Indiana Jones and the Next Movie
1981 - 1984 - 1989 - 2008 - 2017 - Those first four numbers are the release years of the archaeological adventure film franchise that centers around the venerable Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. 1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1984 - Temple of Doom, 1989 - Last Crusade, and 2008 - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The last number - 2017 - is the year in which a fifth Indiana Jones film should have been released based on the average number of years it took for each sequential project to follow the one preceding it. (Obviously, the gap between 1989’s Last Crusade and 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tilts the average and, in all scholarly argument, should be exonerated; however, this is but a humble piece on the imaginative world of Indiana Jones). So here we sit in 2019, two years post average, and still no fifth Indiana Jones movie.
As I’m sure as its intention was to, the quadrilogy (that’s right, quadrilogy) was dropped on Netflix on January 1st, 2019, sparking a thought in this mind, ‘How come there hasn’t been a new Indiana Jones’ movie since 2008?’ The more I thought about it the more it didn’t make sense: though not the most profitable of the four, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in by no means was a flop; Indiana Jones is not only one of most iconic adventure characters of all time, BUT ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC CHARACTERS OF ALL TIME; in an era where audiences are captivated by the actions and adventures of the almighty superhero one would think that Indiana and his exploits would be a nice “reality” “back to Earth” reprieve from the vast CGI sceneries while still maintaining a high level of action and fantasy; and, to me, the biggest confuddlement of all, The Walt Disney Company has owned the intellectual property of Indiana Jones for seven years now!
In 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4 billion which entailed, of course, the Star Wars holdings, as well as the Indiana Jones title (Paramount still retains the distribution rights to the first four ‘Jones’ movies and will receive “financial participation” from any additional films). Now I get it, you pay $4 billion for something, you are going to want to grind out the asset in which you dropped the cheddar on, which we all know was Star Wars. And grind it out they did. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, alone, generated a little more than $2 billion, and combining that with the other three Star Wars movies, Rouge One, The Last Jedi, and Solo: A Star Wars Story, the total box office gross comes in around $4.8 billion. But damn it, enough about Star Wars. This is about Indiana Jones. Okay, so; Disney, you can relax. Take a breather, your investment paid off. There was a little hiccup with Solo but I have full faith you will iron out those wrinkles. Star Wars, in effect, is a ☑. So then it’s on to our favorite swashbuckling professor. (Before we do, I suppose I ought to take it a little easier on the mouse house. Maybe they had to wait for Stevie (he was working on those knockouts The BFG and Ready Player One {not sure how to add sarcasm to the written word just yet}) before they could move forward with an IJ (that’s just another way to say Indiana Jones) title, because there’s no way anybody is making an Indiana Jones movie without him right? And, I guess, throw Harrison Ford in there (and my personal belief, add Karen Allen to that list as well)).
Okay, since one of the largest movie production companies in the world can’t run two hustles at one time, we’ll have to wait for Rey and Kylo to finish their thing and see how The Rebellion acquired the plans to destroy the Death Star, oh, SPOILER ALERT. Wait, did I say this was about Indiana Jones? This frickin’ Star Wars stuff is like a magnet. Sorry about that. Let’s get it together here. When I first embarked on thoughts about writing this article (about Indiana Jones not Star Wars), I knew nothing about a possible fifth Indy adventure in the works. However, as a diligent member of The Halftime Snack, I put my researching gear on and came across some noteworthy stuff. I would like to share that stuff with you now. My first discovery