Steven Spielberg No Longer Directing ‘Indiana Jones 5’; James Mangold Might Take Over Instead
There’s a shake-up regardingIndiana Jones 5:Steven Spielbergis out,James Mangoldis possibly in. Spielberg will no longer direct the fifth entry in the adventure series, and is instead planning to hand the franchise over toFord v Ferraridirector James Mangold. The decision to depart is entirely Spielberg’s, and he’ll still be involved as a hands-on producer. But does anyone reallywanta newIndiana Jonesmovie without Spielberg’s direction?
Very few movie news stories leave me flabbergasted these days, but this one did the trick.Varietysays that Steven Spielberg is no longer directingIndiana Jones 5, and that James Mangold is in talks to take over. Per their report:
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 Fordis still attached to star, but there’s now a good chance that the 2021 release date might change. The release date has already moved around a bit before asIndy 5has dealt with script problems. BothJonathan Kasdan(Solo: A Star Wars Story) andDan Fogelman(This Is Us,Tangled) have worked on the script, but then the project reverted back toDavid Koepp, who wroteIndiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, along with several other Spielberg projects.
Folks, I don’t know what to say about this. I think James Mangold is a good – occasionally excellent – filmmaker. But the idea of handing Indiana Jones to anyone but Spielberg just feels…wrong. Especially since this will probably be the last time Harrison Ford plays the character. Why have Ford’s final Indy outing handled by someoneotherthan Spielberg?
The biggest takeaway from this is that the franchise is nowhere near close to concluding. WhileIndy 5might be Ford’s last go at the character, it’s all but certain that the series will live on in the hands of new filmmakers, and with a new star. Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed thatIndiana Jones 5won’t be a reboot – but that doesn’t mean a reboot is inevitable.
In the meantime,Indy 5remains up in the air. Harrison Ford was recentlyquotedas saying production on the film was set to begin in about two months, but whether or not that still happens now – with Mangold at the helm – is anyone’s guess.
