'Indiana Jones 5' confirmed for 2019; Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford returning

Harrison Ford as Indiana JonesLucasFilm

Disney has officially announced that "Indiana Jones 5" is indeed moving forward, reports Screen Rant. The film is currently slated to release on July 19, 2019. Not only is the franchise finally getting a new entry but both director Steven Spielberg and actor Harrison Ford are coming back.

Walt Disney Studios CEO Alan Horn explains, "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. 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."

According to the report from Screen Rant, the reason Disney could not announce the film during the past few years was because despite the company purchasing Lucasfilm -- a move which allowed them to produce "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" -- the company did not get all the rights for a new "Indiana Jones" film until just recently.

Spielberg and Ford did make a comeback several years back for a fourth film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" but this was not as warmly received by audiences and critics as the previous three films. Many fans blame the faults of the film on George Lucas, who wrote most of the film's story. 

The fifth film will not have Lucas's involvement, although Disney has yet to announce who will be taking over in designing and writing the film's script.

The release date is set a week after Disney and Marvel Studios launch "Inhumans," which means it is likely the Marvel film will be shuffled and be rescheduled to a better release date.

It was previously believed that the fifth film would be a reboot, with a younger actor such as Chris Pratt or Bradley Cooper taking over as the titular character. With Harrison Ford still leading the role, it is likely the new film will be set in a later decade, such as the 1970s.