Everything We Know About 'Indiana Jones 5'

Harrison Ford will don the fedora and crack the whip one more time.

indiana jones and the crystal skull
Harrison Ford in 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' | Paramount Pictures
Harrison Ford in 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' | Paramount Pictures

Almost as soon as the controversial Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull swung into theaters back in 2008, nuking fridges and discovering aliens 19 years after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, fans began to speculate about the possibility of a fifth entry in the beloved adventure series starring Harrison Ford. Would this really be the last time we saw Ford play the snake-hating, fedora-wearing hero? After over a decade of development rumors and behind-the-scenes turmoil, including the sale of LucasFilm to Disney in 2012, the still-untitled fifth Indiana Jones movie is now shooting in London. Ford is back and the hat still fits.

But what will the new Indy blockbuster be about? When will it hit theaters? Will Steven Spielberg and George Lucas be involved? We dug into the online catacombs and cut through the digital cobwebs to find some answers. There are plenty of places on the internet to find information and updates about the new Indy movie—not all of them trustworthy or legit—but luckily, by clicking on this link, you have chosen wisely.

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Harrison Ford in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' | Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

When will Indiana Jones 5 be released?

Indiana Jones 5 is currently scheduled to be released on July 29, 2022. (That will be over 40 years after Raiders of the Lost Ark was released on June 12, 1981, and Harrison Ford will be 80 years old by then!) When the movie was first announced in March of 2016, the released date was set for July 19, 2019. But a number of production changes, along with shooting delays due to the pandemic, led to the date being shifted into the summer of 2022.
 

Is there a trailer for Indiana Jones 5?

No, there's no trailer for Indiana Jones 5 yet. (We don't even have the official title yet.) Maybe there will be a teaser by the end of 2021? We'll have to wait and see.

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Harrison Ford in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' | Murray Close/Getty Images

What will Indiana Jones 5 be about?

Though there's no official word on exactly what the new Indiana Jones movie will be about, there are enough vague hints, bits of casting news, and rumors to cobble together a speculative synopsis. Harrison Ford will return to the main role and, given his age, it's likely the film will not take place too far in the past—unless the filmmakers choose to use some Irishman-like technology. Since Crystal Skull tackled the '50s, expect the new movie to land somewhere in the '60s.

In a tweet from earlier this year, Indiana Jones 5 director James Mangold mentioned listening to the Velvet Underground and "mentally living in '60s NYC right now" because of the movies he's working on. Does that mean the world's most famous Nazi-punching archeologist will be taking a walk on the wild side through the streets of Manhattan with Lou Reed? Probably not, but there's (unverified) speculation that the plot could revolve around Jones battling a "Nazi scientist enlisted into NASA by the United States government to work on the space agency’s moon landing initiative." (Hannibal's Mads Mikkelsen, who has officially been cast in the film, is rumored to be playing that key villain role.)

The film is currently shooting in the UK, where Ford recently suffered a shoulder injury while rehearsing a stunt. In June, Den of Geek speculated that the movie could be shooting a version of the "Scottish ghost fight" from an unused version of the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade script because pre-production photos surfaced of Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, UK. Then again, there are any number of Indiana Jones action sequences you could shoot at a big castle. The guy tends to find himself in all sorts of complicated situations.

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Harrison Ford at 'The Call of the Wild' premiere in 2020 | Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Who's in the cast of Indiana Jones 5?

As mentioned above, Harrison Ford will be returning to play Indiana Jones. He'll be joined by Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who will play the "female lead" in the film, and Mads Mikkelsen, who was recently nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film Another Round. Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong), and Shaunette Renée Wilson (Black Panther) will also appear in the movie.

It's also worth clarifying who will not be in the cast of Indiana Jones 5. Shia LeBouf, who played Indiana Jones's son Mutt Williams in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, will not be returning for the sequel. The actor spoke publicly about disliking his experience working with Steven Spielberg on Crystal Skull and early in the development process for the sequel it was confirmed he would not be involved. Last year, the musician FKA Twigs sued LeBouf for "sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress." He subsequently "parted ways" with the agency CAA and entered inpatient treatment.

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Filmmaker James Mangold | Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Who else is involved with making Indiana Jones 5?

Indiana Jones 5 will be the first Indiana Jones movie to not be directed by Steven Spielberg, who will remain on board as a producer. Instead, James Mangold will direct the film and co-write the screenplay with Jez and John Henry Butterworth, who penned the script for Mangold's car-racing drama Ford V. Ferrari. (Writer David Koepp, who wrote Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was initially working on a version of the script when Spielberg was set to direct but he left the project because "it seemed like the right time to let Jim have his own take on it and have his own person or himself write it.”)

Thankfully, John Williams, who created the iconic theme from the series, will return to compose the score.

On the producing side, Spielberg will be joined by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, the other co-founders of Amblin Entertainment. George Lucas, who initially conceived of the character and has a story credit on all the other Indiana Jones films, will not be involved.

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