The man may have given birth to the biggest box office franchise of all time when he made Star Wars, but in 2016, feelings toward George Lucas are, at best, mixed.
After all, for every Empire Strikes Back, Lucas has also birthed a Phantom Menace, for every Raiders of the Lost Ark, a Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. One might argue that Star Wars: The Force Awakens was good explicitly because Lucas wasn't involved, even if the movie is just one giant homage to the original Star Wars.
So, as a result, the news that Lucas will be involved in the creation of Indiana Jones 5 is both reassuring and worrying. Lucas has been involved in all four of the previous Indiana Jones films alongside friend and director Steven Spielberg, and Spielberg says that won't be changing for the fifth installment of the franchise.
"Of course — I would never make an Indiana Jones film without George Lucas," Spielberg said during a recent press event promoting his new film The BFG. "That would be insane." Spielberg goes on to say that Lucas will serve as an executive producer on the project. Previously, it was unclear if Lucas would have any role in the new film.
As for how involved Lucas will be, that remains to be seen. Lucas helped write the script for the previous entries in the franchise, so it will be interesting to see exactly how much input the creator will have on the storyline of the new Indiana Jones film. The first three films in the series are classics. The fourth, which involves a nuclear-resistant refrigerator and aliens? Not so much.
Harrison Ford will be returning to the franchise in the lead role once more, though Disney CEO Bob Iger seems to indicate that, after Indiana Jones 5, a reboot for the series might be in store. That would make sense, given Ford's age, but those are some mighty big boots to fill.
Spielberg also recently went on record to say that, while he and Lucas have always worked together on Indiana Jones, the director won't be looking to take charge of the Star Wars franchise anytime soon. He says Star Wars isn't his genre, as reported by the Toronto Sun.
"It's certainly my buddy's, the Thomas Edison of science fiction, George Lucas, who created the entire series," Spielberg said. "But that was never for me. I'm just a fan; I'm just with everybody else in the audience watching them."
