Though the official paperwork hasn’t yet been signed yet, it appears that James Mangold is stepping aboard to direct the long-in-development ‘Indiana Jones 5’. This will be the first installment in the franchise to not be helmed by Steven Spielberg, even though he has been heavily involved with the development of this sequel and will act as producer. This will also mark the first ‘Indiana Jones’ movie released by Disney, following its acquisition of Lucasfilm LTD. The intention to make this sequel was first expressed in 2016, but Spielberg and various collaborators have struggled to find the right way to revive this franchise.
The news of this game of musical director’s chairs comes directly after the release of Harrison Ford’s latest hit (also from Disney), ‘Call of the Wild’, which exceeded expectations this weekend. While promoting that picture, Ford spoke to HeyUGuys and discussed the next ‘Indiana Jones’ pic, saying:
20th Century Studios/Disney
“I don’t really want to give them what they want to see, I want to give them something they didn’t anticipate. They are used to a degree of disappointment when you revisit. Certainly, the Marvel movies have made a spectacular example of a success [that] worked the other way around. They killed it! Well, we’re not going to make another Indiana Jones unless we are in a position to kill it. We want it to be the best.”
For the most part, at least the first three ‘Indiana Jones’ flicks did not suffer the disappointment that sequels sometimes bring, even though at the time, 1984’s ‘Temple of Doom’ received some poor reviews. For folks that have grown up with the brand, it remains just as beloved as ’81’s ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ’89’s ‘Last Crusade’.
Unfortunately, things took a sharp turn for the worst in 2008 when Fox and Spielberg attempted to revive the franchise with ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, which introduced Shia LaBeouf as “Mutt” Williams, Indy’s son with Karen Allen’s Marion Ravenwood, who was planned to take over the starring role in future films, but after like… everybody hated it… those plans were scuttled.
Mangold’s ‘Logan’ was the first comic book movie to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. His last picture, ‘Ford v Ferrari’ won two Oscars for Film Editing and Sound Editing, (it was also up for Best Picture) and was nominated or won various other accolades.
He’s on a roll, so maybe he has what it takes to breathe new life into this nearly 40-year-old brand.
Of course, many wonder why they are bothering to make another ‘Indiana Jones’, especially with 77-year-old Ford expected to return. He already looked pretty rickety in ‘Crystal Skull’! And despite appearing twice, he bitched his entire way through the newest ‘Star Wars’ trilogy.
And the last attempt to replace Ford in an iconic role with a younger actor– ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’— was kind of a disaster. So why bother? That’$ the my$teriou$ que$tion.
But stay tuned for updates. What do you think? Are you game for another outing by Ford in his trademark fedora? Should he be replaced?
Jax's earliest memory is of watching 'Batman,' followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn't run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes.
