Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Director Teases Film’s Epic 25-Minute Opening Flashback

The Indiana Jones franchise has a reputation for opening with a scene that sets the tone of the adventure though might not factor directly into the following narrative, and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is no different. While a majority of these opening scenes take place relatively close to the timeline of the rest of the narrative, Dial of Destiny required director James Mangold to utilize de-aging technology for Harrison Ford, though advances in CGI allowed for the process to be relatively effortless. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is currently slated to hit theaters on June 30th.

“We had hundreds of hours of footage of him in close-ups, in mediums, in wides, in every kind of lighting, night and day,” Mangold shared with Total Film. “I could shoot Harrison on a Monday as, you know, a 79-year-old playing a 35- year-old, and I could see dailies by Wednesday with his head already replaced.”

The filmmaker pointed out that Ford was still “incredibly gifted and agile”  and he “just shot him, and he just pretended that he was 35 … But the technology involved is a whole other thing.” 

In addition to the opening being an exciting experience in its own right, Mangold expressed that by showing the archaeologist in a more action-packed experience, it will reflect how much things had changed when the film jumps forward to 1969.

“It wasn’t a year of effort to get to a first pass,” Mangold pointed out. “It was an incredible technology, and, in many ways, I just didn’t think about it. I just focused on shooting what’s [approximately] a 25-minute opening extravaganza that was my chance to just let it rip. The goal was to give the audience a full-bodied taste of what they missed so much. Because then when the movie lands in 1969, they’re going to have to make an adjustment to what it is now, which is different from what it was.”

The upcoming opening sequence not only demonstrates impressive special effects, but is also the longest opening sequence in the franchise, but with Dial of Destiny having a reported run time of two hours and 23 minutes, audiences will still have plenty of time to experience the “present day” adventures of the hero. 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is currently slated to hit theaters on June 30th.

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