Will there be an Indiana Jones 6?
Harrison Ford is back in his iconic role for new film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – but is this the end of the road for Indy?
More than four decades years after Raiders of the Lost Ark first introduced the world to Dr Henry Walton Jones Jr, Harrison Ford has returned to play the beloved character in the new movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
The film sees James Mangold replace Steven Spielberg as director and follows Indy as he attempts to get his hands on the titular artifact before Nazi villain Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) – who plans to use its supposed time-altering properties for extremely nefarious ends.
In total, this is the fifth film to feature the globe-trotting, snake-fearing, whip-cracking archaeologist – following the original trilogy and the divisive 2008 sequel Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull – and fans will no doubt be interested to know if it will also be the last.
Read on for everything you need to know.
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Will there be an Indiana Jones 6?
As things stand, it looks like there will not be a sixth entry in the series, certainly not with Harrison Ford reprising his role as Indy.
The veteran actor had made it clear that Dial of Destiny would be his last time playing the character, telling Total Film magazine in no uncertain terms that: "This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I’ll play the character. I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film."
Meanwhile, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy has also gone on record to say that there are no plans to recast the character, explaining during an interview with Vanity Fair that: "We would never make Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford. Having just finished the fifth movie, I can tell you, there wasn't a day I wasn't on set where I wasn't like, 'Yes - this is Indiana Jones.'"
Barring a very major U-turn, then, it looks like this really is our final farewell to the character – but does that mean it's the end of the franchise in general?
Read more: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny review: An apt final journey for Indy
There had previously been talk that Disney was looking at a number of different options to keep the franchise alive through possible spin-offs on both the small and big screen, with a planned TV show having reportedly been in early development before it was scrapped to focus on more Star Wars projects.
The series was reportedly set to serve as a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, but no plot details were ever made available and no writer was said to have boarded the project.
Quite what any possible spin-off would look like therefore remains to be seen – but it still seems possible that Lucasfilm and Disney will return to the franchise with new ideas at some point in the future and we'll keep you abreast of any developments on that front.
For now, though, it looks like no further Indy projects are imminent – it's a good job those original films are so rewatchable!
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is now showing in UK cinemas. Visit our Film hub for the latest news and features, or find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
