He’s baaaaa-aaack. When Disney bought Lucasfilm, they every-so-gently nudged George Lucas out of the Star Wars picture, ignoring his notes and ideas for the sequels and going in their own direction. Apparently that won’t be happening with Indiana Jones. Yup, Steven Spielberg is bringing George Lucas along for Indiana Jones 5, because decades of friendship supersedes petty ownership concerns, dammit.
At a recent press conference for The BFG, Spielberg was asked if Lucas would be involved in Indy 5, and he answered bluntly, delivering what could be seen as a bit of a jab against Disney’s handling of Star Wars…
“George is going to be an executive producer on it with me. I would never make an Indiana Jones film without George Lucas. That would be insane.”
Beyond the producer role, Spielberg also promised that Lucas will have some sort of creative input in the movie. As co-creator of the series, Lucas typically comes up with the base idea and story for each movie, which is then refined and polished by Spielberg and various screenwriters. It’s unknown if Lucas will play the same role in Indy 5, but Spielberg definitely seems to be taking a “we’re doing everything like we’ve always done it” approach to the movie.
Of course, there will be plenty of nerd tooth gnashing about this, as fans weren’t exactly thrilled with The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and its aliens, monkey vine swinging and Shia LaBeouf. Personally, I’ve always thought Crystal Skull was more Spielberg’s fault than Lucas’. The Indiana Jones movies are supposed to be modern pulp adventures, and aliens fit in with that – it was bad effects, poor casting and Spielberg filming everything like a slapstick comedy that undermined the movie. At least that’s my hot take.
Indiana Jones 5 swings into theaters July 19, 2019.
(Via Comic Book Resources)
