Steven Spielberg Says Next Indiana Jones Could Be A Woman
LOS ANGELES (CBSDFW.COM/CNN) - Movie director Steven Spielberg said that casting a female to play the iconic role of Indiana Jones could actually become a reality. "We'd have to change the name from Jones to Joan," Spielberg said jokingly in a recent interview with The Sun. "And there would be nothing wrong with that."
Spielberg has no problem putting women front and center in his movies. Last year, he directed the "The Post," which featured a strong female protagonist in Katharine Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post. Meryl Streep portrayed Graham in the film, and received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her work.
It appears that the women in Spielberg's personal life have been an influence on him. "I have been very lucky to be influenced by women, several of whom I have just loved madly -- my mom and my wife," he told The Sun. Spielberg is married to actress Kate Capshaw.
Harrison Ford has been the star of the franchise as Dr. Henry 'Indiana' Jones Jr. since the first film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," hit theaters in 1981. Spielberg is currently gearing up to direct a fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, scheduled to be released in 2020.
The last film in the franchise, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," was released in 2008.
According to Spielberg, Ford is hanging up his trusty whip and fedora after the upcoming sequel. "This will be Harrison Ford's last Indiana Jones movie," Spielberg said. "I am pretty sure, but it will certainly continue after that." Ford also recently put his Han Solo character from the "Star Wars" franchise to rest.
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