Indiana Jones 5 has been threatening to move ahead for some time, and now Lucasfilm has announced the first new cast member to join Harrison Ford in the film: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the creator and star of Fleabag. In addition, composer John Williams will be returning for the movie when it releases on July 29, 2022.
James Mangold is the director of the fifth Indiana Jones movie, taking over from Steven Spielberg, who was expected to direct the film for a long time. This has been called the final movie in the series, and back in December, Disney announced that shooting would begin in 'late Spring' of this year – so likely at some point in the next couple of months.
This isn't Waller-Bridge's first time working with Lucasfilm: she played L3-37 in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, who seemed big on droid rights.
The last Indiana Jones movie, of course, was the divisive Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was released back in 2008.
Here's Lucasfilm's announcement of the news:
A new #IndianaJones adventure begins July 29, 2022. Phoebe Waller-Bridge joins the cast alongside Harrison Ford in the fifth installment of the iconic franchise. The inimitable John Williams will also return to score the film. pic.twitter.com/OrYJHNY6YsApril 9, 2021
A big few years for Indy?
While Lucasfilm has wasted no time on getting new Star Wars movies and shows made, Indiana Jones' return to the screen has been more tentative. Nonetheless, there are signs that the series has become a big focus point again – the movie will be joined by a new Indiana Jones game, to be made by Wolfenstein studio MachineGames, suggesting it'll be a high-quality product.
Indiana Jones is a slightly harder series to build on than Star Wars, however – while attempts have been made to create Indy stories without Harrison Ford, like the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV series, fundamentally the series is dependent on his presence to really make sense.
Well, in live-action, anyway. In theory, with a good soundalike, there's no real reason why video games shouldn't be the main destination for future Indy adventures.
