While Lucasfilm has been very focused on Star Wars since Disney purchased the studio, it's never completely forgotten about its other big property, Indiana Jones. A fifth installment was rumored for years before finally being confirmed by Disney, but the fifth installment keeps getting delayed, and now one wonders if the release date may get pushed once again, as the project is now in the hands of yet another writer.
When Indiana Jones 5 was first confirmed, David Koepp, the screenwriter behind the previous Indy adventure Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was brought on pen the script. Then, a little less than a year ago the word was that Solo: A Star Wars Story co-writer Jonathan Kasdan was taking a crack at the story.
Now, Making Star Wars is reporting that Dan Fogelman, the writer of This is Us as well as other Disney films like Tangled and Cars, has now been handed the script. It appears Fogelman is starting over from scratch and won't be building on any of the previous scripts.
It's unclear what the central focus of Fogelman's script is, or will be, though based on the fact that he's not using Jonathan Kasdan's idea, it seems there's one premise we know Indiana Jones 5 won't be about.
MSW reports Kasdan's script focused on the Wa?brzych Gold Train legend which claims that a train full of gold and valuables was buried by the Nazis in a series of mines in Poland.
Whatever the new writer brings to the table, there's clearly been something about the previous script attempts that has been lacking. On the one hand, it's good to know that everybody involved want to make sure they start this process with a good story. On the other hand, at some point one begins to wonder if Indiana Jones 5 is ever actually going to happen.
Currently Indiana Jones 5 has a release date set for July 9, 2021, but that date has been pushed back before as developments, like the previous change in writer, have forced things to be delayed. There's clearly still plenty of time to get a working script before Indiana Jones 5 would need to go into production, but that assumes that the new writer finds a working idea.
Harrison Ford will turn 77 years old later this year, which means he'll be nearly 80 by the time the new movie comes out if it makes its current date. The man is still in remarkable health and physical shape, there's no question about that, but at some point it will simply be too late to make this movie, and it really feels like we're coming quite close to that point.
Of course, we all want a new Indiana Jones movie. When they're good, they're some of the greatest adventures ever put on screen. Hopefully the new writer will be the key to solving the mystery of the script and Indiana Jones can get to solving a mystery of his own very soon.
