Chris Pratt Linked With Indiana Jones Reboot

In news that reads like a fanboy’s dream casting, ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ star Chris Pratt is being linked with Disney’s rumoured ‘Indiana Jones’ reboot.

Deadline reports that the studio has “set it sights” on the ‘Jurassic World’ star to lead its new Indy adventures, presumably replacing the 72-year-old Harrison Ford in the lead role.

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It would be quite an achievement for Pratt to take on the swashbuckling franchise having only just achieved leading man status with 2014’s wildly popular ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’. His portrayal of Peter “Star Lord” Quill in Marvel’s film was pitched somewhere between Han Solo and Indiana Jones, so it seems Pratt is the glaringly obvious choice to succeed Harrison Ford in the part.

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Disney obtained the rights to George Lucas’ ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise from Paramount when it acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 and now that the ‘Star Wars’ production train is rumbling inexorably forward, it seems the House Of Mouse is turning its attention to its new offshoot’s other big series.

There have been rumblings of a fifth ‘Indiana Jones’ film for a few years now despite the critical drubbing received by ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. Shia LaBeouf was lined up to take over the action duties from Ford in the mis-judged fourth film, but now it looks like they’re going to start again with a new actor, James Bond style.

I wonder what Harrison Ford will have to say about handing over the whip and fedora to a new, younger model?

It’s the right decision if you ask me. Much of the success of the three original Indy films came from their evocative pre-war period setting. Would you rather see Indy taking on the Nazis once again with a new actor in the role, than see Shia LaBeouf’s Mutt Williams and an ageing Ford battling Russians in the 1960s? I can just hear Indy moaning about hippies and it makes me want to cry.

Chris Pratt, if he does take on the role, has some big shoes to fill. With ‘Jurassic World’ still yet to hit cinemas, he’s only really got one big proven hit under his belt. Bradley Cooper or Matthew McConaughey would be a safer pair of hands, but they don’t have the cult cache that Indy fans will demand.

It’s an audacious move from Disney if they pull it off. Indy’s golden age at the cinemas ended in 1989 with ‘The Last Crusade’, so they’re going to be aiming the new films at an generation of filmgoers who’ve probably never seen ‘Indiana Jones’ (at least, one of the good ones) on the big screen before.

To see Pratt in action hero mode, check out the first trailer for ‘Jurassic World’ below.

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Image credits: Paramount/Disney/Universal