‘Indiana Jones 5’ Pushed Back To 2021
Variety confirms that the fifth installment to the Indiana Jones franchise has officially been pushed back a year to 2021.
It was reported by Variety a couple weeks ago that the film could possibly be pushed back a few months to maybe a year due to differences over a finished script. Collider reported that Jonathan Kasdan, son of famous writer/director Lawrence Kasdan who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, was being brought in to help with a script. However, no details have been reported of him being officially on board.
Indiana Jones 5 was originally slated for 2019 release but ended up being pushed back to 2020 with production starting in 2019. Studio executives have stressed that original director Steven Spielberg and title star Harrison Ford are still on board for the project. Jurassic Park writer David Koepp was originally writing up a script for the film but eventually left the project to direct You Should Have Left, the latest horror flick from Blumhouse Pictures.
While Spielberg is still on board for the project, the Oscar-winning director has a number of upcoming projects under his belt: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara, which stars Oscar-winner Mark Rylance (who previously starred in Spielberg’s Bridge Of Spies alongside Tom Hanks), and a reboot of the hit Broadway musical West Side Story. Both films are currently in pre-production.
In addition, Harrison Ford is currently doing voice work for the upcoming Secret Life of Pets sequel which is currently eyeing a June 2019 release.
The character of Indiana Jones will be the third classic role Ford has revived in recent years. Ford previously reprised the character of Han Solo for the seventh Star Wars installment and most recently revived the character of Rick Deckard for the Blade Runner sequel.
When it was announced in 2012 that Disney would be acquiring Lucasfilms, the company toyed with idea of rebooting Indiana Jones in addition to several other franchises. Star Wars was the first to return to the big screen, and after the company saw the success, the return of Indiana Jones became more real in 2016 when Disney announced Jones will return.
Indiana Jones made its first onscreen debut in 1981 with Raiders Of the Lost Ark. Since then, the franchise has spawned two sequels: The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and a prequel The Temple of Doom (1984).
Disney has quite a few projects coming up in the near future. The company also announced that Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming Jungle Cruise film will be released in July 2019 and Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent sequel will be released in May 2020. Also on the docket is a currently untitled Marvel film which is slated for a February 2021 release date.
