On June 30, 2023, Indiana Jones returns.
The fifth and seemingly final installment of the iconic franchise is hitting theaters fifteen years after the previous chapter, and it will feature the return of some of the most legendary figures in movie history: star Harrison Ford and composer John Williams. And it sounds like there’s a possibility both men will retire from the industry once it’s complete.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Williams said, “At the moment I’m working on ‘Indiana Jones 5,’ which Harrison Ford — who’s quite a bit younger than I am — I think has announced will be his last film. So, I thought: If Harrison can do it, then perhaps I can, also.”
Ford has not announced that it will be his last film, but Williams would reasonably be in a position to know that and Ford will be just shy of his 81st birthday when the movie releases – so it wouldn’t be a shock. It would be massive news, however, as he is one of the most accomplished and recognizable actors in history.
We should wait and see about Ford until we hear it from him, but it sounds like this might be happening. We can talk a bit more confidently about Williams, however, who mentioned that this might be his last film. But there’s a catch: Williams isn’t retiring completely, but just from scoring films. He told the AP that for him to do a Star Wars film, for instance, takes six months of work, which he says “at this point in life is a long commitment to me.” So instead, he says he’ll be composing concert music.
Williams is an undeniable staple of so many of Hollywood’s most iconic moments. He has received more Oscar nominations than any individual besides Walt Disney, and has provided the score for all nine films of the Star Wars Skywalker saga (plus new themes for Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi), for all four Indiana Jones films (soon to be five), for the first three Harry Potter films, for the first two Jurassic Park films, and for plenty of other movies such as Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Superman, and Schindler’s List. He’s providing the score for The Fabelmans, releasing later this year and directed by longtime collaborator Steven Spielberg, and then will be doing Indiana Jones 5 next year. After that, it sounds like he might be done with scoring for films.
That’s only reasonable, given the fact that he’s 90 years old, but it’s massively significant. He’s a living legend, and for good reason. Yet ever humble, he’s still not wanting to take too much credit.
“My own personality is such that I look at what I’ve done — I’m quite pleased and proud of a lot of it — but like most of us, we always wish we might have done better,” he told the AP. “We live with examples like Beethoven and Bach before us, monumental achievements people have made in music, and can feel very humbled. But I also feel very fortunate. I’ve had wonderful opportunities, particularly in film where a composer can have an audience of not millions of people, but billions of people.”
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