We've got a little update on the status of Indiana Jones 5 and it is one that will probably make quite a few fans happy. This fifth installment of the (mostly) beloved franchise has been in development for some time, but it's taken some doing to actually get the project together. The release date has already been bumped a couple of times. It looks like things are getting more serious now, as producer Frank Marshall is readying things on his end before Steven Spielberg jumps behind the camera again. But there's going to be one major change this time around.

As had been suspected previously, George Lucas will not be involved with Indiana Jones 5. Lucas has a very close relationship with Steven Spielberg and has been heavily involved in five previous movies in the franchise. But as Frank Marshall put it in a recent interview, they've simply moved on. Here's what Marshall had to say about it.

"I love being with George and having his input, but life changes and we're moving on. He moved on. We're very respectful of the original intentions of the movie, certainly Harrison's character. The serialization of what the original intention was. I'd love to have George there. I love being around George and working with him, obviously. It'll be a little different, because the ideas are coming from a different place now."

Lucasfilm being sold to Disney in 2012 is the key change. George Lucas lost any creative control he had at that point. As much as Frank Marshall and Steven Spielberg love and respect the man, it does make sense to move on. Especially when considering how ugly the reception to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was amongst the fanbase.

To that point, David Koepp, a frequent Spielberg collaborator who had previously written a draft of Indiana Jones 5, is no longer involved either. He penned Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as well, which had some fans feeling a bit nervous. Instead, it's Solo: A Star Wars Story writer Jonathan Kasdan in charge of scripting duties. But in the interview, Frank Marshall also revealed that he's putting together the "writer's room" currently. When asked for clarification on that, he had this to offer. 


"Well, I dunno if you'd call it a writers room, but a lot of people that we trust pitch ideas and things. Gathering info."

So it sounds like a bunch of writers will gather together and the best ideas will be put to use by Jonathan Kasdan. More than likely, this means whatever David Koepp had worked on previously has been thrown out. Given the delays with Indiana Jones 5, which is now set to be released on July 9, 2021, Steven Spielberg has decided to shoot his West Side Story remake in the meantime. It also means Harrison Ford will be just shy of 80 when what will ultimately be his final Indiana Jones adventure finally hits theaters. This news was first reported by Comingsoon.net.