was that in June of 2009 (before the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm) there was some speculation about a fifth movie involving a plot revolving around the Bermuda Triangle (oohs and ahhs) that would begin filming in 2011. These were unsubstantiated rumors. Then seven, there’s that number again, must be special ;) seven, long, cold, Dr. Jonesless years fluttered by and, seemingly out of nowhere, on March 15th, 2016, Walt Disney Studios announced the fifth Indiana Jones film would be released on July 19th, 2019! With Harrison Ford reprising his role as Okie Young, wait... hold on... yep, that didn’t sound right. I just double checked on that... he will be reprising his role as archaeologist Henry “Indiana” Jones! And Sven Spielberg, wait... sorry again, Steven Spielberg will direct. Now, I don’t know what I was doing in 2016 but I never became aware of this news. When I came across it three years later, the “Indiana Jones theme” slowly began to fade into my head. I could have stopped there, dusted off the ol’ bull whip and began to prepare myself for this July’s release. I didn’t, I continued on in the search for more information, quite like some popular character from the 80s - never mind. For some reason on the official Star Wars website, in April of 2017, it was announced that the fifth Indiana Jones release date was moving to July 10th, 2020. Curious, but only a small set back in the grand scheme of a movie’s life. Things started to heat up again when the trade magazine Variety reported that the film would begin principal photography at the beginning of 2019 - Let’s remember, when was the quadrilogy released on Netflix? You got it, January 2019. Maybe a nice little primer for readers and writers to be abuzz about? - Back to the spring of 2018, the man himself, Sv- Steven Spielberg confirmed that filming would begin in April 2019 in, you guessed it, the Bermuda Triangle - nope, sorry once again. The United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is where the fifth installment of the esteemed franchise will begin its big screen journey. All systems are a go, all systems were a go, until four months after Spielberg’s announcement. Disney pushed the film’s release date from July 10th, 2020 to July 9th, 2021. Why? Script issues? They couldn’t find the costume? Who really knows? Who really cares? As long as the wheels stay in motion and they do their due diligence with the crossing of ‘t’s and dotting of ‘i’s. (Half-cocked plans only work for kicking Nazi ass, not full scale movie production). Finally, we are up to date and can get to the good stuff. The stuff this has all been leading to, speculation.
“The one thing I will tell you is I’m not killing off Harrison [Ford] at the end of it,” Spielberg told The Hollywood Reporter in June of 2016. Which; frankly, is refreshing. There is nothing worse than watching a movie and wondering the whole time if a main character is going to be killed. I cite Fast and the Furious 7. There’s that seven again. And really, that’s not what Indiana Jones’ movies are about. We can leave that material to the other Lucasfilm entity. So, Dr. Jones will not perish, and that’s really about all we know; which again, is refreshing. I operate with the mode of ‘the less I know about plot, theme, setting, casting, cameo, ect., the better the experience.’ Much like Frank Costanza, I like to go in fresh. Plus, we’re all pretty much sold on a fifth Indiana Jones movie right? Okay, where were we? Yes. Speculation. So Junior isn’t going to die, Mutt Williams probably won’t be around; we don’t need to talk about that, and more than likely it will be Harrison Ford’s last go around as Mr. Jones {Hey! You call him doctor!} sorry, Dr. Jones, at least in a leading roll. “This will be Harrison Ford’s last Indiana Jones movie, I am pretty sure, but it will certainly continue after that,” Spielberg told some outlet called The Sun. So he’s not going to die and he won’t be back... I would say that you literally send him and Marion off into the sunset but you played that card at the end of Last Crusade... I’m not here to play the guessing game though and, I don’t want to (see above). The thing I am inquisitive about and will speculate more on is the future of Indiana Jones after this fifth chapter.
