Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny came out of the gates with $7.2 million in previews at the domestic box office. Harrison Ford’s swan song as the adventurer is in 4,600 theaters this weekend and will need a nice strong weekend to start things off right. It’s been widely reported that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was an expensive movie to make. Estimates indicate that the project’s budget comes in around $295 million. That’s not the most money anyone’s ever spent on a motion picture, but it’s a massive investment from Disney and Lucasfilm.
In a pandemic era where financial tightening has been the name of the game for so many families, it’s been a mixed bag this summer so far. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has performed admirably. People are expecting big things out of Barbie and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. But, some of these massive releases are probably going to be squeezed by the competition. In the realm of Indiana Jones, Lucasfilm has brand awareness to hang it’s hat on. Top Gun: Maverick focused on a beloved hero from over 30 years ago, and that worked out. Maybe the nostalgia will win out in the end.
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Is Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Good?
Comicbook.com’s Patrick Cavanaugh reviewed the movie for the site. In his review, our staff writer found the grandeur of the older Indy adventures there, but it all feels a little bit unbalanced. James Mangold puts his stamp on some of the now trademark Indiana Jones sequences, but the movie feels like a strange ending to one of cinema’s most beloved heroes.
“While the rogue archaeologist, played by Harrison Ford, might have been driven by “fortune and glory” at times, his quests were often to preserve history for future generations,” Cavanaugh said. “For Ford’s final outing, James Mangold stepped into the director’s chair with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and despite it largely managing to capture that sense of whimsy and excitement Spielberg delivered in four films, it feels like too little (yet also too much), too late.”
De-Aged Indiana Jones Doing Stunts
While some may disagree with the choice to de-age Ford for sections of the film, the star is really impressed with what they’re able to accomplish on-camera. He spoke to CNN about seeing the “40-year-old Harrison Ford” work firsthand and how surreal it is to be working with Lucasfilm over the course of his long career.
“It is 40-year-old Harrison Ford, and that’s why it looks so good,” Ford told CNN. “I’ve been working for Lucasfilm most of my adult life. Every frame of the film[s] … that we’ve made together … could be mined with, here we go again, artificial intelligence. And they could find the right angle, the right light, so that it’s my mouth, my eyes, my face, married. It’s not photoshopped or anything. It doesn’t look that way. It’s real.”
What is Indiana Jones Up Against This Time?
The iconic Harrison Ford returns for one last adventure when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premiered 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.
Are you heading to the theater for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny? Let us know in the comments!
