Following the recent addition of Mads Mikkelsen, TheWrap brings word that German actor Thomas Kretschmann has officially been tapped for an undisclosed role in Lucasfilm’s long-in-development Indiana Jones 5. Kretschmann and Mikkelsen will be joining the final installment’s leading stars, Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with production expected to begin this summer finally.
Kretschmann is no stranger to major blockbuster films as he previously appeared in 2004’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse, 2005’s King Kong, and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. He most recently starred in last year’s Tom Hanks-led war film Greyhound.
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Indiana Jones 5 has been in development since 2016, with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford returning in their respective roles. However, the project had endured many setbacks, including multiple rewrites that came from David Koepp, Jonathan Kasdan (son of Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan), and Dan Fogelman. Another reason why it took so long for the project to take off was when Steven Spielberg had announced last year that he would be exiting his directorial duties for the film. The Oscar-winning filmmaker was the one who directed all of the previous Indiana Jones films. Despite this, he will still remain part of the film’s production as a producer.
Soon after, Lucasfilm has officially enlisted Oscar nominee James Mangold (Logan) to direct the fifth installment. He is also co-writing the new screenplay along with Ford v Ferrari collaborators Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. The highly-anticipated sequel is currently scheduled to be released on July 29, 2022.
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Indiana Jones 5 will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, original franchise director Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with John Williams returning to score the film, continuing a musical journey that began 40 years ago with Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Famed archaeologist and explorer Indiana Jones was introduced in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark – one of AFI’s 100 Greatest American Films of All Time – and later thrilled audiences in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The four films have brought in nearly $2 billion at the global box office.
