Indiana Jones 5

Today Disney dropped a whole slew of new release dates for the studio through 2021. It might seem like a joke that humanity will even exist to see that year arrive, but hey, we can dream, and in those dreams there’s a lot to be excited about, including Indiana Jones 5.

Quick, name the quirkiest character Jim Broadbent has played. Are you thinking of his plastic surgeon in Brazil? Or maybe his zany Moulin Rouge! owner. What about his tiny red-haired thief in The Borrowers? But don’t forget all four of his characters in Cloud Atlas. Few actors have a resume as varied as Broadbent’s, who’s worked with everyone from Martin Scorsese to multiple collaborations with Mike Leigh.

We’re still not sure exactly when the new Indiana Jones sequel will happen, but not long ago, Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed that Steven Spielberg is returning to direct Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 5. David Koepp, who worked on the screenplay for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (insert sad trombone) is also reuniting with Spielberg for the upcoming sequel, and according to him, there’s one notable person who won’t be involved — at least on the story level.

When Disney acquired Lucasfilm and the rights to distribute Indiana Jones, rumors began circulating about the studios’ intentions to reboot the franchise and cast a younger actor in Harrison Ford’s iconic role. That’s not the case, however, as Ford is reuniting with Steven Spielberg for Indiana Jones 5, while recent comments from studio chief Bob Iger suggested that there are still plans to reboot Indy sometime in the near future. As it turns out, those plans may be a bit bigger than Iger implied.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Disney has repeatedly assured fans that they have no (current) plans to reboot Indiana Jones or replace Harrison Ford in the iconic role anytime soon — well, at least not in Indiana Jones 5, which re-teams Ford with series director Steven Spielberg for one more outing. According to Disney chief Bob Iger, however, the forthcoming sequel won’t be the last of the Indy franchise, and it definitely sounds like they do have plans to reboot the series — to some extent — after all.

Steven Spielberg has only gotten busier in recent years; the prolific director has been adding a fair amount of projects to his growing to-do list, including Indiana Jones 5, set to hit theaters in 2019. Harrison Ford will return to reprise his iconic role as the archaeological adventurer despite repeatedly denied rumors that Disney is looking to pass the torch to a new star. If you had any remaining doubts, Spielberg himself assures fans that Ford isn’t going anywhere — at least not in his Indy universe.

Not that Lucasfilm would get anyone else to score new Star Wars and Indiana Jones sequels as long as John Williams is still around, but just in case there was any doubt, Steven Spielberg has officially confirmed the legendary composer’s return for both franchises. The director’s announcement appropriately took place during last night’s AFI tribute to Williams, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to cinema.

When the Indiana Jones 5 news broke, my immediate question was who Steven Spielberg was going to hire to write the script. With George Lucas seemingly out of the picture (his name was nowhere to be found in the announcement), having a solid writer on board to work on a script would seem to be the most important first step...

“There is only going to be one actor playing Indiana Jones and that’s Harrison Ford.”

Steven Spielberg has expressed an interest in making another Indiana Jones movie. Harrison Ford is totally down to reprise his classic character. Okay, so, what’s the hold up? It’s this little thing called Star Wars — maybe you’ve heard of it? Lucasfilm and Disney are committed to not rebooting Indiana Jones or recasting Ford’s role, but they’re also a bit busy with a much more massive franchise that’s kind of eating up everyone’s attention at the moment. One thing at a time.