According to en exclusive report from Variety, Steven Spielberg will not direct ‘Indiana Jones 5,’ and director James Mangold is in talks to direct the long awaited sequel. That's not good news, really, and in addition it seems that the movie won't get into production in two months as Harrison Ford said it in an interview two weeks ago, but at a later date.
From Variety: After a long development process, Steven Spielberg is handing the directing reins on “Indiana Jones 5” to another filmmaker for the first time in the franchise’s 39-year history, Variety has learned.
Sources say, while a deal hasn’t closed, “Ford v Ferrari” director James Mangold is in talks to take the job. Mangold has been put in this situation before when he took over the “Wolverine” franchise; 2017’s “Logan” was a blockbuster, grossing $619 million globally, and earning Mangold an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay.
Spielberg will remain as a hands-on producer on “Indy 5.” According to a source close to the filmmaker, the decision to leave the director’s chair was entirely Spielberg’s, in a desire to pass along Indy’s whip to a new generation to bring their perspective to the story.
Harrison Ford, meanwhile, is still on the project. The actor recently made headlines speaking about the future of the franchise while promoting his latest film, “The Call of the Wild.” He told “CBS Sunday Morning” this month that he was “going to start doing ‘Indiana Jones’ in about two months,” and then days later told HeyUGuys that the project is still facing “scheduling issues and a few script things” and that “we’re determined to get it right before we get it made.”
When Disney first announced the new “Indiana Jones” film in 2016, with Spielberg directing and Ford starring, the studio originally slated the film to open on July 19, 2019. Then it was pushed a year to July 10, 2020, and then delayed again to July 9, 2021, when Jonathan Kasdan (son of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” scribe Lawrence Kasdan) was brought on to take a pass on the script after original screenwriter David Koepp left the project.
With a new director coming on board, the possibility that “Indy 5” will be pushed once more from its 2021 release date seems likely. Spokespeople for Spielberg and Disney declined to comment.
Read the full Variety article HERE.
