George Lucas' Original Indiana Jones 5 Plan Would've Killed The Movie
George Lucas' original idea for Indiana Jones 5would never have reached theaters. On the heels of 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Lucas told an interviewer that the next installment would shift the spotlight to Shia LaBeouf's Mutt Williams character. Harrison Ford's iconic hero would recede to a supporting role analogous to Sean Connery's part in 1989's Indiana Jomes and the Last Crusade. The movie audiences will see in 2023 reportedly takes a different approach, and Lucas is not involved with the project.
George Lucas was already on fire when Raiders of the Lost Ark hit theaters in 1981. Coming off the one-two punch of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas' first collaboration with Steven Spielberg surprised moviegoers with yet another perfectly-paced thrill ride. Lucas and Spielberg made two popular sequels, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The fourth film in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, arrived a generation later and was met by widespread criticism.
Related: How Indiana Jones 5 Can Avoid Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull's Mistakes
Passing the torch to LaBeouf's Mutt Williams in Indiana Jones 5, as George Lucas had envisioned, would have saddled the project with insurmountable challenges. Neither Shia LaBeouf—who was about to step into the public spotlight for a myriad of controversies—nor his character had the capacity to carry the Indiana Jones franchise into the future. And, while Ford as Indy still seems appealing enough to draw fans back for a fifth film, nostalgia for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull's other elements is in very short supply.
To pull off a trick like taking over as the hero for a new
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