Steven Spielberg will not be returning to direct the newest film in the Indiana Jones franchise.
After directing all of the previous Indiana Jones movies, Spielberg decided that he was no longer interested in directing a fifth Indiana Jones film. Spielberg will still remain on as a producer for “Indiana Jones 5”.
The lead candidate to fill Spielberg’s shoes is James Mangold. Mangold recently received high praise for his direction on “Ford V Ferrari”. Mangold is also known for directing the last two films in the Wolverine franchise, “The Wolverine” and “Logan”.
Recently, while promoting “The Call Of The Wild”, Harrison Ford revealed that he was going to begin filming “Indiana Jones 5” this April. Originally, “Indiana Jones 5” was scheduled to hit theaters on July 19, 2019. Since then, it has been delayed several times, and the most recently release date associated with the film was July 9, 2021. This definitely throws a wrench into the works, and with Spielberg’s departure, it should result in “Indy 5” being delayed yet again.
Source: Variety
The trend of Lucasfilm losing directors continues.
Just 86 the whole thing. Steven must not feel passionate about it, so that’s a pretty good sign the story wasn’t where he wanted it to be. And they won’t delay it because of Ford.
I have no doubts the new director could pull it off judging from “Logan” alone, but come on. If the film has literally taken years to get off the ground, been delayed a bunch of times, and now Spielberg doesn’t even want to direct, what’s the point? I was pretty excited for this, but now I just wish they’d cancel it.