Harrison Ford explains 15-year wait for final Indiana Jones film

Actor is picking up the whip for one last outing

Harrison Ford has addressed the 15-year gap between the fourth and fifth Indiana Jones films.

The actor last portrayed the daring archealogist in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He is returning to the role of Dr Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr for a final time in the forthcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Speaking to Digital Spy ahead of the new film’s release, Ford was asked about the long delay for fans awaiting a fifth Indiana Jones.

“Well, it wasn’t as though we sat around for 10 years waiting to come up with an idea,” he responded. “When we finished the last film, I don’t think anybody thought about going and doing another film for some time.

“And then there were some interesting ideas that were floated. But they didn’t quite gel over a period of time. And then we found an idea, and a script, and a strong story that we wanted to tell.

The actor, 80, added that he was “very happy” with the story of Dial of Destiny.

“We’re coming to the end of Indiana Jones’ time on the planet, and I wanted to see a conclusion of his story that accommodated the reality of his age, and what that effect has on this person that we’ve come to know over the years,” he said.

Ford stars in the film alongside Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen.

Ford in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ (©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.)

Describing his final day on set, Ford recalled: “The feeling I had is the feeling you have when you’ve made something, and you can look at it, or you can remember having made it, [and having] the satisfaction of putting work in, and getting something worthy out of it.

“I felt a sense of peace, a sense of contentment, that this particular job that [director James Mangold] and I and all the other people involved had done together, was concluded in a way that really felt satisfying to me. It is my hope that others find it as satisfying as I did.”

Read the full interview with Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge on the Digital Spy website.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is released in cinemas on 28 June.