Steven Spielberg Promises Indiana Jones Won't Die in New Sequel

Nick Schager
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Indy won’t meet Han Solo’s fate in the next sequel (Everett)

Steven Spielberg is one of American cinema’s all-time titans, and he’s poised to reassert his standing atop the directorial pecking order when his latest, The BFG, opens later this summer. In a newly published interview, the E.T. and Schindler’s List director also reveals some information about a highly anticipated future project.

Speaking exclusively to Kim Masters for The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg talks about plans to team up with Harrison Ford for another Indiana Jones adventure, which is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters in July 2019. That project won’t get underway until after the director has completed work on two other movies: the video game-themed novel adaptation Ready Player One and the historical drama The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (both featuring his BFG and Bridge of Spies star Mark Rylance.) Nonetheless, he says he’s “super excited” about making a fifth entry in the Indy franchise, and tells fans the archaeologist won’t be sharing Han Solo’s Force Awakens fate. “I think this one is straight down the pike for the fans…. The one thing I will tell you is I’m not killing off Harrison [Ford] at the end of it.”

Spielberg refuses to divulge any plot details about the script, but his enthusiasm remains palpable — as it does for The BFG, which marks his first full-fledged movie made for Disney. “Disney was truly, when I was a kid, my singular inspiration and also the source of most of my nightmares…. The separation of mother and child [in Bambi], I mean, the killing of Bambi’s — it was just one of the most …" he says, trailing off.

Elsewhere in the piece, it’s revealed that Spielberg is aiming to remake West Side Story with his Lincoln screenwriter Tony Kushner, and the filmmaker also talks about the history of DreamWorks, the studio that he founded in 1994 with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen which, late last year, struck a distribution deal with Universal. What emerges is a portrait of an artist who, at age 70, is far from slowing down, lending his creative support and input to a vast slate of big-screen and TV ventures.

To get the full scope of Spielberg’s workaholic output, you can check out The Hollywood Reporter’s entire interview here. The BFG hits theaters on July 1.

Watch the trailer for ‘The BFG’: