Fans have been speculating that Chris Pratt could step in as Indiana Jones in the newest iteration, but the 43-year-old star just laid those rumors to rest for good.
The “Jurassic World” star addressed the idea while appearing on an episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, according to Variety.
“I don’t even know who Steven Spielberg is. Who? Steven Who?” Pratt joked about the franchise.
“No, aren’t they doing ‘Indiana Jones’ with Harrison Ford? All I know is I once saw a quote from Harrison Ford and I don’t even know if it was really him but it was enough to scare me, that was like, ‘When I die, Indiana Jones dies.’ And I’m like, am I gonna get haunted by the ghost of Harrison Ford one day when he dies if I play…?” the actor continued.
Apparently, the quote is real and comes from a 2019 interview Ford did with “Today.”
“Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy,” the 80-year-old action star explained.
The publication noted that Ford is planning to reprise the iconic role of Indiana Jones for the fifth time. This newest franchise installment is scheduled to be released in June 2023 and will be the first directed by James Mangold instead of franchise co-creator Steven Spielberg.
Co-star Antonio Banderas described what it was like joining the cast of the fifth “Indiana Jones” film.
“So unbelievable,” he said of encountering Ford on set, per USA Today.
“The first day I arrived, I was in the makeup trailer, and I turned around and there he was in the full Indiana costume with the hat and the whip. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was there with him, too, and it was so cool,” he continued.
Banderas got nostalgic, saying, “I still remember the first time I saw Indiana Jones in a theater and the crowd was crazy about it. I thought, ‘This is like going back to the old adventure (movies) in a completely different way.’ What I can tell you about my character is he’s not a bad guy. He’s a friend of Indiana. He’s not the biggest character in the movie, but I don’t care. I just like to be part of that.”
The first “Indiana Jones” movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” was released in 1981. Follow-ups in the franchise debuted in 1984, 1989, and 2008. Disney owns the intellectual property rights since acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012.