Chris Pratt Says He’s Not Going to Play Indiana Jones

For many years, fans have wondered when — not if, but when — Disney would reboot the Indiana Jones franchise with a new actor. Harrison Ford was last seen as the character in 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, when Ford was already 66 years old. Surely, that was his farewell to Indy, and someone else would take up the fedora and bullwhip, right?

Wrong. Ford did eventually return for a fifth Indiana Jones, which is currently in production and should premiere in theaters next summer. (Ford, by the way, just turned 80.) Before Indiana Jones 5 finally came together, there were all kinds of rumors that Disney was considering Chris Pratt as Ford’s potential replacement.

But if there was ever any truth to those rumors, Pratt says there isn’t anymore. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Pratt jokingly said he’s afraid to play the role, based on something Ford said. Here was Pratt’s quote:

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…?”

Here is the interview that Pratt is referring to, where Ford was on The Today Show and was asked who he would want to see as the new Indiana Jones. “Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone.”

Very little is publicly known about the plot of Indiana Jones 5 but the producers have made one thing clear: It’s not a movie about introducing a new Indiana Jones. Back in 2020, producer Frank Marshall said “There will only be one Indiana Jones [in the movie] and that’s Harrison Ford.” There’s no Old Man Indy flashing back to his youth, where he’s played by Noah Centineo. Don’t you get it? Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones!

Indiana Jones 5 is scheduled to open in theaters on June 30, 2023.