Will Spielberg and Lucas Continue the Indiana Jones Franchise?

Remember that Vanity Fair story from last week? The one with all the pics, and the quotes from Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford? Well the author of that story, Jim Windolf, is back now apologizing to his editors and the readers for not pressing Spielberg harder on the issue of whether he plans to continue the Indy franchise following this May's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Windolf isn't the first one to raise this question, as last year rumors began floating around with regards to the contracts Ford and co-star Shia LaBeouf signed for Indy 4. At the time, it was speculated that both Ford and LaBeouf agreed to appear in at least three more Indiana Jones films after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Shortly after that rumor surfaced, Lucasfilm jumped to deny the whole thing, calling it "idle chatter."

But Windolf, in a follow-up story that's way longer than it needs to be, takes a nothing quote from Spielberg and spins it into something much larger. Whether Vanity Fair was saving this second article for another day (and more additional traffic) or if Windolf really did get hammered for not asking about sequels -- we do not know -- but we do know that nothing earth shattering is included here. In case you're interested, here's the key paragraph of Windolf's story:

"When I asked him why he hadn't gone forward with the "Indy IV" script written by writer-director Frank Darabont, he said, "In this case George [Lucas] was passionate that this was not the story he wanted to tell at this point in the Indiana Jones saga ..." Noting that he had used the magic phrase "at this point," I followed up by asking him, "Is that leaving room open for another one?" To which Spielberg replied, "Oh, I don't know. I haven't even thought about that. I'm still in the cutting room. I can't even think beyond the next cut."

Windolf goes on to talk about whether LaBeouf could successfully continue the franchise -- whether he's a big enough name right now -- and blah blah. Like I said, this has all been covered. And until we see the kid operate in that leather jacket and slicked back hair, there's no way we can really form an accurate opinion.

[Thanks Pat for the heads up]