Updates regarding the status of Indiana Jones 5 have been few and far between. However, Collider recently had an interview with the screenwriter of the film, David Koepp in which he discussed several important updates in the production. Koepp began by first detailing the status of George Lucas's involvement in the film:
“He’s not, to my knowledge. I’ve had no contact with him.”
This is extremely intriguing news, especially since George Lucas has been involved extensively with every other Indiana Jones film so far. Koepp continued on, describing the Macguffin for the story. It would appear the writers have learned some lessons from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull regarding the story direction.
“I think that what [Indy] looks for and when he looks for it dictates what the movie’s gonna be. So the selection of the MacGuffin is everything. I think Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, being set in 1957 there was a conscious desire to say, ‘Much like two of the other ones were World War II movies set in the 30s and early 40s, this is ’57 so a lot of our influences are gonna be science-fiction movies.’ You got that with the original [script], Jeb Stuart took the first shot at it with Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars. That was a really conscious decision that dictated a lot about what the story would be and what the movie would be like, and I think that was followed through on really nicely. I thought Steve did a really good job with that. I don’t know that the idea was most suited to an Indiana Jones movie, but that was what we did. So we tried to be very careful with the selection of the MacGuffin and the eras to give ourselves as much latitude to make the best kind of Indiana Jones movie that we most want to see. Learning how that’s the importance of the choice of the MacGuffin is a big deal.”
Koepp's tongue-in cheek references to the aliens in Crystal Skull may be a reference to moving away from a science fiction direction for the series. It is interesting to note that Koepp mentions he believes that the macguffin did not fit the tone of the series. Koepp continued on, describing the process of how the macguffin for the fifth movie might be selected.
"“It’s hard because you can learn like if something maybe didn’t work as well as you think it would well we certainly wouldn’t do that again, but you wouldn’t have done that again anyway, you already did it, so it’s hard to say. For me it was the MacGuffin dictates everything, and so we tried to make the best possible choice we could. Not that nobody didn’t try to make the best choice that they could in the past, but we tried to give us the one that gave us the Indiana Jones movie we most wanted to see.
“I’m deeply immersed as we speak. All I can say is that there’s lots of aliens and Indy dies at the end (laughs). Lots of hiding in lead-lined refrigerators, aliens, and he dies. Should go over very well.”
Koepp's descriptions seem to align with a story direction that is slightly less convoluted then Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It is extremely interesting that Collider mentions in their article as well that Koepp's story idea originated in co-operation with Spielberg over the artifact for the movie.
Koepp also mentioned filming may start sometime next year:
“That’s a tough one, I hope so. It’s certainly OK for me and I’ll be ready, but my schedule isn’t the tough one. So I think October—I hope, I hope so. We’ll see. That’s a hard one to answer.”
Filming locations for the movie have not been revealed as of now. As filming locations gradually become known, more of the films plot may be illuminated.
Indiana Jones 5 will release July 19, 2019. The film will feature the return of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. The movie will also be directed by Steven Spielberg. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will also return to produce. The film does not currently have a title. Stay tuned to Scified for the latest in Indiana Jones updates!
Source: Collider
