Steven Spielberg's an incredibly busy filmmaker. No sooner does the legendary director put the finishing touches on one project, when he's diving headfirst into two or three other potential blockbusters. We know that Spielberg and his rugged leading man Harrison Ford have been plotting out a fifth Indiana Jones adventure, but if you had 2019 circled on your release-date calendar, then you are going to have to erase it and push your hopes back approximately one year.
Indiana Jones 5, which had been on the books for July 19, 2019, will now land in theaters on July 10, 2020, according to a press release posted on StarWars.com. And if that seems like an eternity to wait... well, that's because it is. By the time Harrison Ford dons the trademark fedora and whip of everyone's beloved archaeologist, 12 years will have passed between the as-yet-untitled fifth movie and 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And we all remember how that one turned out, don't we?
Now, on to the elephant in the room: Harrison Ford's age. Granted, he looks spectacular for a gentleman in his mid-70s. I hope and pray to look as healthy and vigorous as Ford looks when I hit 74. But that means Ford will be 76, presumably, when shooting Indiana Jones 5 with Steven Spielberg, and will be 77 when it is released. One criticism leveled at Kingdom of the Crystal Skull upon release was Ford's lack of activity in the second half of the movie, where Indy... well, he basically just entered a temple, walked around for a bit, then ran out. Fin! Will that get better as Ford gets older?
Still, we're unsure what the plot of Indiana Jones 5 will be. Could it be a unique chapter in the ongoing saga, one that accounts for the famed explorer's advanced age by pairing him with a younger counterpart? Mind you, this is what they tried with "Mutt" Williams (Shia LaBeouf), and that was a disaster. Also, stripping the action out of the core of these movies would betray the main reason why audiences show up to the Indiana Jones films. It's just, even though we adore Ford and Spielberg, I'm not sure the adventures of a 77-year-old Dr. Jones is selling a lot of summer blockbuster tickets.
We have to wait an additional year before we see if Indiana Jones 5 is a return to the glory days of the Raiders of the Lost Ark series, or if Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford should have stuck with The Last Crusade being the actual last crusade. Look for the movie in theaters on July 10, 2020. And visit this page for more information on 2017's Upcoming Movie Releases.
