The filmmaker is certain that the franchise will continue after Ford's last stint as the titular archeologist, adding that the actor's replacement could be a woman.
- Apr 5, 2018
AceShowbiz - "Indiana Jones V", which has been planned for years now, is scheduled to start filming in April next year, with Steven Spielberg returning behind the lens. While Harrison Ford has agreed to reprise his role as the titular character, the upcoming movie will most likely be his last film as the famous fictional archeologist.
Speaking to The Sun, Spielberg says, "This will be Harrison Ford’s last Indiana Jones movie, I am pretty sure," before adding, "but it will certainly continue after that." As for who may pick up the baton, the filmmaker thinks it's time for a female Indiana Jones.
The director, who has been a supporter of the Time's Up campaign for gender equality in the movie industry, says it is time the explorer takes "a different form." He adds, "We'd have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that."
Spielberg previously said he wouldn't recast Indy in the adventure film franchise. "I don't think anyone could replace Harrison as Indy, I don't think that's ever going to happen," he told ScreenDaily in 2015. "It's certainly not my intention to ever have another actor step into his shoes in the way there have been many actors that have played Spider-Man or Batman. There is only going to be one actor playing Indiana Jones and that's Harrison Ford."
The Academy Award-winning director also promised that he wouldn't kill off Ford's character. He said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, "The one thing I will tell you is I'm not killing off Harrison [Ford] at the end of it."
Besides reuniting Spielberg and Ford, the upcoming "Indiana Jones" movie has Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall returning as producers. David Koepp pens the script and John Williams is set to provide the music once again.
The movie is set for a U.S. release on July 10, 2020. Shia LaBeouf's Mutt Williams a.k.a. Henry Jones III, who was previously thought to take up the baton from Ford's Indy, has been confirmed to not return for the fifth film.
