With news of a fifth Indiana Jones film on the way in 2019 that will reunite Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg for another archaelogical adventure, there was a lot of optimistic enthusiasm for the project among fans. While KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL may have been the lesser of the Indy movies, the series is still batting .750 when it comes to the franchise as a whole… and 3-out-of-4 films being good to great is an average other brands wish they could have on their permanent records.
However, that excitement that perhaps INDY 5 may wipe away the nasty taste of CRYSTAL SKULL and send Dr. Jones off into the sunset on a high note is about to take quite a hit as I reveal to you the screenwriter being tasked with penning the script for the new film.
David Koepp, a familiar scribe who has worked with Spielberg on several occasions – notably THE LOST WORLD and WAR OF THE WORLDS – is first up to the plate to try piecing together the puzzle for Indy’s next journey. However, there is a project on Koepp’s resume that does stick out like a sore thumb which is where the hurt comes in. Koepp was one of the collaborators on INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, and that awful taste just came back, feeling as fresh as ever.
One can’t blame Koepp for all of CRYSTAL SKULL’s problems, as the script was Frankensteined together from a number of different ideas/concepts from several different writers over the years. It was a mish-mosh of lots of elements thought to be the best of their particular scripts, but when you put them together, you got something that better resembled disappointment or broken hopes and dreams. However, Koepp is guilty by association for being involved with the worst of the Indiana Jones films by far, and seeing his name involved on the new picture doesn’t exactly inspire confidence at the moment.
Indiana Jones doesn’t need anyone from the old guard involved right now, unless you’re going to reel in someone from one of the better films, like Lawrence Kasdan. In fact, if THE FORCE AWAKENS or JURASSIC WORLD offered any sort of advice for rejuvenating older franchises, it’s that new perspectives are the way to go… fresh blood, so to speak. David Koepp is hardly that.