! Disney is planning on keeping it alive for years to come. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger talked about the Indiana Jones franchise and explained that part five just won't be a one-off:
“Not like Star Wars, but we hope… right now, we’re focused on a reboot, or a continuum and then a reboot of some sort. Well, we’ll bring him back, then we have to figure out what comes next. That’s what I mean. It’s not really a reboot, it’s a boot — a reboot. I don’t know. We [got] Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the film. But then what’s the direction? I’ve had discussions about what the direction is, [but] I don’t want to get into it. I don’t think it reaches the scale of the universe of Star Wars, but I see making more. It won’t be just a one-off.”
There's a lot of cryptic wording in that statement. But if Disney is looking to push the Indiana Jones franchise further, it could include multiple sequels that follow the original saga as well as a universe expansion of prequels and spin-offs that could involve other characters. I think it would be cool to see a Henry Jones Sr. spin-off film that follows the adventures of Indy's dad, who was previously played by Sean Connery. I guess another thing that could happen is that introduce a new character that can take on the mantle of Indiana Jones in future films.
Spielberg recently talked about the character, explaining that he didn't plan on killing him off:
“I think this one is straight down the pike for the fans. The one thing I will tell you is I’m not killing off Harrison [Ford] at the end of it.”
I guess there's a reason for that. Disney and Lucasfilm may want him to come back for some more adventures, but it's yet to be seen how many adventures that will be. I'm curious to find out what exactly Disney is planning to do with the franchise. One thing is for sure, and that's that Ford is excited to jump back into the role. In a previous interview, he said:
“The opportunity to work with Steven again on this character which has brought pleasure to so many… Not to mention me. It’s fun, it’s great fun to play this character. It’s great fun to work with Steven, I’m looking forward to it.”
Are you excited about the possibility of Indiana Jones being blown up into a big franchise with multiple films? Or are you happy with the slow rate of producing sequels? With Disney and Lucasfilm leading the charge, it makes sense that they would want to pump this adventure franchise up. As long as they don't bring back his kid, Mutt, I'm good.
Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will be back to produce Indiana Jones 5 and writer David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) is on board to write the script. The movie is set for a July 19, 2019 release date.
For a list of possible Indiana Jones adventures, click here.