Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One is in theaters now, but a lot of attention is already focused on a different nostalgia property: Indiana Jones. The franchise's fifth film is next on the director's list, but all we really know is that it will bring back Harrison Ford for what will likely be his last time cracking the whip. While some in Lucasfilm would have you believe Ford is the only one who will ever play the role, that is obviously not going to be true. So what happens after Ford hangs up his hat? How about a female Indiana Jones?
Spielberg digs the idea of a female taking over the role. He tells The Sun...
“We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that"...“This will be Harrison Ford’s last Indiana Jones movie, I am pretty sure, but it will certainly continue after that."
A reboot is clearly what will have to happen, and who's to say it couldn't be with a woman? Spielberg goes on to talk about his other productions and the equal representation afford to women, not to mention the equal pay they share with their male co-stars. That includes on Ready Player One and in his recent Oscar nominee, The Post...
“Everyone was equally paid. And on ‘The Post,’ Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep got the same paycheck exactly, right down to the perks."
Have heads started exploding yet? Obviously there would be a huge backlash if Indiana Jones was a woman, the kind of backlash that killed any hope of Ghostbusters, another popular franchise, from being rebooted successfully. I don't think Lucasfilm will go this route no matter how much Spielberg approves of it, but you never know. Anything can happen, and at least it would mean no more Shia.
