Harrison Ford, who played the best movie character of all time Indiana Jones, will be 76 when Disney start the next movie. Picture: AFP / Justin Tallis

But imagine how Ford is feeling now — since then Indy has been beaten up by Nazis (twice), attacked by a demon cult and seen off the Russkis. And by the time he dons the famous Fedora and digs up the adventure-prone archeologist for the just announced fifth movie, he’ll be 76 years old.

The four Indiana Jones films so far — Raiders Of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) — have delighted fans for 35 years and made more than $2 billion at the global box office. But is there still room for an old-school (bearing in mind that the character was inspired by the film serials of the 1930s) action hero in a cinema environment dominated by super-powered men in capes? The Disney studio clearly thinks so.

Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg will return for the fifth Indiana Jones movie but original writer-producer George Lucas (left) will not. Picture: AP / Lionel CironneauSource:AP

Disney acquired the rights to the character as part of the $5 billion purchase of Lucasfilm, named after original writer producer George Lucas, who was bizarrely spotted in an Adelaide food court this week. But while Ford and director Steven Spielberg will reunite, Lucas will sit this one out as he did for last year’s hugely successful Disney reboot of his other famous franchise, Star Wars.

“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,” Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement this week.

That’s not just PR speak — a poll of Empire magazine readers last year voted Indy at the greatest movie character of all time, ahead of James Bond, and there’s no doubting the enduring appeal of the wisecracking, whip-cracking academic. Even the least loved of the four films, Kingdom Of the Crystal Skull (aliens anyone?), proved a hit 19 years after the previous instalment, and thanks to his appearances in video games and as a Lego figure, a whole new generation of new fans too. But what will they do with the new movie?

There’s a new generation of Indy fans thanks to his appearances in video games and as a Lego character. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Before this announcement, rumours had abounded that the franchise would be rebooted with a younger actor (Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic Park star Chris Pratt was often mentioned in dispatches) but both Spielberg and Lucas said they had no interest in doing it without Ford.

“I don’t think anyone could replace Harrison as Indy, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” Spielberg said last year in an interview with Screen Daily.

Crystal Skull also introduced Shia LaBeouf as Indy’s son, raising speculation that he might inherit the mantle, but there’s no mention of either the erratic actor or his character Mutt so far. Then again, Disney paid top dollar for the franchise, so like Star Wars, they will want a return on their investment so surely this can’t be a one-off deal. But given the gap between movies so far, it’s hard to see Ford swinging from the rafters and belting baddies into his 80s. So, unless the next movie is called Indiana Jones and Overdue History Assignments, could that mean the unthinkable?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens spelled the end for Han Solo and could Indy go out the same way? Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Ford’s already seen the shocking demise of his equally beloved Han Solo in last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but it just doesn’t seem right that Indy should go the same way. More likely he’ll ride off into the sunset (or a retirement home), with a tantalising hint of further adventures to come. As Spielberg said in the same interview: “So as long as there’s more adventures out there, I’ve got a bullwhip, a Fedora, a leather jacket and a man on a horse who knows how to get the job done.”

EMAIL:james.wigney@news.com.au