As far as modern Hollywood franchises go, no IP has been able to match – let alone surpass – the blistering success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Since its relatively humble debut back in 2008, the MCU juggernaut has pumped out *checks notes* 23 blockbusters, with Black Widow set to join the family later this year.
Marvel Studios has truly set the bar for franchise filmmaking in the last decade – something that isn’t lost on Harrison Ford, who is eagerly anticipating his own return to one of Hollywood’s time-honored franchises. Its name? Indiana Jones, of course, which is now gearing up for a fifth installment, even after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and its lowly box office total.
But if Indy 4 went down as a disappointment, Ford wants Indiana Jones 5 to be remembered as something truly special – a film that’s able to “kill it,” just like those belonging to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I don’t really want to give them what they want to see, I want to give them something they didn’t anticipate. They are used to a degree of disappointment when you revisit. Certainly, the Marvel movies have made a spectacular example of a success of worked the other way around, they killed it! Well, we’re not going to make another Indiana Jones unless we are in a position to kill it. We want it to be the best. We’ve got some scheduling issues and a few script things to do but we are determined to get it right before we get it made.
That’s Harrison Ford there, speaking to HeyUGuys ahead of his new feel-good adventure movie, Call of the Wild. It hit U.S. theaters this past weekend, so once Ford is finished with his press duties, he’ll be able to focus all his attention on Indiana Jones 5, which is rumored to begin filming later this year.
That would put Indy 5 on course for a release in 2021, the same year as The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder. But whereas the latter two tentpoles have drafted in new actors to pick up the mantle – Robert Pattinson in the case of Bats, while Natalie Portman will assume the title of Mighty Thor – there’s only one Indiana Jones.