'Indiana Jones 5' has 'a writer's room' but George Lucas is not invited

Indiana Jones 5 is inching slowly closer to its 9 July, 2021 release date (1,011 days to go!) and its producer Frank Marshall has offered a brief update on the progress of pre-production.

Talking to ComingSoon.net while promoting Netflix’s lost Orson Welles film The Other Side of the Wind, Marshall revealed that he was in the process of assembling a “writer’s room” for the fifth Indiana Jones adventure, which will see Harrison Ford donning the fedora for the last time.

“I’m just here trying to get the writers room together [for Indiana Jones 5],” Marshall said.

ComingSoon’s Max Evry questioned the use of the term “writer’s room”, more often associated with TV series or expansive franchises, to which Marshall downplayed the idea.

“Well, I dunno if you’d call it a writers room, but a lot of people that we trust pitch ideas and things. Gathering info.”

Marshall revealed his intention to make the next Indiana Jones, which Steven Spielberg will direct after West Side Story, a more global adventure after 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was shot almost entirely in America. It was revealed earlier this year that Spielberg is planning to shoot the film in the UK next year.

It was also confirmed that Jonathan Kasdan, who recently scripted Solo: A Star Wars Story, was still the lead storywriter on Indy 5, but one person who wasn’t being consulted was series co-creator George Lucas.

“I love being with George and having his input,” Marshall explained, “but life changes and we’re moving on. He moved on. We’re very respectful of the original intentions of the movie, certainly Harrison’s character.

“The serialisation of what the original intention was. I’d love to have George there. I love being around George and working with him, obviously. It’ll be a little different, because the ideas are coming from a different place now.”

Very little is known about the story of Indiana Jones 5 yet. It was originally announced in 2016 with slated release date of July 2019. In early 2017, the release date was pushed to 2020, before being delayed again earlier this summer to 2021. Harrison Ford will be 79 when the film is released.

One thing we know for certain though is that Shia LaBeouf will NOT return as Mutt Williams, Indy’s long-lost son.

And it will be Harrison Ford’s final outing as the adventuring archaeologist.

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