Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford have been trying to get Indiana Jones 5 going for a while now. It was originally set for release in May of this year, but Spielberg, Disney and Lucasfilm pushed it back so that he could remake West Side Story.
An updated production schedule has been a bit hard to pin down, but in a recent interview with CBS News promoting his new film, The Call of the Wild, Ford provided some pertinent information about when we might see Indy 5 as well as his feelings about returning to beloved characters.
“Trying not to look silly,” Ford told CBS News about the challenges of returning as beloved characters. “Y’know, running around in tight pants and high boots. I’ll give you a more appropriate answer considering that I’m gonna start doing Indiana Jones in about two months, I’m always delighted to come back to these characters. When we have the opportunity to make another it’s because people have enjoyed them. I feel obliged to make sure that our efforts are as ambitious as they were when we started. You have a sense of responsibility to your customers.”
If you thought 65-year-old Ford was too old to play Indy, how about 77? It’s pretty incredible how he’s been able to return to a number of characters over the past few years considering his age. Whether it’s Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens or Rick Deckard in Blade Runner: 2049, he keeps himself in great shape. And he apparently can’t wait to play Indy again.
No matter the role though, Ford still takes great pride in entertaining viewers and telling great stories. And he apparently sees what he does as a transaction where he’s selling something to customers.
“I think of the people that go to my movies more as customers than I do as fans,” Ford added. “‘Fans’ feels kind of weird to me, always has; but the fact that these people support my business and I’m responsible to them for the quality of the service that I offer, that feels better to me.”
Speaking of quality, he’s probably eager to dawn the fedora again because the “customers” want their money back after seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. They waited nearly 20 years to get another Indy movie and despite the film’s massive box office ($786 million worldwide), fans would probably like to forget it ever happened.
A proper sendoff for the character is needed then and Ford and Spielberg aren’t getting any younger. Thankfully, David Koepp is hard at work on the script for Indiana Jones 5 and while he did write Crystal Skull, he also penned Jurassic Park, Spider-Man and Panic Room, so he’s more than comfortable with major studio films.
