The Oscar-nominated director of Ford v. Ferrari is in early talks to take over directorial duties from Steven Spielberg in Disney’s upcoming Indiana Jones 5 movie.
Deadline reported on the news and added that Spielberg will still be on board as a producer. Disney continues to show strong support for James Mangold who has had a prolific career over at 20th Century Fox with films such as the Oscar-winning film Walk the Line, Logan, The Wolverine and Knight and Day.
Mangold is slated to be part of two Disney Searchlight projects, one of which is a Timothee Chalamet-starred Bob Dylan film and an on-screen adaptation of The Force from best-selling author Don Winslow that will feature Matt Damon for 20th Century Studios.
Ford v. Ferrari was only one of the very few original IP adult films that broke out of the box office last 2019, garnering a box office of over $225 million worldwide. The biopic-drama also won two Oscars for sound editing and editing alongside four nominations including a run for Best Picture.
It seems like Steven Spielberg is passing the torch of the Indiana Jones franchise down to Mangold, similar to how he let Colin Trevorrow succeed him in the Jurassic World franchise.
Harrison Ford is still slated to star in the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise and it seems like the release date for Indy’s fifth film is still scheduled for July next year.
Jonathan Kasdan took over writing duties after David Koepp left the project. Indiana Jones’ 4 films have earned almost $2 billion worldwide, with the latest movie, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull which was released way back in 2008 opened with a little over $100 million domestically.
Disney acquired Lucasfilm 8 years ago with their glaringly obvious goal was to get their hands on the Star Wars franchise, but Indiana Jones was another fan-favorite and long-running property that the Mouse House acquired in the deal. By the time the deal was finalized, Paramount had already started developing the fifth film, and for years have been in developmental limbo due to a myriad of constraints.
It seems like the wheels have finally started turning again, and even though people are aversive towards the fact that Spielberg dropped out of directing the film, it’s safe to say that the film will be in good hands with Mangold taking over so long as the production doesn’t get anymore road bumps along the way.