Disney/Lucasfilm has confirmed that Steven Spielberg will return to direct the fifth (and final?) Indiana Jones film, once again starring Ford as the bullwhip-swinging adventurer. Speilberg and Ford are =returning, however somewhat interesting is the fact that George Lucas is not mention at all. Lucas has essentially retired from big-budget movie-making and is no longer actively involved with developing additional installments in any of the Lucasfilm franchises that he helped create and he had always been the major story/concept writer/contributor in all of the previous Indiana Jone adventures. Of course, for those who felt Lucas’ story/screenplay contributions were the main problem Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, his lack of involvement with Indiana Jones 5 likely comes as encouraging news. The film is set to reach theaters on July 19th, 2019 – less than a week after Ford celebrates his 77th (!) birthday. Here is the official statement about the news:
“Indiana Jones is one of the greatest heroes in cinematic history, and we can’t wait to bring him back to the screen in 2019. It’s rare to have such a perfect combination of director, producers, actor and role, and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this adventure with Harrison and Steven.”
