Spielberg is Out for Indiana Jones 5, Who Should Replace Him?

A report from Variety states that Stephen Spielberg is stepping down from the Indiana Jones franchise after many delays and set backs for Indy 5. This movie was originally set to premier July 19th, 2019 but was delayed in search for new writers with a new date of July 10, 2020. A new writer was found with Jonathan Kasdan who wrote the Solo movie. Seems fitting that the writer of a Harrison Ford replacement film would work on the next project, set to do the same thing. The movie was then delayed once more to July 9, 2021, and the search fro a new director may delay them again.

According to Variety, James Mangold is in talks to replace Spielberg. He’s worked on 3:10 to Yuma, Ford v. Ferrari, and Logan. He will be a good fit when you think of Wolverine in Logan. The old man in a new world. Still learning who is and what he wants to leave behind. One would assume that Indiana Jones will be in the same mind set. The lighting also comes to mind. The way Mangold used the desert sun to emphasize the loneliness of Logan or the sun shining on the forested mountain towards the end looking like a possible future for mutants. This film is likely a swan song for Harrison Ford, the director will have to be careful to portray the lasting image of Indiana Jones.

Now for my choice, Robert Zemeckis, the director of Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, and Cast Away. Zemekis has worked on a huge variety of films from action adventure to character driven tales of powerful and stoic figures being brought down to humble ends. As for action adventure. A film like Back to Future has a fast pace that keeps the audience’s hearts racing, this is expected for any Indiana Jones film. For his character focused efforts, lets look and Flight and Castaway. We begin these films with untouchable protagonist that have it all together. Then we fallow there fall from grace into humbling circumstances like living alone on an island and fighting suicidal thoughts or facing drug addiction in the public eye. When we first see Indy, he is likely doing well as a retired famous archaeologist. It would be interesting if he was brought back into service to correct his past mistakes. Seeing and Indiana Jones face some of the faults of his actions and correcting them could help lead to a new era and a new Indy.