Like Star Wars, Indiana Jones is one of those few film franchises that’s impacted virtually every American has childhood in one way or another. Be it the fedora, the whip, Harrison Ford, or the spirit of high adventure that sticks in our minds, the series is a testament of the human imagination and universal storytelling.

It was with that in mind that in 2007, we were given Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a film while not terribly horrible, had very little in common with the other films in terms of its strength. I personally came out of that film not angry, but underwhelmed. I didn’t hate the film like most seemed to, but at no point in the film did I feel a sense of wonder or excitement even remotely approaching that of the trilogy. 

For better or worse, we will be getting an Indiana Jones 5, and for better or worse, David Koepp — one of the writers on Crystal Skull — will be back to pen the script. But, of course, as with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one of the big questions fans have has to do with whether or not the man himself, George Lucas, will be involved.

Speaking with Collider, Koepp confirmed that Lucas would not be involved:

“He’s not, to my knowledge. I’ve had no contact with him.”

It’d be easy to get excited about this prospect. After all, Lucas’ name was stained following the release of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. That being said, it can’t be forgotten that while Lucas isn’t so hot at screenwriting itself, his skills in general story development can’t be denied. As such, his non-involvement is a bit of a loss, but one that I’m sure Disney will be able to compensate for with their own talent.

As someone who’s worked on the fourth film, Koepp was also asked if there was something he had learned from that experience.

“I think that what [Indy] looks for and when he looks for it dictates what the movie’s gonna be. So the selection of the MacGuffin is everything. I think Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, being set in 1957 there was a conscious desire to say, ‘Much like two of the other ones were World War II movies set in the 30s and early 40s, this is ’57 so a lot of our influences are gonna be science-fiction movies.’ You got that with the original [script], Jeb Stuart took the first shot at it with Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars. That was a really conscious decision that dictated a lot about what the story would be and what the movie would be like, and I think that was followed through on really nicely. I thought Steve did a really good job with that. I don’t know that the idea was most suited to an Indiana Jones movie, but that was what we did. So we tried to be very careful with the selection of the MacGuffin and the eras to give ourselves as much latitude to make the best kind of Indiana Jones movie that we most want to see. Learning how that’s the importance of the choice of the MacGuffin is a big deal.”

I for one would have preferred a changeup of screenwriter. While Koepp has definitely proven himself on several occasions with such films as Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Zathura, and Panic Room, he’s also written such duds in more recent years like the newly-released Inferno, Premium Rush, and of course, the aforementioned Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. That being said, I suppose his track record has beenmore hit than miss, when all said and done.

What do you think of Koepp’s comments? Are you looking forward to an Indy 5? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Collider