Most Indiana Jones fans prefer to forget there was ever a fourth film in the franchise, which included monkey-swinging races through the jungle and Amazonian aliens. But few would like to forget that role over Shia LaBeouf, who was just coming into his own as a big-budget, blockbuster star.
“You get to monkey-swinging and things like this and you can blame it on the author and you can blame it on Steven [Spielberg, who directed]. But the actor’s job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I could not do it. So that’s my fault. Simple.” LaBeouf told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. He added in the interview that neither he nor Harrison Ford were particularly satisfied with how the film turned out. Later, in response to LaBeouf’s comments, Ford called his co-star a “f***ing idiot.”
All things said, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had fans, critics, and its cast divided. Since that time, LaBeouf has had a few successes, and also a fair share of failures both on and off the screen. And today, Indiana Jones 5 screenwriter David Koepp told EW that LaBeouf won’t be in the upcoming movie.
“Harrison plays Indiana Jones, that I can certainly say, and the Shia LaBeouf character isn’t in the film,” Koepp said. “We’re plugging away at it. In terms of when we would begin, I think that’s up to Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Ford. I know we have got a script we’re mostly happy with. Work will be endless, needless to say, and continuing, and Steven just finished shooting The Post … When the stars align, hopefully it’ll be his next film.”
It had long been speculated that LaBeouf’s personality Indy’s son Mutt Williams would pick up the mantle of Indiana Jones following a closing scene in Crystal Skull, in which the hero’s iconic hat landed at Williams’s feet. But, even then, many critics and fans agreed that Indiana Jones shouldn’t have been rebooted in the first location. Needless to say, all Lucasfilm sees is a 2008 movie that made $787 million worldwide.
