Next ‘Indiana Jones’ may be a woman called ‘Joan’

Image: INQUIRER.net Stock Photo

Steven Spielberg thinks it’s about time the “Indiana Jones” hat was passed along and it could end up in a woman’s hands.

After four movies, Spielberg believes it’s about time the explorer took on “a different form” and even a different name. The director said in an exclusive interview with The Sun, “We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that.”

Filming will begin in April 2019.

Spielberg has been a strong supporter of the Time’s Up movement for gender equality in the movie industry. The director is no stranger to strong women, knowing two in his life: his wife, Kate Capshaw, and departed mother, Leah.

The new “Indiana Jones” will also be the last time Harrison Ford will appear in the franchise. Ford first took on the role of archeologist and explorer Indiana Jones for the 1981 movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a collaboration between Spielberg and George Lucas.

“This will be Harrison Ford’s last ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, I am pretty sure, but it will certainly continue after that,” said Spielberg.

In “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” it was teased at the end that Shia LaBeouf, who played as Indy’s son Henry Jones III, could inherit the iconic fedora. However, reports in September 2017 confirmed LaBeouf would not be involved in the fifth “Indiana Jones” movie.  Alfred Bayle /ra

RELATED STORIES:

‘Indiana Jones’ could be returning to theaters in 2020, minus Shia LaBeouf

‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ screenwriter teases ’The Last Starfighter’ reboot

Luke Skywalker would still have died under George Lucas version of new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy