Indiana Jones 5 to premiere at Cannes Film Festival

Indiana Jones will be swinging back into action at the Cannes Film Festival in May, organizers confirmed on Monday, April 3 with Harrison Ford launching the world premiere of his final outing as the adventurous archaeologist.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Antonio Banderas, is the fifth installment of the action franchise and will premiere at the Cote d'Azur festival on May 18. 

Ford has said it will be his last appearance as the whip-cracking, fedora-wearing archaeologist, who became one of Hollywood's most iconic characters after the movie's first installment, Raiders of the Lost Ark, in 1981. 

The previous entry, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, also premiered at Cannes in 2008. 

The new film, said to be set during the 1960s space race, includes a flashback section in which the 80-year-old actor has been digitally de-aged.

It is the first in the series not to have been directed by Steven Spielberg. He still serves as executive producer but passes the reins to James Mangold.  

"In 1995, I was honored to come to Cannes with my first film 'Heavy' as part of the Director's Fortnight. Twenty-eight years later, I am proud to return with a slightly larger spectacle," Mangold said in a statement. 

Mangold has had a steady run of Hollywood successes, including Logan (2017), Ford v Ferrari (2019), and Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (2005). 

This year's festival runs from May 16 to 27, and the full line-up will be announced in the next couple of weeks. 

The latest film from Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon, is already confirmed to get its world premiere at the festival on May 20. (AFP)