Fans of Indiana Jones had to wait 19 years for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and despite the fourth installment earning almost $800m at the box office, the reception was more than a little divided. Despite this, a fifth outing has still been in development for the last decade, with Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm virtually ensuring that no marketable franchise would ever be allowed to simply end.
Indiana Jones 5 was officially announced in March 2016, and since then the proposed release date has been pushed back several times, countless writers have cycled in and out of the project, all while director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford drop vague soundbites on the status of the movie when questioned in interviews. If this all sounds a little familiar, that’s because this is exactly what happened during the two-decade development of Crystal Skull, and it looks like we’re going to have to go through it all again.
David Koepp, writer of Jurassic Park and Crystal Skull among others, has been attached to Indiana Jones 5 since the beginning, and recently offered a status update on the project that’s hardly the most encouraging news, saying:
“I’m working on it again. We’re still trying. And I think we’ve got a good idea this time. We’ll see.”
At this point, the studio should just let Indy ride off into the sunset, much like he did at the end of The Last Crusade back in 1989. If the guy they hired to write the movie only thinks he has a good idea three and a half years into the process, then maybe Indiana Jones 5 isn’t really worth it. Disney have more than enough big-name franchises at their disposal to bring in the box office dollars anyways, and Harrison Ford is 77 years old now, so maybe it’s time to hang up the hat and the whip for good.
