The end of this month sees the release of Steven Speilberg's Ready Player One, a film whose source material is largely a pastiche of 1980s pop culture, a decade that Spielberg himself had a huge hand in shaping with films like the Indiana Jones franchise. As a follow up to Ready Player One, the director will finally reunite with everyone's favorite archaeologist. Indiana Jones 5 has been kicked down the road before, but it now looks like it's gearing up at long last. While speaking about the British film industry, Steven Spielberg revealed the movie will begin shooting in the spring of next year, saying:
It's always worth the trip when I get to work with this deep bench of talent coming out of the UK. The actors, and the crew, the chippies, the sparks, the drivers --- everybody who has helped me make my movies here, and will continue helping me make my movies here when I come back in April 2019 to make the fifth Indiana Jones movie right here.
April of next year is not today, so it's later than I'd like, but it is at least another step towards this movie and the franchise's redemption becoming a reality. The confirmation, reported by Empire, came as Steven Spielberg was speaking to an audience at the Rakuten TV Empire Awards in London where he was receiving the Legend of Our Lifetime award. The director took the stage to accept the award, then heralded the film industry in the country and teased the future project he will be shooting there. With a start date finally lined up, we should begin to hear casting details and perhaps even some hints about David Koepp's script before the year is out. We don't know what awesome ancient artifact Indy could be searching for this time around, but we do know that Spielberg has said he that Indy will not be killed off. I also think it's safe to assume that there will be no aliens in this movie.
Indiana Jones 5 was first announced by Disney two years ago for a July 19, 2019 release date, which was eventually pushed back to where it is now, July 10, 2020. Spielberg's confirmation that this movie will begin shooting in about a year bodes well for the film hitting that target. Should the release date hold, it will be over 12 years removed from the last film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which landed in 2008. Also of note is that this means that Harrison Ford will be 76 when shooting the film and three days shy of his 78th birthday when it's released, which should make for an interesting wrinkle (no pun intended) to the story of the adventuring archaeologist. We know that Disney has big plans for the franchise just like everything else, so whether Indiana Jones 5 sets up a successor, reboot or prequel will be something to watch for.
While we await Indiana Jones 5, you can see Steven Spielberg's return to the kind of filmmaking that made him a household name when Ready Player One arrives in theaters on March 30. Check out our guide to see all of Steven Spielberg's upcoming movies.
