Steven Spielberg Is Open to Making Indiana Jones a Woman

"We'd have to change the name from 'Jones' to 'Joan.' And there would be nothing wrong with that," the 'Ready Player One' director said.


Steven Spielberg thinks it's time for moviegoers to meet Indiana "Joan." The director revealed to The Sun earlier this week that he is considering having Harrison Ford's iconic Indiana Jones character be played by a woman.


"We'd have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that," he said when asked whether he would make the infamous explorer female.


Spielberg and Harrison Ford are set to reunite to film the fifth installment in the Indiana Jones franchise next April, but the director confirmed that the film will mark Ford's final go at playing the archeology professor. "This will be Harrison Ford's last Indiana Jones movie, I am pretty sure, but it will certainly continue after that."


Though considerate of the franchise's devoted fans, Spielberg believes the time has come for the renowned character to take a "different form," especially amid the recent #MeToo and Time's Up movements. "I have been very lucky to be influenced by women, several of whom I have just loved madly — my mom and my wife," the director, who has been a strong advocate for the Time's Up campaign for gender equality, said.


Envisioning an Indiana "Joan," Spielberg hopes that the transition could lead the way in enforcing Hollywood equality. The Ready Player One director has been adamant about ensuring his lead actors and actresses receive the same pay.


"Everyone was equally paid. And on The Post, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep got the same paycheck exactly, right down to the perks," Spielberg said.


The fifth installment of Indiana Jones is set to begin filming in April 2019.