Like yelling “fire!” in a crowded theatre, when word dropped late last night that Disney was weighing the option of rebooting “Indiana Jones,” with Bradley Cooper on a wishlist somewhere of dudes to take over the hat and whip, the internet collectively exploded. Most were upset that anybody but Harrison Ford might play the title role, admonishing the studio for effectively crapping on a classic franchise. Twenty-four hours later, it seems the truth of those claims are being debated.
First up, the folks at Slashfilm hit Twitter to reveal that according to their source, there are no plans to reboot Indy.
The Indiana Jones rumor is not true. I have a source who 100% debunks it.
— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) March 26, 2014
Next up, producer Frank Marshall—who has been behind all four Indy movies to date—also hit the social media site to claim all chatter about a reboot was “ridiculous.”
Due to the ridiculous rumors that keep popping up, like agents pipe dreams, I will stop commenting on our projects until I have real news.
— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) March 26, 2014
So, what’s the real deal? Well, if there are tentative plans being made, and ideas being tossed around, Disney is not going to say anything until it’s official. But it seems inevitable that they will touch Indiana Jones at some point, whether it’s with an aging Harrison Ford or not. Having paid $4 billion for Lucasfilm, they are going make sure they wring every dollar out of that to maximize their return on investment. Or, we’ll let Latino Review, who first reported the news, put it best:
You really believe that Disney bought the Indy franchise so that it begins & ends with Ford?
— elmayimbe (@elmayimbe) March 26, 2014
Thoughts? Do you think Indiana Jones can be successfully rebooted? Or is this one series that’s untouchable without Harrison Ford?
