Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.

But the director of Logan might

Steven Spielberg, who guided Indiana Jones through Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is throwing the whip to a new filmmaker to deliver the proposed fifth Indiana Jones movie.

A new report from Variety suggests that Spielberg will step down from the franchise on his own accord, leaving ample time for a new director to oversee the script and ramp up to production. Announced in March 2016, the movie was expected to hit theaters on July 19, 2019. A search for new writers bumped the production to July 10, 2020. Despite hiring Solo writer Jonathan Kasdan to pen a new script, the movie was bumped a second time to July 9, 2021. The director shuffle could spell another delay and a new release date.

Who could take over for Spielberg? The name in the ring is James Mangold, who’s coming off a major adult-oriented hit in Best Picture nominee Ford v Ferrari, and is best known for reinvigorating the X-Men franchise twice, with The Wolverine and Logan. There are no details on if Disney and Lucasfilm will court a new writer to join the project — Mangold mostly writes his own scripts — but the 77-year-old Harrison Ford remains attached to his role as Indy. Lucasfilm was not immediately able to confirm the news for Polygon.

Source: Polygon