Harrison Ford’s final run as Indiana Jones has faced a number of set-backs during its production, including a three-month stint in an arm-sling for its leading man, and today it faced its biggest yet as Disney announced that the film’s release date is being pushed back by a whole year. With the as yet untitled Indiana Jones 5 still deep in shooting and the time ticking down to its original July 29th, 2022 release, the decision has been made to delay movie until June 30th, 2023. The announcement came earlier today as the House of Mouse also pushed back the release of all of its 2022 and 2023 slate of Marvel movies starting with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and removed a number of unnamed titles from its list.
Considering some of the lengthy delays that Indiana Jones 5 has seen, it is not surprising that Disney have decided to take action to make sure that they don’t end up having to rush to the finish line or have a similar scenario of constantly moving dates like has been seen the last few months with movies jumping back and forth in release schedules due to Covid restrictions. Harrison Ford only returned to filming in September after being out of action for months following an injury sustained while practicing for a fight scene early in the movie’s production. At the time, it was said in a statement that filming on the movie would be worked around the actor’s recovery, but there is only so much you film on an Indiana Jones movie without Indiana Jones himself.
Like many movies, in addition to the loss of Ford for months of the shoot, the film has also been plagued by other issues from complaints by residents when the production took up residence in London, to outbreaks of Covid and Norovirus last month that took out over 50 crew members at Pinewood Studios, where Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quanumania was also in production. A source at the time commented in The Sun, “The crew have been dropping like flies. There are also a lot off with Covid so it’s a double whammy. Two films have been affected. Over 50 people have been struck down, but luckily that doesn’t include the big stars.”
There is a lot of pressure on Indiana Jones 5 director James Mangold, who has taken over the helming of the franchise from Steven Spielberg, who oversaw the previous four installments. There is no doubt that while this may be a kick in the teeth for fans, the additional time to work on the movie will be something of a welcome relief to Mangold and his team.
Speaking to ComicBook.com about the pressure of taking on a franchise like Indiana Jones, Mangold previously said, “I can’t comment on anything… But like in all my work, I’m always trying to find an emotional center to operate from,” Mangold explained. “I think the most important thing is, in an age when franchises have become a commodity are serving the same thing again. At least for me, in the dances I’ve had with any franchises, serving the same thing again, the same way, usually just produces a longing for the first time you ate it. Meaning, it makes an audience wish that they just had the first one over again. So you have to push something to someplace new, while also remembering the core reasons why everyone was gathered. And to use Logan as an example of that, when you’re dealing in a world of a very pressured franchise.” Indiana Jones 5 will now arrive in theaters on June 30th, 2023.
Source: movieweb.com