Harrison Ford Staying On As Indiana Jones?
Harrison Ford has no plans to retire Indiana Jones’ iconic fedora and whip just yet. The actor squashed rumors of a successor to the role while during the red carpet event for his Yellowstone prequel series, 1923. When Deadline asked if he was ready to pass the baton after Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the actor paused and said, “No, I’m just telling a story. I hope you like it.”
His brief denial contradicts earlier declarations that the fifth Indiana Jones movie would be his last outing as the archaeologist. At the Disney fan expo in September, Harrison Ford appeared with his co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge to debut the first trailer for the film. Holding back tears, the 80-year-old hinted that this would be his last appearance in the series. “This is it. I will not fall down for you again!” he said via Yahoo! Entertainment.
However, the actor may have had a change of heart. Especially since Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said the studio would never make Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford. Speaking to Vanity Fair, the executive said, “Having just finished the fifth movie, I can tell you, there wasn’t a day I wasn’t on set where I wasn’t like, ‘Yes — this is Indiana Jones.’” She also cited lessons from recasting Han Solo in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story with younger actor Alden Ehrenreich.
The movie was not received well by fans. “Some people have talked about how Solo should have been a TV show,” she told the publication. “But even doing a show without Harrison Ford as Han Solo… it’s the same thinking,” Kennedy continued. However, Disney has confirmed the development of an Indiana Jones television series. But there is no information about whether the show would be a prequel featuring a younger Indy, or a spinoff following other players in an extended Indiana Jones Universe.
Indiana Jones was created by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in an attempt to develop a version of James Bond without the hardware. The collaboration resulted in a franchise that kicked off in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark, starring Harrison Ford as the titular character. The movie shattered box office records and was praised by fans and critics.
The Harrison Ford movie also cleaned up during awards season, winning an impressive five Academy Awards, along with a nomination for Best Picture. Today, Raiders of the Lost Ark is still considered a quintessential cinema classic with a place in the U.S. Library of Congress’s National Film Registry as a culturally and aesthetically significant piece of cinema history.
Led by Harrison Ford, the franchise went on to cement its place in pop culture with two brilliant sequels in 1984 and 1989. The films were followed by the less popular Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. The latest installment, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, is set for release on June 30, 2023. It is directed by James Mangold, from a script he co-wrote with Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth.
Set in 1969, the story follows archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) who lives against the backdrop of the Space Race. Uneasy about the U.S. Government recruiting former Nazis to help beat the Soviet Union in the competition to make it to space, he decides to investigate along with his goddaughter. Meanwhile, a NASA member and ex-Nazi named Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), who is involved with the moon-landing program, wants to create a better world by his own hand.
