SALT LAKE CITY — Harrison Ford has confirmed the next installment of the “Indiana Jones” series will be swinging — or shambling, depending on your opinion of “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” — into production in 2020.
Ford recently spoke with Variety and said he’s excited to put on his fedora and work with director Steven Spielberg again. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “Things are coming along well.”
The comment follows Ford’s previous opinion that he wants to be the only actor to play Indiana Jones, according to Esquire. Chris Pratt has been previously mentioned as a fan favorite to play the rebooted character, but it looks like that won’t happen.
"Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones, don't you get it?" Ford said in a Today interview. "I'm Indiana Jones. When I'm gone, he's gone. It's easy.”
Ford’s last turn as the iconic archaeologist was in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which saw the character fighting against Russian agents to find the titular kingdom. There were nuclear explosions, man-eating ants, a vine-swinging Shia LaBeouf and psychic aliens — all for a good time, even if Spielberg didn’t like the film's MacGuffin, or plotline, Empire reports.
"I'm very happy with the movie. I always have been. ... I sympathize with people who didn't like the MacGuffin because I never liked the MacGuffin,” Spielberg said. “George (Lucas) and I had big arguments about the MacGuffin. I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings. But I am loyal to my best friend.”
Deseret News previously reported that Ford made an appearance at the grand opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge alongside Lucas, Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams. The next Indiana Jones film is expected to come to theaters on July 9, 2021.