When it came to naming the final film in the Indiana Jones franchise, director James Mangold and the production team had a very specific rule they had to follow. They ultimately landed on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which will act as the final outing for both Indy and franchise star Harrison Ford. Despite this being the very last entry in the series, there was a rule about signifying that milestone in the title, since the franchise already went back on an ending promise once before.
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The third Indiana Jones film is titled Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which originally hinted that the story was over. That was until the franchise came back in 2008 with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Given that there was already an Indy movie with “last” in the title, and it wasn’t actually the last film, the creative team had a rule that words like that couldn’t be used for Indiana Jones 5.
“Because Last Crusade. You couldn’t say last because Last Crusade did it and wasn’t,” Mangold explained during a recent interview with Uproxx. “‘Final’ is in every movie from Halloween. Every movie has, at least, the 17th installment called ‘Final’ something. So you think, you can’t go ‘final.’”
The Last Indiana Jones Movie
Dial of Destiny may not have “last” or “final” in the title, but it definitely going to be the end of the story for the titular adventurer and the icon who plays him. Ford, now 80 years old, is done playing Indy. While there may be other stories set in this world at some point, there aren’t plans to recast the character for another go-round.
Ford may be retiring from playing Indiana Jones, but he isn’t retiring from acting as a profession. Appearing on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? this week, Ford addressed his future as an actor.
“I don’t [plan to retire],” Ford said. “I don’t do well when I don’t have to work. I love to work. I love to feel useful. It’s my jones. I want to be helpful.”
Indiana Jones Spinoff Potential
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is still very much about Indy, but it does introduce a character who could lead a spinoff film or franchise sometime in the future.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays Helena Shaw in the new film, the goddaughter of Indiana Jones. Fans have thought that this movie could be a passing of the torch from Indy to Helena, letting her lead another version of the series going forward. If that does happen, it will be without Mangold, who made it clear while speaking to that he doesn’t want to spin the franchise in a new direction.
“I’m not interested. I refuse. I just can’t do it,” Mangold admitted. “The amount of lore and Easter eggs and fan service starts to become antithetical to any of this stuff at a certain point. It isn’t storytelling anymore. it’s large-scale advertising.”
The iconic Harrison Ford returns for one last adventure when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premieres in theaters on June 30th. Lucasfilm’s latest film in the long-running franchise sees Dr. Jones team up with his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in a race against nefarious forces to secure a powerful artifact. The duo will go up against the mysterious former Nazi-turned-NASA scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), and the film also features stars Boyd Holbrook, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, and John Rhys Davies. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is directed by James Mangold and is set to be Ford’s final appearance as the iconic archeologist.
