It was previously reported that Disney and Lucasfilm are moving forward with "Indiana Jones 5" with both Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg returning as the lead star and director, respectively. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film is also seeing the return of writer David Koepp, which has brought concern to many fans.
As stated in the report, Koepp has consistently been working alongside Spielberg on his projects, including "Jurassic Park," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park II" and "War of the Worlds." While these are all critically acclaimed films in Spielberg's resume, Koepp is also known for penning "Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
"Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is known as the lowest rating film in the franchise, with a 78 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many criticized the film for having several unnecessary scenes, a poorly written script and for its overuse of CGI. The casting of Shia LaBeouf was also heavily criticized, particularly for how his character was implemented.
However, the report also points out that the main plot beats were designed by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. It is unclear at this point if the story Koepp is writing is based on a previous story drafted by Lucas or if it is something entirely new.
Lucas's involvement is also unclear as of the time of writing. The Hollywood Reporter points out that Lucas was not involved in the development of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and it is hinted that he will not be included in the development of "Indiana Jones 5."
According to a report from Collider, the film may benefit from hiring along Frank Darabont, another scriptwriter who worked on "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and is renowned for directing "Shawshank Redemption" and for bringing "The Walking Dead" comic books to a live TV adaptation on AMC.
"Indiana Jones 5" is currently slated to release by summer 2019.
