Harrison Ford will once again don the signature leather jacket and fedora hat of intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones when Disney reveals Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate in Cannes in an out-of-competition slot this year.
Directed by James Mangold, the film marks Ford’s fifth time playing Indy and comes 15 years later Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull also premiered at the festival. But Ford, who will receive a special tribute this year, never expected Indy — nor his other signature character, Star WarsHan Solo – to have such longevity.
When the actor visited Cannes in 1985 on behalf of Peter Weir’s crime thriller Witness, in which he played a police detective called upon to protect an Amish woman (Kelly McGillis) and her son, it provided an opportunity to show his interest in more than spectacular blockbusters. But when he sat down with British journalist Barry Norman, Norman was more interested in talking about Ford’s three Star Wars movies and two Indiana Jones movies. Asked if he ever felt overwhelmed by all their special effects and action beats, Ford replied, “If I’m overwhelmed by the special effects, it’s a judgment that the movie is getting out of hand…the human part of the story is lost .”
Noting that “it’s always been my ambition to do different kinds of movies, play different characters,” Ford added, “I’m not going to do another Star Wars movie. That episode in my life has ended.” And he continued, “We’re going to make another one Indiana Jones movie, and I think that will be enough. History, of course, played out differently.
