Steven Spielberg has been developing Indiana Jones 5 for years and was attached to direct it during that time. Well, he is no longer going to direct the film and is looking to hand the directing job off to another filmmaker! This comes as a huge surprise and it will be the first time in the franchise’s movie history that another director other than Spielberg will helm an Indiana Jones movie.
My first thought to this news was that there’s no point in making an Indiana Jones movie without Spielberg. But, then I saw the director who is in talks to replace him. That director is James Mangold, who is best known for helming Logan and the Acadamy Award-nominated film Ford v Ferrari.
I love Mangold’s film work and while I am sad that Spielberg won’t direct the movie, I think that Mangold could bring something very cool and fresh to the franchise if he decides to actually take on the job.
Spielberg will remain as a hands-on producer and according to Variety, “the decision to leave the director’s chair was entirely Spielberg’s, in a desire to pass along Indy’s whip to a new generation to bring their perspective to the story.”
I can respect that, and I get it… but still. I was really pumped up to see Spielberg and Harrison Ford team up again for one more film. Yes, Ford is still attached to the project. He previously talked about it saying that there are “scheduling issues and a few script things” and that “we’re determined to get it right before we get it made.”
Maybe bringing on Mangold to take over the directing duties is what the project needs to make sure everything is in line before they proceed. The most recent script for the film was written by Jonathan Kasdan, son of Raiders of the Lost Ark scribe Lawrence Kasdan, and it is currently scheduled to be released on July 9th. 2021.
What do you think about Spielberg stepping down as director? Would you like to see Mangold direct it?