To quote Indiana Jones: “It’s not the years, honey — it’s the mileage.” Harrison Ford, 80, has been put through the wringer over forty years and five films as the archeologist adventurer, who returns for his final adventure in this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Shortly after filming on the fifth and final Indy film got underway in 2021, the 78-year-old Ford suffered an injury while “rehearsing for a fight scene.” In a statement at the time, a Disney spokesperson said Ford “sustained an injury involving his shoulder,” and that “the filming schedule will be reconfigured as needed in the coming weeks.”
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According to Esquire, the injury occurred during the film’s opening sequence set in 1945. The outlet describes the scene: “Indiana Jones is in hand-to-hand combat with the villain on a speeding train, and he holds his famous hat over the villain’s face before punching him, as if to take him by surprise. It’s a brilliant bit of Jonesian theatrics, and it was Ford’s idea—the kind of thing only he would think of, having inhabited Jones for so long … when he held his hat in the face of actor Mads Mikkelsen and pulled his hand back to demonstrate the punch—someone was in the way and he had to adjust mid-strike—Ford pulled the subscapularis muscle off his right shoulder.”
In response to being known to perform most of his own stunts, Ford told Esquire, “I’m also known for shutting movies down because I get hurt, which is not something you want to be known for. But hey, shit happens.” (Ford also suffered an on-set injury while filming 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.)
The actor’s shoulder injury shut down production for two weeks, and Ford had to sit out another six weeks. Once slated for July 2022, the release date was pushed back a full year to its scheduled opening on June 30th.
Ford reprises his iconic role for the final time in the new movie from director James Mangold, replacing franchise director Steven Spielberg. Also along for Indy’s last ride are his grifting goddaughter,Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge); Nazi-turned-NASA scientist JürgenVoller (Mads Mikkelsen); boat captain Renaldo (Antonio Banderas);Helena’s teen sidekick, Teddy (Ethann Isidore); US government AgentMason (Shaunette Renée Wilson); and Indy’s old ally and Helena’s father,Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), who went mad from his obsession with the dial “that could change the course of history.”
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens only in theaters June 30th.
