There had been rumblings for ages that Lucasfilm and Paramount Pictures were considering turning Indiana Jones 5 into a reboot/prequel allowing for the studio to recast Harrison Ford with a younger actor. 

However, this was debunked multiple times and one of the project’s producers has given yet another progress update on the film after it had recently stalled when Steven Spielberg pivoted to make West Side Story over last summer while the screenplay underwent rewrites from Jonathan Kasdan (Solo: A Star Wars Story). 

During a chat with the BBC on the red carpet for the British Academy of Film & Television Arts awards ceremony, producer and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy reaffirmed that Harrison Ford would be reprising his iconic role of Indiana Jones in the yet-to-be-titled fifth installment and won’t be a reboot. 

KENNEDY: “We’re working away getting the script where we want it to be and then we’ll be ready to go.”

When asked if would be a reboot and if Ford will be back. 

KENNEDY: “Oh, Harrison Ford will be involved, yeah. It’s not a reboot, it’s a continuation…He can’t wait he absolutely is.”

Kennedy was there to accept the BAFTA Fellowship Award, their version of a lifetime achievement award. 

There had been expectations that filming could begin between the spring/summer of this year given Paramount Pictures gave the film a release date of July 8th,2021 after the film wasn’t able to hit the originally targeted date of July 10th, 2020. 

Yet, there hasn’t been any formal announcements that casting has begun or that they’ll indeed begin shooting this year. From the comments from Kennedy, we might speculate that they still haven’t finished the script. 

Screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan has since moved on to another Lucasfilm project with a Disney+ sequel series to Ron Howard and George Lucas’ Willow with original actor Warwick Davis expected to reprise the titular role. 

Details about the fifth installment are unknown but if Kingdom of The Crystal Skull took place in 1957, this next film could be taking place in the late 1960s or early 1970s which would allow them to keep the setting during the Cold War era.

Other Lucasfilm productions include Jon Favreau’s second season of The Mandalorian Season along with two other Disney+ series focusing on Ewan McGregor’s Ben Kenobi (production delayed to January 2021) and Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor (expected to begin shooting this summer). 

There haven’t been any official details or a director for the next Star Wars feature film which has been set by Disney to be released on December 16th, 2022. 

We will certainly post any future updates concerning the production of Indiana Jones 5. 

SOURCE: BBC