We’ve known for the past couple of years that Harrison Ford will be dusting off the fedora once again as director Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas attempt to atone for 2008’s underwhelming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with a fifth outing for everyone’s favourite archaeologist. Although development appears to be moving slowly, it’s nothing compared to the nineteen year gap between the third and fourth movies, and with time catching up on the franchise’s leading man, if a fifth feature is going to happen, then you’d imagine it’s going to have to happen pretty soon.
Both filmmakers have taken the opportunity to discuss the franchise recently, starting out with Spielberg, who provided a brief update on the sequel to Entertainment Weekly at the beginning of the month: “We have already agreed on the genre of the fifth movie, we already have a concept in mind. I don’t know where George is with the story. There is no Indy V until George says there is.” Responding to Spielberg’s comments, Lucas told Vulture earlier this week that he’s still working on fleshing out his latest concept: “I told [Spielberg] about the story, but I really haven’t found the MacGuffin yet. I mean, I know what it’s about, but I just have to find a MacGuffin that fits into the arena we’re working in.”
Along with Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf is also expected to return as Indy’s son, Mutt Williams, despite the Transformers star expressing his displeasure over the last adventure, which also starred the likes of Karen Allen (Marion Ravenwood), Cate Blanchett (Irina Spalko), Ray Winstone (George McHale), John Hurt (Harold Oxley) and Jim Broadbent (Dean Stanforth). Should the project get off the ground, it will mean a busy couple of years for Spielberg, who is currently gearing up for the North American releases of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and War Horse, with future directing projects including Lincoln and Robopocalypse, along with producing credits on the likes of Tintin 2, Jurassic Park IV, Transformers 4 and The Talisman TV miniseries. Meanwhile Lucas is also flexing his producing muscles on Red Tails and is also overseeing the 3D conversions of the Star Wars saga, starting with the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in February 2012.
Originally published December 14, 2011. Updated April 10, 2018.
