A Love 'Jones'

After years of starts and stops, the Indiana Jones empire seems to be shaking off its cobwebs. Producer Kathleen Kennedy says a new writer will begin penning a script in June, with a first draft due by the fall. (Her office denies a report that it could be Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love scribe Tom Stoppard.) The fourth chapter in the Indy saga will be based on a story recently written by cocreator George Lucas, who tells EW that the biggest challenge facing Harrison Ford's Dr. Jones this time may not involve snakes or sword-wielding heavies. ''There is a scene where a lot of Indy's ex-girlfriends show up, but they are not major characters,'' says Lucas, hinting that both Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Mrs. Steven Spielberg, Kate Capshaw (Temple of Doom) might cameo. So what does Indy himself think of a reunion with his former flames? Says Ford (left), with a wink: ''It's probably going to be the best scene in the movie.''