Is It Time to Say Farewell to Indiana Jones?

With everything going on it’s pretty easy to miss movie news. If you missed the release date of Indiana Jones 5 being pushed back to 2022, I don’t blame you. 

The news has me scratching my head though. Without doubt, Harrison Ford is an iconic actor who has portrayed a number of classic characters over his career. 

But a Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones in 2022 might be pushing it. 

“It’s not the years, honey. It’s the mileage.”

At one time the fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise was scheduled for release on July 10, 2020. Steven Spielberg was set to helm the movie with Ford returning as the beloved archeologist.  Then this past February Spielberg made it know that he was handing the directing reins to another director for the first time in the franchise’s 39-year history, Variety reported. Rumors center on James Mangold directing. 

The movie has had a number of push backs with the biggest reason being the script. While we hear everyone say that they won’t sign on without a good script, that hasn’t stopped it from being scheduled over and over. The biggest rumor being passed around center on reports of substantial rewrites to the film’s script.

The screenplay by David Koepp was scrapped. Koepp wrote the fourth film in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a movie that made lots of money but was met with a mixed critical reaction.

Then Jonathan Kasdan, son of Lawrence Kasdan, was enlisted to deliver a new draft but there’s been little word on where that stands. 

George Lucas’ involvement is still in question, as is what role Spielberg will have. Lucas was initially not going to be involved with the project and that was called into question during a press event for Disney. Spielberg shared that Lucas will be returning as executive producer, stating “I would never make an Indiana Jones film without George Lucas. That’d be insane.”

Both Spielberg and Bob Iger have gone on record saying Indiana Jones would not be killed off. However, Iger said the future of the franchise with Ford is unknown, but that the fifth film “won’t be just a one-off.”

Recently Spielberg has suggested that a female star could take over from Ford in future Indiana Jones films. He said it was time the franchise “took a different form”, adding: “We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that.”

The clock is ticking and this project seems to have a finite shelf life as Ford gets older and Spielberg’s calendar is filled to capacity with projects.

When it come to Hollywood, one Indy quote says it best why this project is still on the books:

“Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory.”

The magic of the Ford films are undeniable. To try to recapture that seems to be a losing proposition with a new actor. Maybe they need to take the advice of Indy’s dad, played by the great Sean Connery and just let it go.