Indiana Jones: Harrison Ford Says Dial of Destiny Cut Out the Script’s Age Jokes

For Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Harrison Ford brought to life his iconic character for the fifth time, with the role spanning more than four decades and the actor being in his late 70s during filming, but despite both Ford himself and Indiana Jones’ longevity, don’t expect the new film to poke fun at the character’s age and intense exploits. The actor recently recalled that the script originally had elements in which metatextual elements were incorporated to poke fun at the concept, but Ford pointed out that they were cut so as to not take audiences out of the story and to remain authentic to Indiana Jones’ personality. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits theaters on June 30th.

“In [Dial of Destiny] there were a lot of old jokes in the script. We took them all out,” Ford revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. “There is a moment where he observes himself in this situation and says, ‘What the f-ck am I doing in here?’ But I hate what I call ‘talking about the story.’ I want to see circumstances in which the audience gets a chance to experience the story, not to be led through the nose with highlights pointed out to them. I’d rather create behavior that is the joke of age rather than talk about it.”

Funnily enough, all the way back in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jones himself pokes fun at his age and the exploits he is embarking on. In response to Karen Allen’s Marion Ravenwood pointing out how he had changed in the years since they knew each other, Indiana quips, “It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.” 

Audiences last saw Indiana Jones in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and with that film concluding with the character marrying Marion, many audiences assumed that would be the end of his journey. Even though viewers shouldn’t expect to see jokes made at the expense of the character’s age, Ford has confirmed that a key component of the upcoming sequel will be focusing on this being the end of the line for Indiana Jones.

“I always wanted to do it,” Ford shared with Variety of what drew him to the sequel. “I wanted to do the rest of the story to see the end of his career.”

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits theaters on June 30th.

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