Walt Disney Studios has reached a distribution and marketing agreement for the Indiana Jones franchise, taking the property from Paramount. Disney now gains distribution and marketing rights to future films, and retains its current ownership rights which it acquired when it bought Lucasfilm last year.

Under this new agreement, Paramount will continue to distribute the original four films in the franchise, which include Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. They will also receive an undetermined amount of the profits from any future installments that are produced and released.

At this time, Disney has not announced that a fifth Indiana Jones film is in the works.

In late August, while promoting Paranoia, Harrison Ford expressed more interest in doing Indiana Jones 5 than he did Star Wars: Episode VII. No writers have be hired at this time, and Steven Spielberg is not confirmed to direct, though he has helmed the previous four films in the series.

Now that Disney owns the rights, its highly likely that a fifth film will be announced before the end of the year. Disney CEO no_personBOB IGER has expressed interest in moving forward on another sequel since they acquired LucasFilm last year.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the last film released by Paramount, grossed $783 million worldwide.