There’s always going to be an air of trepidation and nervousness for a big-budget action blockbuster, especially one that’s part of a franchise to have been famed for intense and intricate practical stunt work, to place a 78-year-old man in the lead role and then put him through the physical wringer.
Unfortunately, then, Harrison Ford has suffered a shoulder injury while rehearsing for an Indiana Jones 5 action sequence, leaving director James Mangold and his crew to rejig the production schedule over the coming weeks to avoid a complete shutdown, which also allows the leading man to continue his recovery away from the bright lights of both set photos and set pieces.
Unbelievably, this isn’t even the first time Ford has suffered a serious mishap while reprising one of his most iconic roles. If you’ll remember, a freak accident on the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens saw a hydraulic door on the Millennium Falcon crush his leg, so he’s hardly a stranger when it comes to his most popular characters coming back to bite him in the ass decades down the line.
It’s going to be a serious setback for Disney and Lucasfilm with Indy 5 having only kicked off shooting a few weeks ago, and Ford has clearly been right in the thick of the action since day one given that he’s been spotted in almost every image to have made its way online from the set, so it’s up to the supporting players to carry the load for at least the next little while. The good news at least is that the Indiana Jones 5 team deciding against halting things altogether would indicate Ford shouldn’t be out of action for too long.