July 19, 2019.
That’s when Disney wants to put Indiana Jones on screens again. Harrison Ford will return to star, which seems a given after his fan-approved reprisal of Han Solo. Steven Spielberg is set to direct, which is the only way this should happen.
One can’t help but think that Disney wants to apply their Force Awakens model here by enlisting the old to usher in the new. Speaking frankly, they’d be fools not to. It’s their job to keep this franchise alive and well, and that means populating it with chiseled new faces that fans will come to adore. Shia LaBeouf shouldn’t be one of them. Hiring Lawrence Kasdan to work on the screenplay seems like a given, so I won’t be surprised when that happens.
By the time this film is released, Ford will be 77. In the past two years, he broke his leg on his fake spaceship and crashed his not-fake plane. He can’t do this forever. We all know it, and so does Disney. And they also know that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is widely (and understandably) regarded as a real shart of a film. But if there’s anyone who knows what fans crave, it’s Disney. So in all likelihood, this is gonna be just fine. But good god, someone please keep Harrison away from the aircraft hangar.