Indiana Jones 5 a continuation of Crystal Skull, confirms Frank Marshall; Release date set July 2019

By Staff Writer | Apr 15, 2016 11:41 AM EDT

Harrison Ford is definitely set to reprise the titular role in the upcoming Indiana Jones 5, dumping the rumors of recasting for the central character. Producer Frank Marshal also confirmed that the film will be a "continuation" of the Crystal Skull.

As reported by Den of Geek, Marshall confirmed that the upcoming film will be a continuation of the fourth film, and will still feature Harrison Ford as the titular character. It was also previously confirmed that the fifth film will see the return of Steven Speilberg in the director's chair.

It is unknown whether the "continuation" means the return of Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood and Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams, but according to Screen Rant it is highly likely that they will be mentioned along the way.

Marshall's confirmation during the CinemaCon also scratches out the possibilities of the fifth film being a prequel. The fourth film did not receive as much positive feedback compared to the first film, thus the approach on the story for the fifth film will be very important.

The end of Crystal Skull also left Indiana Jones ready to settle down, thus, it would be interesting to see how the fifth film will introduce the character to a new adventure. According to Deadline, Jurassic World actor Chris Pratt was previously heavily linked to the film as Speilberg expressed his interest in casting the actor, however, Pratt's casting is yet to be confirmed.

The trade also reported that unlike the previous films, George Lucas will not be involved in developing Indiana Jones 5. The first four films were box office successes as it earned almost $2 billion in total worldwide.

Aside from Ford, no other actors have been officially confirmed for Indiana Jones 5. The fifth film is written by David Koepp and will be produced by Speilberg, Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. It is currently slated to hit theaters on July 19, 2019. 

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