Indiana Jones 5 director is "not interested" in Phoebe Waller-Bridge spin-off

Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 5 — (Image credit: Disney)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold has given his verdict on a spin-off about Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Helena Shaw – and he's not keen, though it has nothing to do with the character or actor herself.

Waller-Bridge plays Indy's goddaughter in the movie, which has led to some speculation that she may be the future of the franchise.

"I'm not interested," Mangold told Variety. "I refuse. I just can't do it." He added: "The amount of lore and Easter eggs and fan service starts to become antithetical to any of this stuff at a certain point. It isn't storytelling anymore. It's large-scale advertising."

"This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I'll play the character," Ford told us in Total Film magazine earlier this year. "I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film."

Alongside Ford and Waller-Bridge, the Indiana Jones 5 cast also includes Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, John Rhys-Davies, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, and Shaunette Renée Wilson.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny arrives in US theaters this June 30 and UK cinemas this June 28. In the meantime, check out our guide to all of 2023's upcoming major movie release dates for everything else the year has in store.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.