Indiana Jones 5: Steven Spielberg Reveals Involvement in Sequel

Despite initially being attached to direct the fifth movie, Indiana Jones fans were stunned when director Steven Spielberg backed out of the movie and it remained in the works. Just three months after departing the project, Spielberg’s replacement was revealed with 3:10 to Yuma, Logan, and Ford v Ferrari director James Mangold at the helm. Speaking in a new interview,  Spielberg clarified his involvement in the movie after stepping away from the sequel. When asked by Deadline about how in the loop he was, Spielberg noted he was “peripherally involved” in the film and he “advocated the fifth movie in favor of hiring James Mangold.” He added, “I’m going to let him make most of those decisions.”

Officially titled Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, no official synopsis for the movie has been confirmed.  Harrison Ford naturally returns for the movie, starring alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Shaunette Renee Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Oliver Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”).  

Is Indiana Jones 5 the last movie?

It’s worth noting that Lucasfilm has not expressly said that the fifth Indiana Jones movie is the last in the franchise, but everything that surrounds the movie has largely hinted at it being the final in the series. While introducing the trailer for the movie at D23 earlier this year, Ford said “This is it, I’m not falling down for you again!” Furthermore, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said as much to Vanity Fair as well, telling them: “We would never make Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford. Having just finished the fifth movie, I can tell you, there wasn’t a day I wasn’t on set where I wasn’t like, ‘Yes – this is Indiana Jones.’”

Despite this, word has come that the Indiana Jones franchise may be expanding to television again in a big way. It was previously reported that a Disney+ TV series was in the works as a spinoff of the feature films, with later news revealing that it would follow Abner Ravenwood, Marion Ravenwood’s father and Indiana Jones mentor. If the series sees the light of day it would mark the continuation of the series, just in a way that doesn’t require Harrison Ford.