Everyone is so busy watching the Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer over and over again, most fans have forgotten that Disney also has a new Indiana Jones movie on the horizon. It's been awhile since we last heard any mention of LucasFilm's other iconic franchise, but at a recent breakfast with Variety, Disney CEO Bob Iger did offer an update on the legendary archeologist. The cold hard fact is we may not see Henry Jones Jr. return to the big screen before the end of this decade.
LucasFilm and Disney are too busy relaunching the new Star Wars franchise to concentrate on rebooting Indiana Jones. Not only do they have director J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens set for release next December with principle photography already completed and a trailer in theaters, Rian Johnson is already deep into pre-production on Star Wars: Episode VIII and Star Wars: Episode IX, and Gareth Edwards will begin shooting the first of many planned Star Wars Spin-Offs sometime in 2015. As you can see, there hasn't been a lot of time to place any energy on rejuvenating Indy for fans who were disappointed by Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
But Disney certainly hasn't forgotten about Indiana Jones 5. They do have the rights to make and distribute a new film, and they won't likely let the lucrative title lay dormant for long. While the series was rumored to be a reboot, producers denied that was true, and that Harrison Ford was indeed returning. But with Disney deciding to pace itself, will this remain true? If a new Indiana Jones movie doesn't arrive until 2020, Harrison Ford will be 78 years old, and he's already proven that he is not infallible, having broken his leg doing a routine stunt on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The most likely scenario at this point is for Disney and LucasFilm to cast someone new as Indiana Jones, which does not go against the wishes of the filmmakers. While many will only ever be able to identify Harrison Ford as the character, it was always director Steven Spielberg and creator George Lucas' intension to have this set up as a James Bond type franchise, with a new actor coming in every decade or so to replace Indy. Plus, Harrison Ford isn't the only actor to have played the role, with Sean Patrick Flanery playing a younger version on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Here is the tweet from Variety: