Why Indiana Jones 5 Was Right To Bring On Logan's Director, According To The Producer

Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Each Indiana Jones movie has unique elements to distinguish it from the other entries, but the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 is particularly special due to the fact that it’ll be the first not to be directed by Steven Spielberg. Instead, Logan and Ford v Ferrari filmmaker James Mangold will sit in the director’s chair, and producer Frank Marshall is confident that Mangold was the right choice to take the reins for Indiana Jones 5.

Frank Marshall summarized his positive feelings about James Mangold working on Indiana Jones 5 thusly:

His love of the franchise. He’s a wonderful filmmaker. I think he also has a relationship with Harrison. It was all of the right pieces coming together, at the right time.

When a new director comes aboard a franchise, it certainly helps if they were already a fan of said franchise. Combine that with James Mangold having already struck up a good dynamic with Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford, and an impressive filmography that also includes Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma and The Wolverine, and as Frank Marshall sees it, that’s a winning formula for a suitable person to succeed Steven Spielberg on Indiana Jones 5.

It was reported back in February that Steven Spielberg was stepping away from directing Indiana Jones 5 because he wanted to “pass along Indy’s whip to a new generation to bring their perspective to the story.” Spielberg is still involved as a producer, but now Indiana Jones fans finally have an opportunity to see what this film series can look like with someone new overseeing the filming process.

During his interview with Collider, Frank Marshall also mentioned that the writing process on Indiana Jones 5 has “just started.” That’s somewhat surprising, because even ignoring all the Indiana Jones 5 drafts that have been set aside over the years, you’d think that when James Mangold came aboard, there was at least a bare bones narrative shared with him. Then again, perhaps when Mangold was hired to direct, the creative team decided to start from scratch so that the filmmaker could be involved with crafting the story.

Regardless, don’t expect Indiana Jones 5 to begin production anytime soon, as Frank Marshall added that due to the current health crisis, him, James Mangold and everyone else piloting the Indiana Jones 5 ship are keeping a close eye on new safety guidelines and figuring out other solutions. Back in February, Harrison Ford said that filming was going to begin in April, but obviously that never happened.

As a result, this means it’ll be a long time before Indiana Jones 5 is released in theaters. The movie had previously been penciled into the July 9, 2021 slot, but in early April, it was among the many movies that Disney pushed back. It’s now scheduled for July 29, 2022, but it’s entire possible that could it could be pushed back yet again somewhere down the line.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news on how Indiana Jones 5 is coming along, but in the meantime, look through our 2020 release schedule to learn what movies are slated to hit the big screen later this year.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.