Academy-award winning director Steven Spielberg has confirmed that filming will start next year, as Harrison Ford reprises his role as Indiana Jones in the next instalment of the series.
Ford last appeared in a 'Jones' film in 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which saw him step into the famous archeologist's boots for the first time since 1989.
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Spielberg was at the Empire Awards in London, collecting a Legend Of Our Lifetime prize when he made the announcement.
As the Mail reports, he told the audience: "It's always worth the trip when I get to work with this deep bench of talent coming out of the UK.
"The actors, and the crew, the chippies, the sparks, the drivers - everybody who has helped me make my movies here, and will continue helping me make my movies here when I come back in April 2019 to make the fifth Indiana Jones movie right here."
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The Indiana Jones films have raked in well over a billion dollars since Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in 1981. Highly acclaimed, it garnered nine Oscar nominations, and went on to win four technical awards.
Follow-up film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was met with mixed reviews from critics (but performed well at the box office, earning back ten times its outlay). Lead actress Kate Capshaw criticised her character as little more than a 'dumb screaming blonde' while even Spielberg himself expressed dislike for the film in 1989, calling it 'too dark'.
Things picked up in 1989 when Indy once battled the Nazis in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, featuring Sean Connery as his gruff but affable father.
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Well received by critics, it was a box office smash, but was the last in the series until Ford reprised his role in 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a surprise to many, with the actor now well into his sixties.
Though it was received poorly by some critics, the late Roger Ebert (arguably the most respected film critic of his age) was a fan. Others were less forgiving, with the film winning the Razzie Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.
Many labelled the film's alien subplot as ludicrous. However, others have noted that everything that happens in Raiders of the Lost Ark (spoiler alert: the Nazis' faces melt off at the end) would have occurred without Indy lifting a finger so, y'know, different strokes for different folks, as they say.
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Anyway, with Ford set to hit the silverscreen once again in 2020, we'll see if the fifth instalment is a welcome edition or a sad case of a director's blurred vision.
Featured Image Credit: Lucasfilm / PATopics: Movies, Hollywood, Films