'Indiana Jones 5' News, Release Date: John Rhys-Davies Keen on Reprising Role as Sallah
"Indiana Jones 5" won't hit theaters until 2020, but casting reports about the film are already surfacing. Recently, original cast member John Rhys-Davies expressed his intent to reprise his role as Sallah in the upcoming installment to provide closure for his character.
In an interview with Yahoo! Movie UK at the BAFTA Cymru Awards ceremony last weekend, the Welsh actor said he would love to return as the Egyptian excavator Sallah in the fifth installment of the "Indiana Jones" franchise. Asked what his character has probably been doing over the last few decades, the actor said he's likely to become a museum and artifact guardian who declines to turn over priceless collections to invaders and burglars.
"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," he said. In history, al-Asaad was the Syrian archaeologist who died a tragic death for defending the ancient city of Palmyra in 2015.
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As of now, the future of Sallah remains uncertain, and Rhys-Davies has yet to confirm if he will return to reprise the role. However, the actor is keen to be back as Sallah if the producers ask him to, especially since the character's storyline has yet to be given a proper closure in the franchise.
In "Indiana Jones," Sallah was the right-hand man of Indy (Harrison Ford) during the Raiders of the Lost Ark who helped the famous explorer in unearthing the Philosopher's Stone. In "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," his final appearance was when he rode off into the sunset with the rest of the gang.
"Indiana Jones 5" will hit theaters on July 10, 2020.
