“Indiana Jones” director Steven Spielberg hinted that the next person to play Harrison Ford’s character may not be named Indiana Jones at all.
On Tuesday, Spielberg revealed that he’s been thinking extensively about who he’ll cast to play the next Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford, 75, is likely set to retire soon, will require a replacement.
He told The Sun that he’s exploring somebody to play Indiana Jones in “a different form.” Pressed on whether that “different form” might be a woman, Spielberg didn’t shy away from answering.
“We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan,” he said. “And there would be nothing wrong with that.”
It’s no secret that Spielberg is one of the more progressive figures in Hollywood. He’s been a vocal advocate of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements and works to promote diversity in his films. Last month, he made headlines by calling the Time’s Up movement a “watershed moment.”
“It’s been a rich and diverse year for film and for gender and for race, and especially for speaking out,” he said at London’s Rakuten TV Empire Awards. “Thank you, Time’s Up. We were very much on board from the very beginning, my wife Kate and I. This is more important than any of us can ever really realize. I think in 10 years we’ll look back and realize what a watershed moment we’re experiencing together right now.”
Spielberg’s next “Indiana Jones” is due out in 2020 and – though very little is known about the plot – Harrison Ford is still slotted to play “Indiana Jones.” The future of the series beyond 2020 is still unknown, though.
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