The untitled fifth “Indiana Jones” arrives in theaters next summer, June 30, 2023, and Harrison Ford has vowed it’s his very last time playing the character.  So that’s it for the franchise, right? Not so, says Lucasfilm and Disney, who are developing an Indiana Jones series for Disney+. How is that going to work without Harrison Ford?
Well, according to Variety, it may not, though that’s unclear. According to their report, Lucasfilm is eyeing the possibility of a streaming show “set in the world of the globe-trotting archaeologist in general meetings with writers of late.” No writer has been hired, and they’re still looking for a strong take, but that means no plot details of yet and we won’t really know if Ford will appear in it or if it will serve as a prequel to or spinoff of the film franchise.
READ MORE: ‘Indiana Jones 5’: Mads Mikkelsen Is The Latest Actor To Join James Mangold’s Sequel
Could it tie into the upcoming fifth “Indiana Jones” film, similar to how Disney has tied its Marvel shows on Disney+ into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? That’s also super unclear.
This part of the piece is also intriguing. “In addition, sources say Disney is currently exploring a number of options to keep the franchise going, which could mean a series, new films, other media, or a combination thereof.”
In short, it sounds like early days, an exploration phase, and Lucasfilm trying to discover if there’s some there there, potentially, it sounds like, with supporting characters that are not Indiana Jones himself, but again, with no writer in place, that’s all unknown.
That said, if Ford has stated publicly that he was done with Indiana Jones it would seem unlikely that he would turn up in this series.
Would Lucasfilm ever recast Indiana Jones? There were rumors years ago that Chris Pratt (“Guardians Of The Galaxy”) was up for the job, playing a new, younger version of Indiana Jones, and while the actor never outright denied it, he recently suggested no one could replace Harrison Ford and that the older actor scared him off.
Look, our bet is that while Harrison Ford is alive, no one will be recast as Indiana Jones, but presumably, it’s going to happen one day; the gods of intellectual property churn demand this franchise just keep moving forward into eternity.
The untitled fifth “Indiana Jones” is directed by James Mangold (“Logan,” “Ford V Ferrari”), and plot details are mostly unknown, though a new trailer was shown at San Diego Comic-Con this summer. The film features John Rhys-Davies returning as Sallah, with new cast members including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Toby Jones, and Antonio Banderas.  The screenplay is credited to Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Mangold. Steven Spielberg was initially set to direct but eventually dropped out of the project.