Filming for the fifth Indiana Jones film is due to start next week, Harrison Ford has confirmed.
After more than a decade away from the role, Ford is now ‘looking forward’ to the next installment, which is set to be released in the next two years.
As of yet, not much is known about the highly anticipated film – although you can now start getting excited because the wheels are officially in motion.
Ford first took on the role of Indiana Jones nearly 40 years ago in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark, and since then has become the staple of the franchise.
Ford’s first appearance was followed by two sequels, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984 and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989.
Now 76, the award winning actor looks set to reprise the role after previously implying he and the character are so wrapped up together that it would be impossible for anyone else to take on portray Indy in future.
Despite the confusion surrounding who’s going to play the titular character – director Steven Spielberg even said it should be played by a woman next.
In an interview with Variety, Ford confirmed the film ‘should be starting to shoot sometime next week’.
The actor continued:
I’m looking forward to it. Things are coming along well.
This has been a long time coming for fans; the film was first announced in 2016 and it’s been a slow moving development process since.
Last summer, the release date of the film was pushed back a year by Disney to Summer 2021, ComicBook reports. In other words, the production team and cast have a generous two years to get everything ready for release.
Although there were rumours Ford would be replaced by a younger actor, Ford disputed this heavily last month when he stated that no-one else will ever play the iconic role but him.
Appearing on NBC’s Today, the actor was asked who he’d want to play Indie after him, to which he replied:
Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy.
Whether the role really will be finished when Ford hangs up his hat, or whether it will simply be passed to someone else as Spielberg suggests, is anyone’s guess.
For now all we can do is look forward to number five and see what awaits us.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).