Indiana Jones 5 delayed, possibly until 2021

The next Indiana Jones 5 film may be delayed until 2021 as a new writer has joined the production to work on the screenplay.

Earlier this year, Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg confirmed that Indiana Jones 5 would be his next directorial project, shooting in 2019 for a 2020 release date. It now looks likely to be pushed back to 2021, so the LEGO designers can ease off if they do indeed have a licensing deal for the returning series.

David Koepp, the screenwriter who delivered the final script for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, that cobbled together the many previous drafts, was hired to write Indiana Jones 5. Reports now indicate that Jon Kasdan, son of Lawrence Kasdan and co-writer on Solo: A Star Wars Story, has joined the project either to re-write or polish the script. His father wrote the Raiders of the Lost Ark screenplay, which went on to be a hugely influential screenplay on a generation of screenwriters.

Variety is reporting that the change in writers will delay shooting by at least months, possibly even a year, with Spielberg potentially slotting in another project before getting back to cinema’s most famous archaeologist.

The information currently available suggests that George Lucas will not be involved in this next instalment in the franchise.