Harrison Ford has said multiple times that he is Indiana Jones, and seems like Steven Spielberg agrees with him. Ford is all ready to hang up his hat after investing four decades of his life in the Indiana Jones franchise with the release of Dial of Destiny next month.
Not only that, but the Star Wars actor is finally closing the curtain on his Hollywood journey completely with this movie. And it seems like keeping his dedication to his legacy in mind Lucasfilm and Steven Spielberg have decided to honor Harrison Ford’s words of this being the last time Indiana Jones ever appears on the big screen.
Kathleen Kennedy claimed they won’t disrespect Harrison Ford’s legacy
Rumors have been going around for a long time that Harrison Ford will retire from the industry completely with this movie.
It should be mentioned that back in 2007, Ford went on an early retirement and even a self-imposed exile, after some alleged dispute over his salary during the third movie in the franchise, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
And he came back to the industry, too, holding the hand of this very franchise when Paramount brought him back with a whopping $65 million salary for the fourth movie.
As such, Ford has given more than his blood, sweat, and tears to this franchise and claims he has no regrets about finally retiring from the industry with this. He also mentioned in an interview late last month that he thinks,
“This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I’ll play the character. I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film.”
And the president of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy confirmed this news as well when she spoke about the topic in a different interview. She noted,
“It’s Harrison’s last entry. That’s how we look at the Indy franchise. I mean, truthfully, right now, if we were to do anything, it might be in series television down the road, but we’re not doing anything to replace Indiana Jones. This is it. There are five movies that Harrison Ford did. And Harrison is so specific and so unique to creating this role. We just, Steven [Spielberg] agrees, we just wouldn’t do that.”
As such it is pretty confirmed that this is the last fans will see of the eccentric archeologist going on new adventures around the world on the big screen.
Harrison Ford will not be a part of an Indiana Jones series
Harrison Ford claimed that he had been planning to end this franchise with a bang after investing four decades of his life into this. This is very understandable, as it is almost like not only Harrison Ford made the franchise, but the franchise, too, made Ford who he is currently. He noted,
“I’ve been able to deliver amazing films developed by Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] over a 40-year period, and to end it not with a whimper, but a bang, has been my greatest ambition for this excursion.”
As a result, he had been planning for a whole decade to make the transition to this last act as seamless as possible. And the result, according to him, was something he could be proud of. He elaborated,
“I had been ambitious to do this film for 10 years, and there finally came a time when we all committed to that. It was a joyous moment for me. I think it’s a rare situation that I find myself in.”
In fact, the overwhelming response the movie got during its screening and Harrison Ford’s emotional reaction, indicates that very result. However, there have been rumors that there might be an Indiana Jones TV series at work sometime in the future.
Although Kennedy claimed, “We would never make Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford,” she also went on to say that if a TV series ever comes around it’ll be way down the line. Inevitably, fans are a little confused as Ford already mentioned that he will “not be involved in that if it does come to fruition.”
As a result, it will be interesting to see if the series ever comes to happen and who and how will they take up the mantle from Harrison Ford after that.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny releases on June 30th, 2023.
Source: Movieweb
