Indiana Jones (franchise) and Lucas made a deal with Paramount Pictures for five Indiana Jones films. Spielberg and Lucas aimed to make "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" much darker, because of their personal moods following their respective break-ups and divorces. Lucas made the film a prequel as he did not want the Nazis to be the villains again. He had ideas regarding the Monkey King and a haunted castle, but eventually created the Sankara Stones. He hired Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz to write the script as he knew of their interest in Indian culture. The major scenes that were dropped
Indiana Jones would not return for any future installments and LaBeouf would take over the Indy franchise. This film also reveals that Jones was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, attaining the rank of Colonel in the United States Army. He is tasked with conducting covert operations with MI6 agent George McHale against the Soviet Union. In March 2016, Disney announced a fifth "Indiana Jones" film in development, with Ford and Spielberg set to return to the franchise. Initially set for release on July 10, 2020, the film's release date was pushed back to July 9, 2021