Well, you just can’t keep a good archaeologist down. Disney recently bought the rights to the Indiana Jones franchise from Paramount Pictures, and now producer Frank Marshall has dropped a hint on Twitter that there may be something in store for the man who once escaped nuclear annihilation by hanging out inside a kitchen appliance.
Marshall was previously a bit bearish about the possibility of Indy making a return, saying that he believed Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was “the last hurrah” for the aged hero. Now he appears to have changed his tune, having tweeted the following:
A bit strange sitting in the Indiana Jones office in the Lucasfilm office on the Disney lot, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) December 10, 2013
What has changed between his previous comments and his newfound optimism for the franchise? Well, the aforementioned acquisition by Disney for one thing. Disney recently acquired another little-known Lucasfilm franchise called Star Wars, and since then all sorts of new projects have been discussed, including prequels, sequels, spin-offs, and TV shows. Disney is not a company to let its IP languish, and the likelihood that they bought the rights to Indiana Jones just to do nothing with it is slim to none.
Of course, Indiana Jones would be nothing without its main star, Harrison Ford. Luckily, Ford has indicated that he is more than willing to put on his trademark fedora and whip some more historical artefact-coveting Nazis. In other words, a fifth movie in the series is starting to look more and more like a sure thing.
This is all pure speculation at this point, of course. No official announcements have been made on a new Indiana Jones. But really, when was the last time wild Internet speculation turned out to be anything but 100% accurate? Keep an eye out, because there is undoubtedly more news to come.