Indiana Jones 5 has officially been delayed until July 2022. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012, much of their attention has been paid to the great Star Wars renaissance, but they aren't neglecting Lucasfilm's other prized blockbuster franchise. A fifth installment in the popular Indiana Jones franchise has been in development for a number of years, but keeps encountering issues on its way to production. The project has already been passed through several different writers and recently lost director Steven Spielberg (who's staying on as producer).
With Logan helmsman James Mangold taking over for Spielberg, things seemed to be steady on the Indy 5 front, but as most know by now, Hollywood has been rocked by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The health crisis has forced studios to shift entire release slates and shut down ongoing productions until it's safe to resume normal business operations. This means films that were aiming to start production this summer, like Black Adam and Shazam 2, are preparing for indefinite delays. Now, Indiana Jones 5 has joined that list.
Today, Disney announced Indiana Jones 5 will now release on July 29, 2022. It was part of a massive wave of release date changes as the studio reorganizes their slate following the pandemic. Indiana Jones 5 shares its new date with an untitled Paramount Animation film and opens a few weeks after another Mouse House tentpole: Captain Marvel 2.
The necessity for Indiana Jones 5's latest delay is most likely two-pronged. Disney, which has a multitude of blockbuster films in the pipeline because of the various subsidiaries they own, meaning they wanted to make sure they were avoiding internal competition as they rescheduled their movies. The studio wants to put Indiana Jones 5 in the best position to succeed without hurting another Disney film's prospects. Additionally, there was hope Indiana Jones 5 could begin principal photography this year ahead of a July 2021 release date, but that clearly isn't happening. With productions shut down indefinitely, Disney felt it best to just move Indiana Jones 5 back, and hopefully they'll be able to get the cameras rolling at some point in 2021 instead.
It's understandable why Lucasfilm is interested in making another Indiana Jones, it's getting close to the point where one has to wonder if it's worth all the trouble. The film was originally going to come out in summer 2019, and now it will have been postponed by at least three years. And as great as Harrison Ford is, he isn't getting any younger (he'll be 78 by the time Indiana Jones 5's new release date rolls around) and there's a limit to what he can do physically in an action role. Hopefully, Indiana Jones 5 turns out fine, but this has proven to be one tough nut to crack.
Source: Disney
