Screenwriter David Koepp confirms Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Indiana Jones, but LaBeouf's character 'is not in the film.'
- Sep 5, 2017
AceShowbiz - It turns out Indiana Jones' protege/son Mutt Williams won't take up the baton anytime soon. "Indiana Jones V" screenwriter David Koepp reveals that Shia LaBeouf won't return to reprise his role as Mutt a.k.a. Henry Jones III in the upcoming movie.
"Harrison plays Indiana Jones, that I can certainly say," Koepp tells EW, giving an update on the project which has been long in development. He adds, "And the Shia LaBeouf character is not in the film."
As for when the production will begin, Koepp says, "We're plugging away at it. In terms of when we would start, I think that's up to Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Ford." He adds, "Work will be endless, of course, and ongoing, and Steven just finished shooting 'The Post' .... If the stars align, hopefully it'll be his next film."
He continues teasing that the plot will involve "some precious artifact that they're all looking for" throughout the film. "I know we've got a script we're mostly happy with," he gushes.
There has been speculation that Harrison Ford's Indy will eventually pass the torch to a younger actor as the series progressed under Steven Spielberg's direction. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" seemed to hint at this with a closing scene in which Indy's iconic hat was blown away by wind and landed at Mutt's feet, before Indy grabbed it out of Mutt's hands and put it on his head again.
Ford, however, seemed to be against the idea as he said back in 2008, "No, that's never been [the idea.] As George has famously said, we'd have to call it 'Mutt Jones: The Search for Elvis.' [Laughs.] I think it just doesn't work that way. And there's definitely a distinction between passing the fedora and someone picking it up."
Spielberg has no intention to kill off Ford's character either. "The one thing I will tell you is I'm not killing off Harrison [Ford] at the end of it," the filmmaker, who is set to direct the fifth installment, promised. He added in a separate interview that Ford isn't too old for future "Indiana Jones" movie(s).
