Indiana Jones 5: Harrison Ford Gets Emotional After Film’s Premiere

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny did a major first showing at Cannes and the reaction from the crowd left star Harrison Ford emotional. That’s not just speculation, either: as you can see in the video below, Ford was captured on camera and projected on a big screen during the reaction applause following the Cannes screening of Indiana Jones 5, and there are, quite visibly, tears in his eyes. 

In addition to screening Indiana Jones 5, Cannes also gave Harrison Ford a surprise Palme d’Or award before the screening took place, with a highlight reel of Ford’s work shown to the crowd.

“I’m very moved by this,” Ford said “They say when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes, and I just saw my life flash before my eyes. A great part of my life, but not all of my life. My life has been enabled by my lovely wife [actress Calista Flockhart] who has supported my passion and my dreams, and I’m grateful.”

“I love you, too,” Ford told the audience. “But I’ve got a movie you ought to see. It’s right behind me. So let me get out of the way, and thank you again for this great honor.”

First Reactions to Indiana Jones 5 

So far, the reactions to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny are mostly strong. Critic Clayton Davis was at Cannes and writes: 

“Redemption! James Mangold redeems #IndianaJones with #DialOfDestiny. A farewell to one of the greatest movie characters in cinema history. Action, laughs, charm…just everything that makes him great. Thanks Harrison Ford (and Phoebe Waller Bridge) for the ride. #Cannes2023”.

Total Film writes: “There’s a nostalgic, old-fashioned feel to the film, a rollicking, globe-trotting ride that pits Ford’s intrepid adventurer against the Nazis once more. Certainly, it makes up for 2008’s outlandish Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with a more grounded story. Well, until the final reel, at least… (no spoilers!)”

That all said, Variety calls the response it Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in the actual Cannes theatre as being less than encouraging, stating: “The film’s elaborate action scenes and witty one-liners delivered by Phoebe Waller-Bridge mostly received a muted response inside the theater. During parts of the 142-minute film, audience members could be heard whispering out of boredom in French.”

Either way, this is the end of Indiana Jones for Ford (hence the emotion). He previously told Total Film that “This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I’ll play the character… I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film.” While he’s aware that Disney is developing an Indiana Jones series for Disney+, Ford said he “will not be involved in that, if it does come to fruition.”

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has a release date of June 30th.