According to reports, the star of the successful Indiana Jones franchise, Harrison Ford, wants to see his character die in the next instalment of the series and have Shia LaBeouf’s character, Mutt Williams take over as the lead for the future.
The news comes from ShowbizSpy who say:
Harrison thinks it would be good for Indy to die and pass on his hat to his son in the next one. George especially is resisting the notion but Steven is considering it. Funnily enough Harrison wanted the same for Han Solo in the final Star Wars but George put an end to it. This time he doesn’t have all the say though.
This is so far only gossip/rumor, as to whether there will be a fifth film at all is still uncertain so this story should ideally be taken as a pinch of salt. Although LaBeouf and Ford were keen to remark that progress is being made in the area of another Indy film.
Ford said:
Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] and I are sort of agreed on a germ of an idea and we’re seeing what comes of it
And LaBeouf has claimed that:
They’re script writing right now. I got called into Steven’s office and he pitched a little bit to me and it sounds crazy, it sounds really cool.
It’s kind of interesting that they would want to do another one. After Kingdom of the Crystal Skull received a kicking from some critics and a lot of fans, it seems odd they would want to go back again as Spielberg specifically said that he would only do more if the fans dictated that so. I think Spielberg is a sincere guy and whether or not this is a studio decision based on the huge gross of the last film I don’t know.
The idea to kill him off or having him as a supporting character, also supports a rumor being spread that the Indiana Jones would take a backseat role in the 5th. That he would be more like Sean Connery’s character in The Last Crusade and Mutt would be centre stage for the film and for a whole new series of adventures. I’m not confident in the truth of this or its strength as an idea, considering I thought the weakest part of the fourth film (which I actually kind of liked) was Shia LaBeouf. We’ll keep you posted.