James Mangold in Talks to Replace Steven Spielberg as 'Indiana Jones 5' Director

Star Harrison Ford remains on board for the film.

This is the latest creative change for the feature, which was first announced in March 2016 by Disney and Lucasfilm. It was initially given a release date of July 19, 2019, which was subsequently pushed back to July 10, 2020.

In June 2018, Jonathan Kasdan, the son of Raiders of the Lost Ark scripter Lawrence Kasdan, was brought on to write a new draft of the feature, delaying the production further and pushing the release to July 9, 2021.

The choice to hand over the reins on Indiana Jones 5 fell to Spielberg. He decided to step down so that the next generation of filmmakers could usher the franchise forward, says a source close to the director.

Spielberg, who will remain on Indiana Jones 5 as a producer, will next release his West Side Story remake with Warner Bros., which is due out in December. 

Mangold was last in theaters with the Christian Bale- and Matt Damon-starring racing drama Ford v Ferrari, which was released by Disney/Fox and earned over $225 million at the global box office. The director's other credits include the tentpole superhero films Wolverine and Logan.