uring a public celebration of Star Wars and Indiana Jones composer John Williams’ 90th birthday on Thursday, Harrison Ford took to the stage to share a first glimpse of the new Indiana Jones film, as well as its June 2023 release date.
As you can imagine, fans were beyond excited: the first look shows Indiana Jones’ silhouette crossing a bridge, and John Williams played his iconic theme song onstage to add even more drama to the moment, not that it needed it.
“We have almost completed the next Indiana Jones film, featuring the music of John Williams,” said Ford, who has starred in both blockbuster series as Han Solo and Indiana Jones.
“That music follows me everywhere. It was playing in the operating room when I had my colonoscopy,” he joked to the crowd. It was the first time the Anaheim California sci-fi fans had been able to get together in three years.
Ford went on to call Williams “the most gracious man, a wonderful man and a wonderful talent”.
After Ford’s announcement, the crowd then sang “Happy Birthday” to Williams.
Williams, who has composed the music for some of the world’s biggest films including Jaws: The Revenge, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Jurassic World, will also be also scoring the music for the next Indiana Jones’ instalment.
Most of the big details about the fifth instalment are still under wraps. What we do know is that a packed cast including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Toby Jones, and Antonio Banderas has joined the film.
German actor Thomas Kretschmann (24, Westworld), Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl) and Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident, Black Panther) have also joined the film.
The film is a first for numerous reasons: it’s the first time an Indiana Jones film is being directed by someone other than Steven Spielberg, and it’s the first time its story has not been written by George Lucas.
Instead, James Mangold (The Wolverine, Knight and Day) is behind the camera and Mangold with Jez Butterworth (Spectre, Ford v Ferrari) and John-Henry Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow, Ford v Ferrari) have written the script.
It is also the first time that a film in the series is being distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures since Lucasfilm was taken over by Disney in 2012.
The film is scheduled for release on June 30, 2023.