Disney owns the world these days. They possess Pixar, Marvel, and, of course, Lucasfilm. The latter’s purchase has thus far been focused on getting a new ‘Star Wars Trilogy’ off the ground, but now it looks like the House of Mouse may want to shine a little light on Lucasfilm’s other giant property: the ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise.
While I liked ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ more than most, I don’t think Disney can put together a movie before Harrison Ford hits 80, so continuing the franchise is going to mean replacing Harrison Ford.
And who could possibly do that?
Indiana Jones is one of those characters so iconic, it seems silly that any other actor should wear his fedora.
And yet… there is one… one who could pick up the hat and make it fit.
I’m talking, of course, about 2014 Super-Star Chris Pratt who played Emit in ‘The Lego Movie’ and Peter ‘Star-Lord’ Quill in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’
I’m not the only one who noticed the similarities between Pratt’s Star-Lord and Ford’s Han Solo.
And it’s not necessarily blasphemy to recast such an iconic role (though I would have shot you for introducing the idea to me a year ago); after all, Sean Connery defined 007, but the character has since been played by a handful of iconic actors including Daniel Craig returning in 2015’s ‘SPECTRE.’
Indiana Jones is my favorite character from cinema so any mishandling or casting silly choices like Shia LeBeouf will ruin everything and send me home crying.
There is only one name I’m okay with to play Indiana Jones besides Harrison Ford: the aforementioned Chris Pratt.
Someone photo-shopped this over half a year ago, and I have since loved the idea of Chris Pratt playing a either a young Indiana Jones or Han Solo.
Chris Pratt is only 35, making him younger than Ford who played Henry Jones Jr. most famously in his 40’s. So, if this great casting comes true, expect adventures around the same time period as the 1st three films.
A few fears (AND DEMANDS) I have…
DO NOT REBOOT – Give us more Indy adventures within the same timeline, don’t start all over again.
DO HIT WWII – I mentioned Pratt is younger than Ford when he played the role, but after hearing Mac and Jones briefly refer to their adventures serving in WWII in ‘Indy 4’ (the original Trilogy precedes the 2nd World War) I really want to see a movie about that.
GET A GOOD DIRECTOR! – Spielberg is #1 choice, but I’d say it’s incredibly unlikely he will direct another ‘Indiana Jones’ film, especially not one without the full team including Lucas and Ford.
Get a young lad like Colin Trevorrow who was handed the keys of ‘Jurassic World’ from Steven Spielberg after his indie film ‘Safety Not Guaranteed.’ You know, a young director with character experience; like the young Spielberg hot off ‘Jaws,’ defining his career.
A lot could go wrong, but casting Chris Pratt as Indiana Jones would be the 1st step in the right direction for my favorite cinematic character ever.
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