There’s been a lot of talk about Indiana Jones 5, but for as much chatter as has been bandied about, we really don’t know whether or not this is something that is actually happening or if it’s just an idea being kicked around. There are some conflicting reports, but one of the producers involved sounded off on the matter, and if you were holding your breath for Indy 5, it looks like you’re going to be holding on for a while longer.
Making the press rounds for the record breaking Jurassic World, producer Frank Marshall talked with Slashfilm and this subject came up. When asked if all of this talk was just a rumor on the internet, Marshall said:
Yeah. I mean, we’ve had no discussions on Indy 5 to date.
That seems rather definitive. And a producer on the previous four Indiana Jones pictures, not to mention that he’s married to Lucasfilm head honcho Kathleen Kennedy, Marshall is in a unique position to know about these things.
There is apparently some question about whether Marshall specifically means that there has been no discussion of Indiana Jones 5 at all, or if he is talking about the possibility of Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt taking over the character from Harrison Ford. Just the other day, Pratt said that he hasn’t had any conversations with anyone about that scenario, though he sounds open to the opportunity should it arise.
It would seem strange, however, that there have been no talks at all about another Indiana Jones movie. Sure, the last one was garbage, but it still made $786 million dollars, so someone somewhere has to have been talking about Indy 5. Though with so much focus on the Star Wars universe, which is set to start expanding like it never has before, it’s possible that has, up to now, taken most of the focus, especially with Steven Spielberg busy producing Jurassic World.
What throws even more confusion into the mix is a report that just surfaced over at Ain’t It Cool News, where one of their sources, who they claim is long-time and trusted, says that Lucasfilm already has Indiana Jones 5 slated for release sometime in the final quarter of 2018.
If you put a gun to our head and forced us to wager, it sounds like Marshall was specifically addressing the Chris Pratt portion of the equation. With his commitments to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the fact that he signed on for more Jurassic movies and his sci-fi romance Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence just got the green light from Sony, the actor has a lot on his plate coming up.
And if a new Indy film is happening, 2018 sounds like a solid possibility. About a month ago, Kathleen Kennedy said that while she’s sure Lucasfilm will eventually make another movie in the franchise, it won’t be anytime soon, because no one is working on a script, though they "are talking about it." Perhaps, with things firming up in the Star Wars realm, there has been movement in the interim, but as for any future Indiana Jones movie, no matter where you stand, it’s still a long ways off in the distance.
