Indiana Jones 5 is Being Delayed (Again)

It looks like Indiana Jones 5's release date is going to be pushed back... again. Disney and Lucasfilm gained the full rights to the Indiana Jones franchise a year after the latter studio was purchased by the Mouse House in 2012. After rumors began to circulate that Disney and Lucasfilm were planning to reboot the series, the studios announced plans for a fifth Indiana Jones movie featuring Harrison Ford as the eponymous archaeologist, with Steven Spielberg once again calling the shot as director.

Indiana Jones 5 was originally set to hit theaters in 2019, before it was pushed back to Summer 2020 last year. It's since been reported that the film will be starting production in April 2019, with Spielberg directing from a script by his longtime collaborator David Koepp. However, the latest update on the project reveals that shooting is being delayed, now that the Indiana Jones 5 screenplay is getting a rewrite.

According to Variety, members of the Indiana Jones 5 production crew were recently informed that filming has been delayed from its previous Spring 2019 start date. It was also reported earlier today that Solo: A Star Wars Story cowriter Jonathan Kasdan has been recruited to rewrite the Indiana Jones 5 script for Disney and Lucasfilm. Variety's report says Kasdan has yet to formally close his deal, but it's all but a sure thing that he will, at this stage. Assuming the film's key creatives sign off on Kasdan's draft once he's done, then Indiana Jones 5 will continue to move forward again.

While Variety says he remains committed to revisiting the Indiana Jones franchise, Spielberg certainly isn't waiting around for Indiana Jones 5 to happen. He's currently in pre-production on a West Side Story remake and, according to Variety, is thinking about reviving his historical drama The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. The filmmaker is also developing DC's WWII adventure Blackhawk as a prospective directorial effort, and was recently circling a Ulysses S. Grant biopic that Leonardo DiCaprio is loosely attached to headline.

After the disappointing response to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which Koepp also wrote), Spielberg, Ford, and Lucasfilm are presumably all the more inclined to make sure the Indiana Jones 5 script is in top shape before moving forward. Seeing as this will almost certainly be Ford's last Indiana Jones film, the hope is he and Spielberg will end their run on the series on a higher note than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That's all the more reason for them to take their time on Indiana Jones 5 and not rush anything for the sake of making a release date.

That being said: if they still aren't pleased with the script after the latest rewrite, then it might be better for them to simply let bygones be bygones and not revisit the franchise at all.

We will bring you more details on Indiana Jones 5 as they become available.

Source: Variety

Tags: Indiana Jones, indiana jones 5

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