It’s time to don your fedoras and crack that bullwhip again, moviegoers! Indiana Jones is officially headed back to the big screen at long last, as revealed by Disney in a huge surprise announcement today.
A fifth Indiana Jones movie, which is currently without a title, has officially been greenlit, and contrary to earlier rumours, it won’t be a series reboot. Harrison Ford will once again return to portray the title character, with Steven Spielberg officially being signed to direct! Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will also remain as the series’ producers for this fifth movie.
No other cast members have been confirmed, nor has a writer yet been announced, though the fifth Indiana Jones movie already has a release date; July 19th, 2019! This is the only movie scheduled for that date for now, though this date actually puts the movie a week after another Disney-produced blockbuster movie, Marvel’s Inhumans, which is currently scheduled for July 12th, 2019, though it’s likely that Inhumans will end up being moved forward or backward as a result of this new Indiana Jones movie. This will also mark the first time that LucasFilm has released an Indiana Jones movie and a Star Wars movie in the same year, since Disney also has the untitled ninth episode of Star Wars scheduled to release in 2019.
As with Disney’s new Star Wars movies, George Lucas doesn’t seem to be involved with this fifth Indiana Jones movie, and has more or less retired completely from the movie industry, since selling off his LucasFilm studio to Disney in 2012. Beforehand, LucasFilm and Paramount collaborated on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008, a movie that did incredibly well at the box office, despite negative reception from critics and fans. While Disney could immediately proceed on the Star Wars franchise after their LucasFilm buyout, Paramount actually had a pre-existing deal for Indiana Jones that entitled them to distribution, though Disney bought out Paramount’s distribution option on the franchise in late 2013, which allowed them to begin proceeding with work on a new Indiana Jones flick.
We’ll be sure to keep a close eye on the development of this breaking story, so keep raiding Eggplante for all major news and updates on Indiana Jones!