Steven Spielberg Out as “Indiana Jones 5” Director, Reportedly Handing Reins to James Mangold

Fans have been waiting a long time for the fifth Indiana Jones film and now it looks like a change has been made ahead of this years filming. Legendary director Steven Spielberg has reportedly handed over the directorial reins of the new film to James Mangold, according to Variety.

  • This will be the first time in the 39-year history of the Indiana Jones franchise that a film will be directed by someone other than Spielberg.
  • Spielberg will remain involved in the film as a “hands-on” producer and the decision to leave the director’s chair at all was reportedly entirely his own.
  • Mangold is no stranger to taking over massive movie franchises. He did the same for the series of Wolverine films when he helmed the 2017 hit Logan, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.
  • More recently, he directed the 2019 nominee for the Academy Award for Best Picture Ford v Ferrari.
  • The fifth Indiana Jones film was announced by Disney back in 2016 and was set for a July 19, 2019 release before getting pushed back multiple times.
  • With a new director taking over just months before filming was set to begin, it seems possible another delay could be coming though representatives for Spielberg and Disney have yet to make any comment.
  • George Lucas, who co-created the Indiana Jones franchise with Spielberg, is not expected to officially be involved in this film.

More on Indiana Jones 5:

  • Harrison Ford, who is set to return to the title role, recently announced that the fifth Indiana Jones film, currently in pre-production at Lucasfilm, will begin filming this summer.
  • The untitled fifth film currently has a release date scheduled for July 9, 2021, which would be less than a year from the principal photography shoot, based on the timeline Ford revealed. Time will tell if it makes that date.
  • It was also announced in 2016 that John Williams would return to compose the score of this new film.