‘Indiana Jones 5’ will likely have John Rhys-Davies returning to play Sallah
John Rhys-Davies has admitted he’d love nothing more than to reprise his role as Sallah in the fifth Indiana Jones movie.
Rhys-Davies, 73, was speaking with Yahoo! Movies UK, saying: “I would love to have one last crack at Sallah. What would have happened to Sallah? I like to think that he would have been somebody like Khaled al-Asaad – that marvelous 80-year-old man who was defending his museum in Palmyra and who hid its major treasures and refused to give them over to ISIS and was beheaded in the town square.
“I think that’s probably how I would have seen Sallah. Sallah is the last Arab in popular, contemporary culture, that we regard as a hero.
“The world has changed, and that’s a tragedy for the West and for the Arab world. Perhaps there is no place for a Sallah anymore.
“Although I trust that my mention of Khaled al-Asaad just reminds people that they are not all iconoclasts and that there are heroes there – real heroes, too.”
Indiana Jones 5 is still early in development and little to nothing is known about the new film. Harrison Ford will be back for the new film, set to arrive in theaters in 2020.
The script is currently being penned by director Steven Spielberg’s close friend David Koepp, but details on the potential cast are being kept tightly under wraps for the time being. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will produce.
“Indiana Jones is one of the greatest heroes in cinematic history, and we can’t wait to bring him back to the screen in 2019,” said Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios, in March 2016, when the project became official.
“It’s rare to have such a perfect combination of director, producers, actor and role, and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this adventure with Harrison and Steven.”
The new film is still set to arrive in theaters on July 10, 2020.
