It looks like Indiana Jones 5 could really be on track to start production and maybe, just maybe, hit that July 2022 release date after the first new addition to the cast was made this week. Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been announced as the female lead opposite Harrison Ford’s iconic adventurer, and while there are no details on who the Solo: A Star Wars Story actress is playing or how they factor into the story, it’s hugely encouraging news nonetheless.
The status of the fifth installment has been under intense scrutiny ever since Steven Spielberg dropped out of the director’s chair, to be replaced by Logan‘s James Mangold. David Koepp, Jonathan Kasdan and Dan Fogelman had all been tasked with trying to crack the script, and there were a multitude of reports making the rounds that nobody could seem to agree on a creative direction.
Now that somebody other than Ford has joined the ensemble, though, it looks as if there’s at least a screenplay good enough to entice one of the fastest-rising stars in the business. Waller-Bridge broke out in a huge way as the creator, writer and star of Fleabag before going on to executive produce Killing Eve, with both shows netting her a combined haul of two Golden Globes and three Emmys.
The 35 year-old also voiced droid L3-37 in the aforementioned Solo: A Star Wars Story, takes a screenwriting credit on upcoming James Bond blockbuster No Time to Die and recently signed on to co-star, co-write and executive produce Amazon’s episodic Mr. & Mrs. Smith reboot opposite Donald Glover. The pieces of the puzzle are slowly starting to come together here, and if Indiana Jones 5 is still planned to begin filming this summer, then this will be just the first of many major announcements to arrive over the next few months.