Indiana Jones 5 Director Says Original Plans for Sequel Involved "Ghosts and Apparitions"
James Mangold explains the original story felt a bit too familiar.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny not only marked the end of the titular hero's journey, but it was also the first film in the franchise that wasn't directed by Steven Spielberg, as James Mangold instead stepped in to helm the adventure. More than merely directing the project, Mangold also developed the script with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, with the director revealing that the original plan for the sequel's conclusion was to incorporate supernatural elements like ghosts, though he ultimately changed course to venture into uncharted territory. Instead, the film introduces a time-travel device, which saw Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones making a fateful choice.
"When I came on the movie, they had been playing with a bunch of different things which were basically just reduxes of what had happened in the first movie. Just more apparitions and ghosts and I felt like I was just watching the first movie over again when I envisioned what was in the existing scripts," Mangold expressed to Gizmodo. "And I felt like what Steven and George [Lucas] and Larry Kasdan and David Koepp as well had done successfully in the other films, was to keep kind of pulling up a rock on a different aspect of history and metaphysics and not going back to the same thing. In a way I didn't want to do the kind of, 'Is it a Death Star again?'"
He continued, "As we got there, it started occurring to me that A) that's what the audience is going to be anticipating, and therefore not very surprising to them, and B) we'd be plunged just back into the opening of the film only with a 79-year-old Indy running around. I felt we needed something more shocking, something bolder, and something that also affected Indy. If he had gone back to Nazi Germany, he would simply be a hero trying to stop [Mads Mikkelsen's] Voller from doing his plan. If he ended up where he does end up in the film, he was going to be facing bigger questions about his own life and what he studied all his life. And I thought that was going to be more interesting. And, also, usually bolder is better if you can do it."
With the sequel having only landed in theaters months ago, and with the amount of expectation placed on it knowing it would be Ford's final foray as the hero, it has yet to be seen how well the ending resonated with audiences. Now that the film is available on home video and to stream on Disney+, more audiences are sure to experience the film to potentially support or decry the ending.
Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of the Indiana Jones franchise.
What did you think of the film's ending? Let us know in the comments!
