Is Shia LaBeouf Being Lined Up As Future Of ‘Indiana Jones’ Franchise?

We’re only a few days away from the opening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on May 22nd, and as Kirsten explored earlier, the film has been getting some very mixed early reviews. But I don’t care, I’ll be going to see it anyway, and if there is another film made in the series I’ll go and see that too.

Apparently George Lucas has already come up with a storyline for a fifth film, but with Indy himself, Mr. Harrison Ford a sprightly 65 years old (though he doesn’t look it) and not getting any younger, it may be time for a new man to take over the lead role, and with Shia Labeouf appearing as (SPOILER ALERT) Indy’s son in this film, he’d be the obvious choice.

According to MTV Movies, this is exactly what is being planned, with Lucas telling Fox News that LaBeouf’s character Mutt Williams is likely to be the main star of a fifth Indy film were it to happen, with Harrison Ford relegated to a supporting role in the same way Sean Connery managed in The Last Crusade.

MTV Movies also spoke to LaBeouf at the Cannes Film Festival, and he succinctly summed up how he feels about the idea:

“I don’t think a Mutt spin-off would be as big as Indiana Jones. [But] fingers crossed!”

I think we all need to see what sort of performance Shia manages in this film before deciding if we want to see more of him in the franchise. He was great in Transformers but an Indiana Jones film is a whole different prospect.