It was done in Last Crusade but that was like, thirty years ago, no one’s going to remember. Send Indy and Marion off into the sunset, we all know they deserve it, and then boom! Hit us with an origin story. Because why? Because everyone loves an origin story. Again, kind of did it in Last Crusade, and it was good but, there’s nothing like a full length feature to drive home the complexities of a character’s beginnings; not to mention (to keep the franchise alive) you’re going to need to indoctrinate a whole new generation into the series who simply will have no interest in sitting through three movies from the 80s - at least to begin with. After you hook ‘em with the origin story they’ll have no choice but to watch ‘Ark’ to ‘Crusade’, hopefully in IMAX releases. Another reason to “bring it” with a full blown origin story is, there has got to be a literal metric ton of escapades between losing the Cross of Coronado and the meeting with Lao Che (because remember, Temple of Doom is a prequel folks.) Some may be crying foul because there are too many to count ‘Indiana Jones and the’ books (that’s not true I’m just lazy) and a television series from the early 90s, both of which are canon but are superseded by the daddy/mother canon (the films.) However, this writer doesn’t know about those things and I would wager the general Jones fan doesn’t either. Anyhow, maybe it doesn’t have to be an origin story. What about the story of how he and Marion met? Henry Jones is roughly ten years older than Marion and they met when she was about 16 or 17 making him... well, a lot older. Maybe that’s not a great idea. Origin story it is. It will have shadow shots, it will have chase scenes, and it will have the best ‘punch’ sound effects in the game. Will it be directed by Spielberg? Hopefully. Here’s the timeline, Indiana Jones and The Sunset, Indiana Jones and The Origin Story, and then... then what? Because if Harrison Ford won’t be playing the character any longer, and he IS the character, "Indiana Jones is Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones,” George Lucas stated one time in 2008 (trust me I read it on wikipedia that he did say that). So if Harrison Ford is no longer around and Henry “Mutt” Jones-Williams III is not an option, as Lucas said jokingly, “If it was Mutt Williams it would be Mutt Williams and the Search for Elvis or something.” Does anyone even know where Shia is? (Charlie Countryman is a good flick though, check it out if you haven’t seen it, it’s on Netflix (at time of writing)). Adding Lucas’ comments to the remarks Harrison Ford made to Time Magazine in 2016 when he was asked about passing the fedora to LaBeouf, “What are you talking about? It's mine. I would love to do another Indiana Jones movie. George Lucas is working on an idea now. Shia can get his own hat. I earned that hat,” and you have a pretty ironclad argument that there will not be any more Muttin’ around. Getting back to the point. How can you have an Indiana Jones title without Indiana Jones? Two options: Alternate realities or, the future. Stay with me. With the alternate reality scenario the prospect of having a “young” Indiana Jones is tantalizing. I’m thinking played by, that’s right, Mahershala Ali. He is the man of the hour and don’t tell me he wouldn’t look good in an avant-garde fedora. Another benefit with the alternate reality theme? Full on animation. Did anyone see Into the Spider-Verse? Yeah. Awesome. And you know who could voice the good doctor? That’s right, Shia LaBeouf. No. The animated character could, of course, be voiced by Harrison Ford. The thrilling thing about the alternate reality scenario is, by definition, the possibilities are endless.
Let’s move on to the less exciting but explore-able option of a futuristic Indiana Jones. For this one to work properly it would have to take place in the far distant future with a plot similar to that of Jupiter Ascending. Did anyone see that movie? Was it just me? The screenwriter would need to devise a way to make the audience believe that the “new” Indiana Jones was essentially, for the lack of a better word, a reincarnated “original” doctor Jones. Yes I know, it’s wild but, what are movies supposed to be? Who would play this “new” Indiana Jones? Why not Mahershala Ali? Or maybe an unknown. Who was the carpenter on The Force Awakens? The futuristic IJ idea might not hold as much water as the alternate reality proposal, but still, if the writer is good enough, anything can be accomplished.
