Indiana Jones Series In The Works For Disney+
Disney+ has ordered an Indiana Jones tv series to make way for a slew of new franchise projects.
Action adventure icon Indiana Jones is coming to Disney+. Variety reports that a series is in development for the streaming service and the studio is looking for a writer to pen the script. This is the latest of many Disney-owned properties that the studio is looking to revive and expand.
The whip-wielding archaeologist is returning to theaters next year, and the fifth movie in the franchise is going to be Harrison Ford’s last. The character has had a lot of adventures in his lifetime, leaving plenty of room for more stories of his exploits as he travels the world seeking ancient relics to bring back to museums and anthropological study. A few other actors have played Indiana Jones at various ages, including in two other television shows, now for ABC and one for The Family Channel, now Freeform.
Disney has been looking at ways to expand on a lot of properties they own. A series based on the movie “Willow,” another Lucasfilm property, is also in the works, as well as a series based on the popular High School Musical movies. Disney has already shown its capacity for elaborating on its fictional worlds with successful streaming series based on Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The world is also an open book for Indiana Jones. There has been no word about what the series’ plot may be, and plenty of open in-world universe to explore. By the time audiences met the globetrotting adventurer, it was the mid-1930s and he had already had some of the escapades that built his reputation.
There is also a nearly 20-year gap between Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. This gap sees a change in villainous opposition, from the Nazis to the Soviets, with asides about Indy’s exploits since last we saw him. What was the intrepid hero doing during the beginning of the nuclear era?
Whether we get to see the humble beginnings of the career of Indiana Jones or his later feats of anthropological exploration, plans are proposed for more than just a series. More movies and other interactive media are also being explored as options to tell Indiana Jones stories and introduce him to new audiences. Since the Indiana Jones movies are all period pieces, new content could take viewers back in time and to some of the world’s most celebrated exotic locations.
The first four Indiana Jones movies have grossed $1.3 billion worldwide. That is competitive with franchises that have more movies and have come out more recently. There is definitely an appetite for joining the adventurer as he navigates ancient tombs and temples, finesses his way past fast-talking rivals, and fights off hordes of bad guys.
Disney seems ready to give us more Indiana Jones adventures, and hopefully they will be able to tell us more about this plan soon. Currently, all four Indiana Jones movies are available on Paramount Plus. Viewers can either catch up with the adventuring archaeologist or be introduced to him for the first time.
