In our continuing coverage of how the House of Mouse now owns everything, Disney has gained distribution and marketing rights to any upcoming films in the Indiana Jones franchise. Disney has owned Lucasfilm for some time now and up until this point while Disney had the rights to the character, Paramount had held the rights to the film franchise.
Now on any other franchise this might not matter much, but one of the hallmarks of an Indiana Jones movie is the incorporation of the Paramount logo into the film’s opening. In effect, the Paramount mountain is part of the iconography of Indiana Jones. See the picture below if your mind needs some refreshing.
Disney might try the same trick with the famous Cinderella’s Castle in their logo, but that could backfire and be seen as nothing more than cheap pandering on their part.
Don’t weep for Paramount though, not only do they keep the rights to the first four films, but they will be getting a piece of the action on any future Indiana Jones flick released.
To be clear, just because Disney has gotten the rights doesn’t mean another Indiana Jones movie is imminent. Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford still seem interested in returning to the franchise and it has even been hinted that despite no longer having a stake in Lucasfilm, George Lucas would still be involved as Indiana Jones films have always been the collaboration of these three men. It would be in Disney’s best interest to get on this however as, well, Harrison Ford isn’t getting any younger.
Personally, I would have preferred for Indiana Jones to have stayed with Paramount. Not only do I think Disney now own too much of my childhood with them owning Marvel Comics and the rights to the Star Wars franchise, but I fear that Disney may try to take away whatever edge Indiana Jones has left, turning the character from the daring adventurer with a sometimes shaky moral code that we all know and love into a milquetoast waste of space.
As always, we want to hear for you. Let us know what you think of all of this in the comments below!
Via Variety
