Disney Reportedly Planning Full Reboot of the INDIANA JONES Franchise — GeekTyrant

Geek Tyrant

2 days ago

It looks like Indiana Jones might actually be headed for the reboot treatment. According to a recent report from DisInsider, Disney and Lucasfilm are considering a full relaunch of the iconic adventure franchise. While nothing has been officially announced, The report said:
'Lucasfilm is letting the franchise rest for a bit before they do a full reboot of the franchise. I would expect the studio to announce something next year at the D23 Expo because even though the last film tanked at the box office, Indiana Jones is still an iconic IP and Disney/Lucasfilm do not want to waste that.'
It's not hard to see why Disney would want to reassess things. After acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012, Star Wars content exploded, but Indy stayed mostly dormant. Nearly a decade passed before Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny finally hit theaters in 2023, and after all that anticipation… the movie flopped.
Despite fairly positive reviews, Dial of Destiny grossed just $384 million globally against a massive production budget reportedly in the $295–387 million range. That's not what you want from a cornerstone IP.
James Mangold stepped in to direct Dial of Destiny after Steven Spielberg, who helmed the first four films, chose to bow out. The movie marked Harrison Ford's final outing as the fedora-wearing archaeologist. While the legacy actor was gracious in his exit, telling press 'Shit happens' in response to the film's box office performance, Mangold admitted that 'it hurt' to see the movie underperform.
Still, Indy isn't going away. As the report notes, the character is simply too valuable to leave in a wooden crate marked Top Secret and stashed away in a warehouse. The recent release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle , a critically acclaimed video game, proves there's still life in the brand., and if Disney wants to keep it going, a reboot makes the most sense.
The big question is, how will they go about doing that? Producers of the franchise have already said that they won't recast Indiana Jones, but Disney could always just ignore that and recast. Or they introduce a whole new character set in the same universe.
Personally, I would love to see a new adventure film or series that follows Ke Huy Quan's Short Round as an adult. The series could fill us in on what happened to him after the events of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , and how his relationship with Indiana shaped his life. The series could show us what became of Short Round, and how he followed in Indiana's footsteps and became an archaeologist.
In 2008, The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones was published, and it says that Short Round actually did become an archaeologist like his mentor, and went even went on a journey to track down the Peacock's Eye, which was the diamond Indy lost at the beginning of The Temple of Doom .
No official announcement has been made yet, but with D23 coming up next year, don't be surprised if Disney finally opens that sarcophagus and reveals what's next for the franchise.