More than likely though, neither of these suggestions will come to fruition which leaves us back at square one, how do you make an Indiana Jones movie without Indiana Jones? What makes the most sense? Probably a niece. Especially with these comments by Spielberg, “It’s time the character took a different form,” he said as he was talking about the opportunity to cast a female in the title role. “We’d have to change the name from ‘Jones’ to ‘Joan’” he joked. “And there would be nothing wrong with that.” I’m not going to bring it up because he’s a legend but, you wouldn’t have to change the name of Jones. It’s a surname and would totally be acceptable with a female lead. But that’s beside the point. The niece/nephew concept is overplayed but it works. Maybe you could throw an adoption in there but the character has to be far enough away from Dr. Jones Jr. to where the audience doesn’t keep asking ‘why isn’t the real Indiana around?’ You set up the niece in Indiana Jones and The Sunset and then you bring her back as a young adult after Indiana Jones and The Origin Story. Played by, Hailee Steinfeld. Period. Working from the Harrison Ford quote about “earning” the hat, she could spend her origin story, yeah two Indiana Jones origin stories. Can we handle it? Can the film makers handle it? It’s risky, it might be overkill, but it might just be what the archaeologist ordered. Her origin story will open with the character placing the iconic hat on her head and then snapping the neck of a king cobra. Why? Because she’s not the same person ;) When asked about the hat, she’ll answer in a tongue in cheek way with “It’s just a hat.” IJ purists will be upset. But then, through her courageousness and bravery (and wit) throughout the movie, the audience will learn that she was worthy of the hat the whole time. I’ll tell you this, she won’t spend her origin story being reluctant to embrace the role as master adventurer, as Hollywood likes to slam in our faces so often with “reboot” characters. Do I have an example? I do not. No, she’s a straight boned badass from the jump and there’s no mention of the ‘original’ Indiana Jones, other than when asked about her name it’s one of those “We loved/admired/respected your uncle so much we named you Indiana (it’s her birth name) blah blah blah blah blah.” Or, she was simply born in Indiana and just happens to have the last name of Jones, because it is a very common last name (the 4th most common last name in The United States) and in no way shape or form even knows who Dr. Henry Jones Jr. is (because all his explorations are classified) and she just coincidentally gravitated towards the study of archaeology (this could tie into the Jupiter Ascending story line... .) Either way, as long as it’s actionious and adventurous and the good guys win, I will be there to see it. And in fact, I’m headed to Fandango right now to purchase my ticket because, I don’t know about you, but I want to live in a world where Gal Godot is kicking ass as Wonder Woman, Alicia Vikander is taking names as Lara Croft, Brie Larson is patrolling the cosmos as Captain Marvel, and Hailee Stienfeld is whippin’ fools as Indiana Jones. What else can be added to that list? Storm origin story. Alexandra Shipp (she was great in Love, Simon too). Also, have I made it clear yet that I really enjoy origin stories? I’ll prove it, Storm origin story and then... Gamora origin!
The certainty is that the Indiana Jones franchise will carry on long after Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford graduate to the next level. Do we trust Disney to do the right thing? I don’t know. The Marvel universe has been successful; but, Disney has basically had control of it since its birth. Pixar hasn’t dropped too far from the animation echelons, despite the stigma of the movies being branded more as a ‘Disney’ movie than as a ‘Pixar’ movie. All in all... yes, I am optimistic about the future of Indiana Jones. I mean, really; Indiana Jones is right up Disney’s ally of a fun, family friendly, action adventure, movie going time. Sure, we probably won’t be getting any faces being melted off or hearts being torn from chests, and looking back, can you believe that both of those sights were in a PG rated movie? How cool is that? I believe it is. Some parents; however, do not/did not agree, and in fact, before Raiders of the Lost ark and Temple of Doom, there was no such thing as a PG-13 rating. Some of the more violent sequences in Temple of Doom, like a man’s beating heart being ripped from his body and then catching fire as that man is lowered into a chasm filled with molten lava, and other criticisms from Gremlins (another of Spielberg’s films) lead Spielberg to make a suggestion that the Motion Picture Association of America add an intermediary between the PG and R ratings. Two months after Temple of Doom’s release, the PG-13 rating was introduced. So there’s a fun little fact you can put in your cap. Another fun little fact: Raiders of the Lost Ark is just ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ The other three titles are all ‘Indiana Jones and the.’ Carrying on. If this 5th Indiana Jones movie will in fact be Harrison Ford’s last hurrah, let’s make it a good one. Nothing flashy, no CG monkeys, just a solid plot with clever dialog, a good pace, and some trademark direction because this next movie is important on a two fold argument. One: it has to send Harrison out on top and; Two: it needs to set up and establish a theme and direction moving forward. We’ve talked about multiple directions the franchise could take and, the more I think about it ‘cause; I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go…
