Thoughts on The Possibility of An Indiana Jones 5 With Harrison Ford

“Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory.”
– Indiana Jones

Surprised or not, it looks like Harrison Ford, 77, is really going to return to the Indiana Jones franchise for a fifth installment. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy confirmed to BBC News while on the BAFTA Awards red carpet. “We’re working away, getting the script where we want it to be and then we’ll be ready to go,” Kennedy said.

Asked if Ford might reprise his role, Kennedy insisted he would. “Harrison Ford will be involved, yeah,” she said. “It’s not a reboot; it’s a continuation.” Kennedy added, “He can’t wait.”

But can we?

All sorts of rumors have swirled around recasting the iconic adventurer with actor Chris Pratt being singled at the most to be taking over the role of the famous archeologist. 

That didn’t sit well with Mr. Ford.  “Nobody is gonna be Indiana Jones!” Ford insisted during an interview on the Today show back in May 2019. “Don’t you get? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy.”

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

The fifth chapter of the series is set for release in 2021, with Steven Spielberg directing. The movie has had a number of setbacks and delays; at one point it had a scheduled release date of July 10, 2020. 

With the release date being pushed back, everyone is making guesses on the reason why. The biggest rumor being passed around center on reports of substantial rewrites to the film’s script. The screenplay is by David Koepp, who 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.

Collider reported that Jonathan Kasdan, son of Lawrence Kasdan, has been enlisted to deliver a new draft but not long after word came out that while Kasdan had written a script from scratch,it was being replaced by Dan Fogelman whose screenplay used “an entirely different premise”.

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

Recently Spielberg has suggested that a female star could take over from Ford in future Indiana Jones films. In April, 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.

What’s your excitement level for Indiana Jones 5?