Indiana Jones and the Unsubstantiated Death Rumor

Like anyone who left the theater after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, celebrity/drunk talk show guest Harrison Ford wants Indy to just die already. ShowbizSpy is reporting that Ford wants his whip-wielding archaeologist to meet the great MacGuffin in the sky…after another film/huge payday of course. Here’s what the online Hollywood “news” site has to say about the matter:

Sources say the Hollywood star has told creator George Lucas and director Stephen Spielberg that he wants the whipcracking adventurer to meet his maker in a fifth and final adventure.
“Harrison thinks it would be good for Indy to die and pass on his hat to his son in the next one,” reveals an insider.

“George especially is resisting the notion but Steven is considering it. Funnily enough Harrison wanted the same for Han Solo in the final Star Wars but George put an end to it. This time he doesn’t have all the say though.”

Let’s pretend a few things here. First up is the assumption that there is any validity to the above story and its reporting of what some nameless “insider” has to say. There’s also the matter of if and when another Indy film will actually get made. Even though Crystal Skull was a huge success and George, Harrison and Steven have all said they are all interested there are logistics to be worked out and scheduling hurdles to be overcome that will delay any fifth installment for years. Not to mention the fact that there is absolutely no fucking way that Lucas would let Indiana Jones get killed off. He wouldn’t let it happen with Han, and there’s no way that an icon like Indy would be granted an on-screen demise either for risk of bringing the audience down. Unless Gary Kurtz is somehow miraculously producing the fifth film, Lucas will get his way. Plus, do moviegoers even want to see Shia pick up the bullwhip for his own franchise? This whole business all seems like a great big bunch of ain’t-gonna-happen.

The only real news in what ShowbizSpy is reporting is purely theoretical. One day there may another Indiana Jones movie, and behind the scenes there may have once been a suggestion by Harrison Ford to kill off the character. For all we know, Ford could do this during negotiations on every one of his films. (Well, maybe not Regarding Henry, ’cause that would just be cruel). This is the type of dubious story that tends to take off and have a life of its own, so when you hear it rehashed like new news in the days and months to come just remember to take it with a grain of salt folks. (Via /Film)