It feels good to be right, even though it’s no fun for the team behind Indiana Jones in this case. Just as I reported at That Park Place last month, Harrison Ford continues to be on a long-term sabbatical from filming Indiana Jones 5 due to his injury. And, unlike what director James Mangold had declared, it does now seem that Ford is soaking up British culture while the filming process is completely on hold. Did Lucasfilm decide they simply could not continue filming with replacement actors that would have CGI Harrison Ford faces placed over them?
A source close to the production of Indiana Jones 5 has informed me that the timeline I reported earlier (as well as Grace Randolph) will continue to hold true. Production on Indiana Jones 5 is halted until at least mid-September, but possibly until October. Much of that is dependent on Ford’s ability to heal at 79 years old to the point he can use his shoulder naturally for the filming process. Don’t, however, expect Ford to be in many — if any — action scenes after the fiasco of knocking production off by three months due to a risky action sequence filmed with the actor and a moving train.
The situation with Indiana Jones has meant that the production budget has ballooned over the past 180 days. Crews and actors have had to reschedule their autumn months, some have had to stay in England with little to do except take a paycheck. The release date for summer of 2022 is in jeopardy. Needless to say, things have not gone well, no matter what The Walt Disney Company has asserted. You don’t hire new actors in the middle of production, or bring in a YouTube deep fake creator to help you when things are going well.
The interesting thing about all of this is how it effects Kathleen Kennedy and her contract situation with continuing to be the head of Lucasfilm. Whereas her contract was supposed to be renewed prior to October, no public announcement has yet been made. This is particularly of interest because sources had told me that Kennedy’s representatives were involved in contract negotiations back in June while she was jaunting around Scotland with the start of the Indiana Jones filming schedule. So why is Disney waiting so late into the process to make any sort of announcement about her continuation with Lucasfilm?
This has led to speculation both ways from YouTubers and bloggers. The truth as I understand it is that a decision has not yet been made by Disney, but they’re in a very tough spot. Kennedy has ran out of any perceived usefulness for Star Wars or Indiana Jones. With Indy, the buck stops with her, and the movie is an absolute disaster when it comes to smoothly getting it from script to screen. There’s not much to be excited about with Star Wars, and there’s strong reason to believe that The Mandalorian is ending with Season 3.
When you quickly pop out of the gaff to buy some organic fruit and you bump into this guy 😂 #HarrisonFord #indianaJones #bladerunner #hollywoodAlister #surreal pic.twitter.com/uTOyMFxL73
— Ray Emmet Brown (@RayEmmet) August 29, 2021
At the same time, removing Kennedy could be a very painful process. Disney is already feeling the pain with Scarlett Johansson, and they’d really like to avoid any additional high-profile female drama. If Kennedy comes out loudly in conflict with Disney following a departure, it could result in particular demographics protesting or boycotting Disney. Having Kennedy leave harmoniously would be ideal, but that may not be possible until after Indiana Jones 5 releases. For Kennedy, that would be the circle completion of her career. Yet getting to that point is almost certainly costing Disney potentiality in Lucasfilm with every day Kennedy continues to lackadaisically run the studio.
Whatever your opinion on Indiana Jones 5 or Kathleen Kennedy, the next six weeks are going to be very consequential.
When will you WDWPro release the article about Kathleen Kennedy’s contract renewed?