Indiana Jones 5: Logan Director James Mangold Up to Replace Steven Spielberg as Director

Fans have been waiting for the fifth Indiana Jones movie for quite some time. It's been 12 long years since the fourth movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was released and folks are eager to see Harrison Ford return to the iconic role. The upcoming film has already had some setbacks, originally set to be released in July of 2019. After a couple of release date changes, the movie is now expected to begin filming soon. Fans of the original films might be disappointed to learn the movie's latest news, which is that Steven Spielberg will no longer be directing Indiana Jones 5. Spielberg helmed the first four movies, but according to Variety, James Mangold is in talks to take over the position. Mangold most recently helmed Ford V Ferrari, which was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars this year. The director has also tackled Logan, 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, and more.

"Spielberg will remain as a hands-on producer on Indy 5," Variety explains. "According to a source close to the filmmaker, the decision to leave the director's chair was entirely Spielberg's, in a desire to pass along Indy's whip to a new generation to bring their perspective to the story."

While the loss of Spielberg in the director's chair is disappointing, Mangold has proven himself to be a solid director over the years. This may feel like a setback, but as long as fans have Ford, there's still hope for a successful fifth film. Recently, the legendary actor revealed he was relearning how to use the character's iconic bullwhip.

Ford also recently shared that he hopes the film has the same success as Marvel.

"I don't really want to give them what they want to see," Ford says. "I want to give them something they didn't anticipate seeing. I think they're used to a degree of disappointment when you revisit -- I mean certainly the Marvel movies have made a spectacular example of success that worked the other way around. They killed it. Well, we're not going to make another Indiana Jones unless we're in a position to kill it. We want it to be the best. So we've got some scheduling issues, a few script things still to do, but we're determined to get it right before we get it made."

Indiana Jones 5 is expected to hit theaters on July 9, 2021.