Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Causes Big Boost For Original Trilogy on Disney+
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may not exactly be crushing it at the box office, but it's certainly having a payoff when it comes to the other films in the franchise. According to Whip Media's latest movie rankings of the 10 most-streamed movies in the U.S. from last weekend (via Yahoo!), three of the previous Indiana Jones movies have made the list. The rankings are based on viewership data from TV Time and tracks the data of more than 26 million global registered users.
1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark came in third on the top 10 list, followed by 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (the third film in the series) in the six slot, and 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (the second film) in the seventh spot. The three films are currently streaming on Disney+. The only film in the franchise to not crack the list was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from 2008. As for the full top ten, Extraction 2 came in at number one, followed by Nimona, Evil Dead Rise took the fourth spot, followed by Run Rabbit Run in number five. Number eight went to Avatar: The Way of Water, Extraction took number 9, and Renfield rounded out things in number ten.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Falls From the Top Spot at the Box Office
While fans are clearly turning to Indiana Jones movies at home, those numbers aren't translating to ticket sales. The fifth installment in the franchise fell to the number two spot at the box office, losing out to Insidious: The Red Door. Indiana Jones 5 earned just $27.2 million in its second weekend in theaters.
Patrick Cavanaugh reviewed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny for ComicBook.com, awarding the movie a 3-star rating. In his review, Cavanaugh writes:
"We can't really ever say we've grown sick of seeing Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, so even if his return is received a bit more tepidly, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny feels less like the reunion with an old friend we experienced with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and more like a farewell party. Even if the events of the film are meant to carry more symbolic significance than narrative merit, it's still an experience that feels like it has worn out its welcome. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny isn't necessarily a misstep, but it's a party no one asked for and one we wished had ended early, though it does give us the gift of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Helena Shaw, which we hope becomes the gift that keeps on giving."
Indiana Jones Series to End With Dial of Destiny
The fifth installment of the Indiana Jones saga is meant to be its last. Harrison Ford is the only actor to have played the titular character in feature films over the years, and there are no plans to recast Indy in order to make more movies. At 80 years old, Ford as made it clear that he's not planning to play Indiana Jones again.
While this will be the final installment of the Indiana Jones series, director James Mangold made a point not to indicate as much with the title. Since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade already included a word hinting at an ending, Mangold and the production team had a rule against using that terminology.
"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 iconic Harrison Ford returned for one last adventure as 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 Ford's final appearance as the iconic archeologist.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is in theaters now.