Before there was Harrison Ford, there was Tom Selleck.
“Three Men and a Baby” alum Selleck, 78, was the first choice to play Indiana Jones in 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
However, “Air Force One” star Ford, 80, scored the role as the adventurous archaeologist after Selleck departed because he was contracted to star in the CBS hit drama “Magnum, P.I.”
Ford recently revealed to Yahoo! that he didn’t even know at the time that Selleck had originally been attached to — and subsequently left — the project.
Han Solo himself had just polished off filming the “Star Wars” flick “The Empire Strikes Back,” and director George Lucas asked him to read for the character of Jones.
“I didn’t know that it was a script that someone else had read and was unable to take the job of Indiana Jones because of a contract,” Ford said.
While he was “enthusiastic” about the script for “Raiders,” he was also pumped to work alongside its filmmaker, Steven Spielberg.
Ford also said didn’t realize that the first movie would spawn an entire franchise — and certainly didn’t expect to make four more feature films over four decades.
In the “Indiana Jones” series, five movies have been produced between 1981 and 2023, with the latest installment, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” being released on Friday, June 30.
“As far as I knew, it was a one-off,” Ford said about the first film. “I mean, I didn’t really have my head around anything but that job at work right there.
“But the opportunity came because the films were so satisfying for an audience, and they were made with such skill and ambition, and so I was delighted to be along for the ride,” he gushed.
“Dial of Destiny” will be “Blade Runner” alum Ford’s final turn as the fedora-wearing explorer.
The new story takes place in the mid-1960s with Indiana joining his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), as they go on a quest to find an ancient Greek “dial” that can change history.
“The Wolverine” director James Mangold is helming the feature, and it also stars the talents of Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore and Mads Mikkelsen.
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