We’re now being forced to wait longer for Indy’s next big-screen adventure – quite a bit longer, in fact.
Doing good on those initial rumors, Disney has officially pushed Indiana Jones 5 back to the summer of 2021, where it’ll open a full 12 months later than it was supposed to.
An unexpected hitch with the production is seemingly the cause for the year-long delay, though The Hollywood Reporter notes that the Steven Spielberg sequel encountered some issues in the script department, and was therefore forced to surrender its initial July 10, 2020 slot.
Other movies affected by Disney’s switcheroo include Mary Poppins Returns and Maleficent 2, which are now expected to open on December 19th, 2018 and May 29, 2020, respectively. Jungle Cruise, another Emily Blunt gig, will set sail slightly later, too, given the Disney-backed adventure movie has been delayed until October 11th, 2019.
The silver lining here is that Jonathan Kasdan, son of Raiders of the Lost Ark scribe Lawrence Kasdan and one of the writers responsible for Solo: A Star Wars Story, has been brought on board to pen a new draft of Indiana Jones 5. Should everything go according to plan, he’ll be working from a treatment penned by David Koepp, a long-time Spielberg collaborator whose credits include the original Jurassic Park movie.
And while it’s disappointing that Harrison Ford won’t be back as the world-famous archaeologist for another year, an extended delay is no bad thing when it comes to hashing out a story, as a rushed screenplay would only result in a blockbuster devoid of originality and craft.
It’s official: Indiana Jones 5 will gallop into theaters on July 9th, 2021.