Disney purchased all of Lucasfilm back in 2012 for more than $4 billion. Most people say that Disney boughtStar Wars, but Lucasfilm had a lot more going for it than just a galaxy far far away. They also were a piece of the puzzle that is now allowing Disney to makeIndiana Jones 5and to continue the franchise how they see fit in the future.Harrison Fordwill be returning to the role ofIndiana Jonesat least once more, but what of the future?
A couple of things have transpired recently that pretty much guarantee thatSteven Spielberg’sIndiana Jones 5is not going to be the last time we see the iconic character on screen. The director recently promised that he won’t killFordin the movie, which seems smart for various reasons. More importantly though, in a recent interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Disney CEOBob Igermade a statement that essentially confirms there will be another actor in the role ofIndiana Jonesat some point or another.
“Right now, we’re focused on a reboot, or a continuum and then a reboot of some sort. Well, we’ll bring him back, then we have to figure out what comes next. That’s what I mean. It’s not really a reboot, it’s a boot - a reboot. I don’t know. We [got] Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the film. But then what’s the direction? I’ve had discussions about what the direction is, [but] I don’t want to get into it. I don’t think it reaches the scale of the universe of Star Wars, but I see making more. It won’t be just a one-off.”
By the timeIndiana Jones 5comes out in 2019,Harrison Fordwill be approaching 80 years old. That is pushing it. No matter how badKingdom of the Crystal Skullwas, it was nice to seeFordback asIndy, but beyondIndy 5, it is almost impossible to imagine him doing anything resembling the physical demand required to do the role again. But Disney seems intent on moving forward with the franchise, so that means at some point, we are going to have to accept somebody else in the role.The big question is, who should do it? Well, we already have a primary candidate.
Hail Caesar!standoutAlden Ehrenreichhas been cast as the young Han Solo for the upcomingStar Warsspinoff movie, which is set to drop in 2018. Not that anyone needs to be reminded of this, but it just so happens thatHarrison Fordalso playedHan Solo.Fordfirst played Solo, and then took on the role of Indy a few years later. It also turns out that Disney owns bothStar WarsandIndiana Jonesnow. Ergo, it makes sense that Disney might tapEhrenreich. Could he be the logical choice to play Indy afterFordis done?
Though it may be logical on paper, the real question is, shouldEhrenreichalso playIndiana Jones? That is tough to say, but lets try and answer that question to the best of our ability. Before digging into some of the larger bits that go into answering this question, the most glaring problem is thatEhrenreichhasn’t really done all that much.Hail Caesar!is arguably what he is most well known for at this point, and that movie didn’t exactly break the bank at the box office and wasn’t theCoen Brothersbest movie by any stretch of the imagination. So, in terms of what he can do on screen, we are pretty limited in being able to judgeEhrenreich, which is problematic. Or is it?
Prior to being Han Solo,Fordhad definitely been acting, but not in anything that people would have heavily associated him with. So, in everyone’s eyes, he simply was Han Solo. Even afterA New Hope,Forddidn’t do anything that could overwrite that association, so when he debuted as Indy, we were able to be sort of say to ourselves “Oh hey! Han Solo is now the coolest archaeologist I have ever seen! Isn’t that neat?” That is largely why we still associateFordwith those two roles more than anything else. If we look atEhrenreich’s career up to this point, it very much mirrors that possibility.
Right now, we are going to be able to walk into the Young Han SoloStar Warsmovie and, for the most part, be able to associateEhrenreichas just that character. Disney seems to really know what they are doing, and theStar Warsuniverse is very rich with possibility, so it doesn’t seem like they would be doing this movie if they thought there was any major chance it would fail. They must have a tremendous amount of confidenceEhrenreich, especially given that they reportedly held more than 1,000 auditions for the part. So, let’s use some assumptive reasoning to answer theIndiana Jonesquestion.
Let’s assume that Disney at least largely knows what they’re doing. They are crushing it at the box office time and time again, and fans seem to like if not love most of the movies they are putting out lately. So, if that is the case, let’s assume thatEhrenreichis at least going to be good as Han Solo and that the Young Han Solo movie will at least be good. WithPhil LordandChris Millerat the helm, it also seems likely the movie will be at the very least good. So, if that is the case andEhrenreichcan pull off Han Solo, why not give him the role ofIndiana Jones? The same actor played him originally, so it would kind of make sense to have the guy replacingHarrison Fordalso play both roles. Kind of.
Many actors manage to balance multiple big franchises in Hollywood. That is not at all impossible. But to takeEhrenreichout of relative obscurity, put him in one of the most iconic roles of all time, and then turn right around and have him play yet another one of the most iconic roles of all time. That is asking an awful lot. That is a lot of pressure and there is a lot of potential to burn him out at that point. It would be hard to squeeze in other projects and other actors may be able to handle multiple franchises, but there are few franchises as big asStar WarsorIndiana Jones. Not only that, but much like Han Solo is going to be a huge break forEhrenreich,Indiana Jonescould be a massive break for another actor. Perhaps that is how it should be.
There is no definitive answer. We can’t say for certain “yes, he should” or “no, he shouldn’t.” ButIndiana Jonesis going to continue and somebody is going to have to play him. Having someone other thanForddo it is going to be a tough pill to swallow. IfEhrenreichdefies expectations and crushes it as Han Solo, it will be hard to argue against him also doing anIndiana Jones reboot, because there aren’t a lot of people out there who can hold their own when compared to a guy likeHarrison Ford.
