Of course, $750 million+ in worldwide box-office is all the reason they need to go forward...
The hat is officially out of the bag. On Monday Shia Labeouf let slip that a follow up to Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was on the cards and now Frank Marshall has pretty much confirmed it, suggesting that Indy V could be approaching the pencil-chewing script development stage.
Although he didn't specify timelines, Marshall told Empire that ideas would be worked on with a view to green-lighting production sooner rather than later. "It's really about the script," says the veteran Indy producer. "Once we see that, we'll see. We're not going to wait another 20 years. We'd all love to make another one. I'm anxious to hear the idea!"
But are Mssrs. Spielberg, Ford and Lucas equally sold on a fifth outing for the whip-cracking archeologist? "Yeah. We had a great time making the last one and, as Harrison said, we need to make this one soon. We're not getting any younger."
With Ford fast approaching his 67th birthday, time is definitely of the essence. Up may have raised the bar for the ageing adventurers, but Indy showed signs of creakiness in The Crystal Skull and it's safe to rule out too many rolling boulder chases or collapsing rope bridges from a further sequel. Hopefully the same goes for the gopher.
One caveat to all this is the lack of a concrete idea. As Marshall told us: "Until there's a script, nothing's definite. I haven't heard the idea."
It's time they pulled a 007 and recast Indy if they really want to continue making these. A 65-year-old Harrison Ford was tough enough to take, but he'll be pushing seventy by the time Spielberg and Lucas free up their busy schedules. Hell, Ford wasn't even the first choice for the role (Tom Selleck, anyone...?). Imagine Lost's Josh Holloway in the fedora and jacket, dropping Sawyer-style quips as he's chased by natives through some sweltering jungle. I'd rather see that than the continuing adventures of Shia LaBeouf.
Unlike Bond, Jones is such a cipher of a character that without Ford, there's no point. (I didn't see the last one, have no plans to, and haven't watched the others in 15 years.)
Monterey Jack wrote:It's time they pulled a 007 and recast Indy if they really want to continue making these. A 65-year-old Harrison Ford was tough enough to take, but he'll be pushing seventy by the time Spielberg and Lucas free up their busy schedules. Hell, Ford wasn't even the first choice for the role (Tom Selleck, anyone...?). Imagine Lost's Josh Holloway in the fedora and jacket, dropping Sawyer-style quips as he's chased by natives through some sweltering jungle. I'd rather see that than the continuing adventures of Shia LaBeouf.
I definitely could see Holloway in that kind of mold. But Spielberg is so obssessed with his Shia-pet, that it's unlikely they'd go in any other direction.
Well, he likes his martinis shaken, not stirred. He tends to break Q's gadgets. He really doesn't like this Blofeld guy because of some stuff about Blofeld rudely shooting his wife on their wedding day. He drives really nice cars. And he's smart enough to always wear a parachute in his ski-suit. What else do you really need to know about Bond, anyway?
Regarding Indiana Jones, I agree they should just stop at this point. The older films speak for themselves, and the new one suffered from really bad scriptwriting. I would have been okay with the older Indy and even the wilder parts of the plot if the dialogue hadn't been so awful.
And I don't think Lucas has that busy of a schedule these days. He's basically back in the situation he was in before he did the prequels, managing his production companies at arm's length. Spielberg is definitely busy, but he'd make room if someone had an interesting idea. But I think the time for this is long over. If they were going to make more of these films, the time was 20 years ago.
I'd rather see that than the continuing adventures of Shia LaBeouf. 