Steven Spielberg

Today Disney dropped a whole slew of new release dates for the studio through 2021. It might seem like a joke that humanity will even exist to see that year arrive, but hey, we can dream, and in those dreams there’s a lot to be excited about, including Indiana Jones 5.

Given how much space physical media takes up, it’s hard for movie buffs to say no to the great promise of “cloud storage,” and the idea that we could summon anything we want to watch with just a couple of clicks. But so far, reality hasn’t matched the hype. Streaming services have been focused on exclusives and original programming, to the extent that the only way to have access to everything available is to spend hundreds of dollars a month on subscription fees. Meanwhile, older films keep disappearing from the digital archives; and even items that cinephiles “own” sometimes become inaccessible whenever software updates or a site shutters.

It’s pretty well known that Steven Spielberg was a major force (h’yuck) in getting J.J. Abrams the assignment directing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Lucasfilm wanted a director. Spielberg wanted Abrams to get the gig. “I brought J.J.’s name up,” he said in a roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought J.J. would be the best person to direct Episode VII and I called J.J. and said ‘Would you do it if it was offered to you?’” Abrams was initially reluctant (he thought his wife wouldn’t want him to take any more time-consuming franchise gigs), so Spielberg actually took Abrams and his wife Katie out to dinner on Lucasfilm’s behalf, asked Katie if it was cool if J.J. directed Star Wars, and basically made a Love Connection of the whole thing. The rest was history.

When Disney acquired Lucasfilm and the rights to distribute Indiana Jones, rumors began circulating about the studios’ intentions to reboot the franchise and cast a younger actor in Harrison Ford’s iconic role. That’s not the case, however, as Ford is reuniting with Steven Spielberg for Indiana Jones 5, while recent comments from studio chief Bob Iger suggested that there are still plans to reboot Indy sometime in the near future. As it turns out, those plans may be a bit bigger than Iger implied.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Disney has repeatedly assured fans that they have no (current) plans to reboot Indiana Jones or replace Harrison Ford in the iconic role anytime soon — well, at least not in Indiana Jones 5, which re-teams Ford with series director Steven Spielberg for one more outing. According to Disney chief Bob Iger, however, the forthcoming sequel won’t be the last of the Indy franchise, and it definitely sounds like they do have plans to reboot the series — to some extent — after all.

Steven Spielberg has only gotten busier in recent years; the prolific director has been adding a fair amount of projects to his growing to-do list, including Indiana Jones 5, set to hit theaters in 2019. Harrison Ford will return to reprise his iconic role as the archaeological adventurer despite repeatedly denied rumors that Disney is looking to pass the torch to a new star. If you had any remaining doubts, Spielberg himself assures fans that Ford isn’t going anywhere — at least not in his Indy universe.

Not that Lucasfilm would get anyone else to score new Star Wars and Indiana Jones sequels as long as John Williams is still around, but just in case there was any doubt, Steven Spielberg has officially confirmed the legendary composer’s return for both franchises. The director’s announcement appropriately took place during last night’s AFI tribute to Williams, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to cinema.

“There is only going to be one actor playing Indiana Jones and that’s Harrison Ford.”

It must be the witching hour because The BFG has arrived!

In October 1984, when Back to the Future would’ve been in early-development stages, a producer gave a friendly suggestion to remedy one of the biggest flaws in the project. The script was “terrific”, everything was fine, but that title. Wouldn’t something along the lines of Space Man from Pluto have a smoother flow, make more sense to audiences, and convey what the movie’s actually about much more succinctly?

After three years, here’s Steven Spielberg’s follow-up to Lincoln: Another historical drama about freedom and law and essential American values.

When all you care about is money, bad things happen. That’s the message of Jurassic World, where greedy theme-park executives hoping to spike attendance engineer the “Indominus Rex,” a genetically-modified dinosaur that immediately turns on its creators and runs amok. Designed as a cautionary tale about the dangers of building a meaner, badder monster purely for the sake of profits, Jurassic World works equally well as a cautionary tale about doing the same thing in movies. All of the rationalizations provided by Jurassic World’s employees — “Consumers want them bigger, louder, more teeth.” “Somebody’s gotta make sure this company has a future!” — could have been taken directly out of the mouths of the studio executives who approved this gene splice of a reboot and a sequel. Their creation — the Indominus or the movie, there’s basically no difference — is as advertised; huge, mean, and visually striking. But this experiment is not without consequences.