Disney Axes ‘Indiana Jones’ After Backlash

Disney reportedly has bad news for many Indiana Jones fans.

Indiana Jones, the LucasFilm franchise that has starred Harrison Ford as Dr. Jones, has stood the test of time. Though Raiders of the Last Ark (1981) was released more than 40 years ago, the franchise has continued to be successful. As a matter of fact, Indiana Jones has been so popular that a show, the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World Resort, and a ride, Indiana Jones Adventure, at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, CA have been made to pay homage to the movies.

While fans wait for Indiana Jones 5 to be released this summer, we have some less-than-stellar news for fans hoping the franchise would be moving forward.

Previously, it was announced that a new Indiana Jones series would be coming to Disney+. The series was to be produced by LucasFilm, the company behind the Indiana Jones franchise, and would feature a replacement for Harrison Ford as the main character moving forward.

While some fans were skeptical about the series, others were excited to see the aspects of the franchise coming to Disney+ and the potential for expanded storytelling. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that Disney will be moving forward with the series, after all.

A report indicates that Lucasfilms is choosing to stop moving forward with this series and will focus more on Star Wars and Marvel instead.

“RUMOR: The Ravenwood/Indiana Jones series at LucasFilm is not moving forward, and furthermore, I’ve heard that Disney has told Lucasfilm to focus on STAR WARS going forward, hence the cancellation of WILLOW,” Sneider tweeted.

There have been rumors of replacements for Harrison Ford, which have included names like Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, and even Harry Styles, but it seems that Disney might be content to let the fifth film serve as the final rendition for the franchise.

Harrison Ford has said in the past that the franchise should never be recast and that, once he’s done, the franchise should be retired, as well. Disney has made controversial decisions to move forward with projects before that fans were unhappy with, but it seems that the company will “cool down” on the notion of moving forward with Indy for the time being.

You can catch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) in theaters beginning June 30, 2023. In addition to Harrison Ford, the film stars Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, and many others.