Ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm for all the gold in the Seven Kingdoms, not only was there much speculation about the future of the STAR WARS universe, but INDIANA JONES as well. But luckily we have gotten word that Indiana Jones will return, and that the dynamic duo of Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford will be cracking the whip together again. However, it is important to note that Ford will be 77 years old by the time this new JONES movie is slated to come out. Though we are all looking for a Fountain of Youth-type elixir so that he may go on playing Jones for centuries to come, I don't think we will find it in time.
So, naturally, those at Disney are looking to the future, and Collider reports the studio has a very specific goal in mind when it comes to the historic series. ILM President Lynwen Brennan gave a detailed explanation of what they’re doing during a panel called "The Art of Storytelling" at Star Wars Celebration Europe:
Kiri [Hart] and her group have mapped out a story and timeline across multiple platforms many years in advance, many exhausting years in advance. … We have a great honor to have responsibility for, so we want to be really careful with that. Not only for Star Wars but with Indiana Jones, which we’re all really excited about as well.
This comes on the heels of something Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about last month, where he talked about the idea of more JONES movies:
Right now, we’re focused on a reboot, or a continuum and then a reboot of some sort…We’ll bring [Ford] back, then we have to figure out what comes next. That’s what I mean. It’s not really a reboot, it’s a boot — a reboot. I don’t know.
There was also word that there is a Story Group behind JONES that will help navigate where the stories go, much like with STAR WARS, where this kind of group navigates how main “episodes” of WARS tie in with standalone movies. If this is the case for JONES I would go as far as to consider that a bit of overkill. JONES doesn’t exist in a massive universe like STAR WARS or Marvel movies. He is his own being and each movie can be its own, unique adventure. There’s no knowing how a JONES movie universe would actually work, but with this series, maybe it’s best to just stick with individual adventures.
INDIANA JONES 5 is set for release on July 19, 2019 with Steven Spielberg set to direct, David Koepp on script, John Williams doing the music, George Lucas confirmed to executive produce and Harrison Ford will return as the greatest archaeologist of them all. And I'm sure there are a lot.