The Indiana Jones franchise seems to be finally limping to the end of its overextended shelf life. The fifth movie has been in development since the fourth film came out in 2008 but just hasn’t been able to come together. However, with a director in place and Harrison Ford on board, Indiana Jones 5 looks to be landing in July of 2022 — and that will be it for the franchise according to Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm during Disney’s massive earnings call yesterday.
Shooting on Indiana Jones 5 should begin sometime next year, but when has not been confirmed. The film will be directed by James Mangold, marking the first time in the series that Steven Spielberg will not be directing after leaving the movie over disagreements about the script, though he is still acting as a producer. It’s a bit strange for him to step away from what should be the last film in the series, but he evidently didn’t like where the story was going at the time.
Indian Jones 5 providing a conclusion marks a different strategy from the rest of Disney’s franchises, which are kicking into overdrive right now. The series was looking to continue on in a more dramatic fashion after Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull performed well at the box office, and there was the possibility the series could continue with Shia LaBeouf. However, that never came to pass for various reasons, and it seems now that Disney is content to let the character fade away as Harrison Ford gets too old to play him. That’s probably for the best, as Ford embodied the character so much and it isn’t like you can’t make pulp adventure films with a host of original characters instead.
