The fifth instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise is chugging along, but it won’t include Shia LaBeouf. Despite being introduced in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull as Indy’s long lost son Mutt, with the ending of the film a sly nod to Mutt perhaps picking up the whip and hat in the future, Mutt isn’t included in the script for the upcoming fifth film.
David Koepp is writing the screenplay for Indiana Jones 5 and confirmed to EW that Mutt isn’t in it.
Crystal Skull somewhat alienated a fanbase who were disappointed that the long awaited fourth instalment let them down, so it’s understandable that Koepp would want to limit any links to that film in the new one, but part of the reason may also be to do with LaBeouf himself.
The actor was candid with his thoughts about the fourth film, which director Steven Spielberg wasn’t too pleased to hear. At the time, LaBeouf was an upcoming talent being groomed for potential stardom alongside his role in Transformers. Since then he’s retreated from acting somewhat to focus on his performance art.
The fifth film will also be moving ahead without the involvement of George Lucas, who famously dictated the story ideas for the four prior films, making this instalment the first to be made without Lucas developing the original story.
So, Crystal Skull haters rejoice, as that film, with all its nuking-the-fridge absurdness, seems to be getting quickly rubbed from the history books. By the time the fifth film rolls around, everyone will have practically forgotten it.
Indiana Jones 5 currently has a release date of July 10, 2020.
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