Indiana Jones 5 is still on the slate for a summer 2021 release, with production beginning as soon as Steven Spielberg’s done with his upcoming remake of West Side Story. However, given that Harrison Ford will be pushing 80 by then, many have theorized that the structure of the film will be split between the elderly Jones and flashbacks to his younger self. Ever since that theory took hold, there’s been just one name consistently mentioned for the role: Chris Pratt.
I’ve got to admit it’d be pretty good casting. There simply aren’t that many leading men with the charisma of Pratt, not to mention his proven action film credentials and enviable comedic skills. Plus, it’s scarily easy to imagine him wearing that iconic fedora. These rumors have been such a mainstay that his character in The LEGO Movie 2, which contains elements of his most famous roles, is an Indy-style archaeologist.
Now, in an interview with Irish website RTE, he’s addressed the rumors, saying the following about them:
“Well you know, I told (writers) Chris (Miller) and Phil (Lord), ‘Listen please allow me to be your muse, dig into my life as much as you want’ and they pulled that out of the zeitgeist. There was speculation around whether or not I would do Indiana Jones and I think that’s why they put that in there, maybe hedging their bets in case I did that one day, the movie would hold up. But there’s no more information about that now than there was before.”
It’s a smart move from Lord and Miller (although, what else would we expect from them?), but it almost sounds like Pratt playing a younger Indiana Jones is a done deal. I think there’s a good chance it’ll happen, but Spielberg might conclude that there’d simply be no surprise after people had been assuming this for so long and go with another actor instead. If that’s the case, then I hear Alden Ehrenreich’s free at the moment…