LOS ANGELES, March 15 (UPI) — Harrison Ford is set to don the iconic fedora and whip once again as fabled archeologist Indiana Jones in a new film directed by Steven Spielberg Disney announced Tuesday.
“Indiana Jones is one of the greatest heroes in cinematic history, and we can’t wait to bring him back to the screen in 2019,” Disney chairman Alan Horn said in a statement.
“It’s rare to have such a perfect combination of director, producers, actor and role, and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this adventure with Harrison and Steven,” he continued.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy along with her husband Frank Marshall are set to produce. The filmmaking couple have previously worked on all previous Indiana Jones sequels together.
The untitled fifth installment in the Indiana Jones series which follows 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is set to open in theaters July 19, 2019.
Talks of a new Indiana Jones film have been in discussion since 2012 when Disney bought the rights to the character when they obtained Lucasfilm for $4 billion. Back in December, Spielberg spoke out against replacing Ford in his signature role afterJurassic World star Chris Pratt was rumored to take over the part.
“It’s certainly not my intention to ever have another actor step into his shoes in the way there have been many actors that have played Spider-Man or Batman,” Spielberg said at the time. “There is only going to be one actor playing Indiana Jones and that’s Harrison Ford.”