It starts as an origin story with a young, strapping Henry Jones Jr. doing some traditional Indiana Jones stuff, riding horses, punching people, dirt, dust, and then - Boom! Some really crazy shit happens. We’re talking portal opening, worm hole, dimensional beings - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - and the young Indiana Jones gets thrust into the future, the extreme future. Mahershala Ali appears as “future” Indiana Jones and meets “young” Indiana Jones. Some things go down, a McGuffin is introduced, and then bam! We’re in the “present” timeline of 1962ish looking for the “original” Indiana Jones. He is, of course, teaching a class, explaining something cool and we, the audience as well as young Indiana and Mahershala Indiana, roll up on him like Brody in ROTLA and LC. After a moment of awe (because there’s three Indiana Joneses in the same room,) some plot points get discussed and then it’s on, high gear. Next thing we know we’re back giving it good to some nazi’s in Raiders of the Lost Ark using scenes from the original film. At this point there are four Indiana Joneses. Young Indiana Jones; future, Mahershala, Indiana Jones; original, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones; and, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” Harrison Ford Indiana Jones. We have a scenario à la Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban meaning the three Indys can’t be seen by “Raiders of the Lost Ark” Indy. You know the deal. The three Indys do what they gotta do in 1936 and then POW! It’s animated. Maybe it’s not as abrupt as POW! But a reasonable, well thought out transition from 1936 Egypt to an animated format. Once we’ve made it to the animated part of the movie things can really get crazy. You can go “artsy” animation, “classic Disney” animation, experimental animation. You have your crew over at Pixar, they’re pretty good at what they do. Or why not just go for it and incorporate them all. Things are fun for awhile but then it’s too much and the three Indys need to be saved from the animated realm and who shows up? It’s another Mahershala Indiana in his heptahebdomecon, a craft with the ability to slice through dimensional spacetime à la ‘The Subtle Knife.’ Two Mahershalas! That’s right, two roles for two statues (even though Act II Chiron played by Ashton Sanders was the better performance. Shit, maybe he should be the Indiana Jones. Ah, it’s too late, I can’t rewrite this. He can be young Indiana Jones in origin story #3.) Now you’re probably saying, ‘Hey! What’s the difference between the two Mahershala’s? That doesn’t make sense.’ Let me explain. The first Mahershala is an Indiana Jones from the future in the “main” timeline, the Indiana Jones timeline that exists now as we know it. The second Mahershala is from a one hundred percent different dimension. If you don’t understand the concept of different dimensions then you probably would not have had made it this far in the article. I’m going to keep going. So Mahershala II shows up and in the blink of an eye we’re back to a more “reasonable” timeline/dimension. I’m thinking the American West, and who’s there? Hailee Stienfeld as Indiana Jones. We have FIVE distinctly different Indiana Jones characters, maybe a sixth they picked up from the animated piece, and really... from there, it writes itself. Basically, things happen to resolve the conflict and all Indys have to go back to their respective timelines and dimensions as being displaced from them has upset and unbalanced the archetypal spacetime continuum, or whatever you want to call it. The original, Harrison Ford Indiana has obliviously been the ring leader of all the Indianas because he’s like, the “keystone” Indiana, the “King of Kings” if you will. After defeating the whatever, Nazi thuggee soviet dimension beast (is that what Dormammu is? hey Disney, you do own the rights...) they all have a little moment of humor and heart before departing back to their homes. Harrison Indy feels comfortable leaving the universal dimensions in the other Indiana Jones’ hands. He gladly hangs his bull whip in the closet and puts his shoulder bag in a wardrobe. He joins Marion on their Utah porch just in time to enjoy a cold glass of iced tea and watch as the sun sets in the valley. He stretches his legs out crossed in front of him and puts his hat over his eyes... Indiana Jones and the Alternate Realities.
Bonus Article:
Spielberg’s dedication to the first frame of each Indiana Jones movie mimicking the Paramount logo is beautiful. Can’t wait to see what he does with that Disney castle.
Ranking the ‘Paramount first frames’ from worst to best:
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
3. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
