Disney's $295 million box office flop with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny bombed for several significant reasons. The highly-anticipated Indiana Jones 5 was kicked around for a while in the development stages before finally seeing the light of day in 2023, fifteen years after its last installment. Even after the incredible length of time Disney and Lucasfilm had to orchestrate Indiana Jones 5, the blockbuster failed to win over both critics and moviegoers on its worldwide opening weekend.
With no official plans set for Indiana Jones 6, the box office bombing of Dial of Destiny will certainly leave a sour taste in the mouth of many fans of the franchise, as well as Disney. If Indiana Jones 5 is any indication of whether another sequel is likely to happen anytime soon, then it's not looking very promising so far. Director James Mangold has hinted that the iconic character's future is still very much alive after Dial of Destiny, which might add fuel to the fire if Ford is not involved at all in the project. Here are the ten main reasons why Indiana Jones 5 was such a box-office failure.
10 Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny's Budget Gave It A Huge Box Office Challenge
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny had the highest production budget of any previous Indiana Jones movie at $295 million. It makes sense that the last installment featuring Harrison Ford as the titular heroic figure would not hold back in of cost, but the staggering amount of money that went into Indiana Jones 5 didn't seem to give it any real advantage. 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has a similar budget to Dial of Destiny, with a reported cost of $185 million or $279 million considering inflation. Regardless, Crystal Skull was able to make four times its cost of production, which seems like a daunting feat for Dial of Destiny at $1.18 billion.
9 Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Made People Skeptical Of More Indiana Jones
Despite Kingdom of the Crystal Skull being largely considered a box office hit, the fourth installment raised the question of whether it was a necessary addition to the previously concluded trilogy. Common complaints surfaced about the film's comparatively weak story and lack of characteristic charm which originally made the Indiana Jones trilogy such a beloved franchise. Many dedicated fans felt that the sequel failed to capture the essence of the original trilogy and that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ultimately did more to tarnish the legacy of Indiana Jones than to enhance it.
8 Indiana Jones 5 Was The First Movie Without Spielberg Directing
One of the biggest differences between Indiana Jones 5 and the previous four movies is the change of director. Dial of Destiny was the only Indiana Jones movie not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, with Ford v Ferrari and Logan director James Mangold in the director's chair in his place. Speilberg approved of the choice to have Mangold direct and was very much a part of the creative direction of Indiana Jones 5 as a hands-on producer. Still, it would have been both interesting and fitting to see how the legendary duo of Spielberg and Ford would have done with the opportunity. Their combination could have provided some of the movie magic lost in Dial of Destiny.
7 Indiana Jones 5 Faced Unusually Stiff Competition At The Summer Box Office
Summer 2023 is set to go down in film history as one of the most jam-packed summers of theatrical releases in recent memory. Before summer even officially began, 2023 saw the releases of Fast X, John Wick: Chapter 4, Creed III, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. On Dial of Destiny's opening weekend, it was entering an already very competitive circuit including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, The Flash, Asteroid City, and No Hard Feelings. The biggest movies of the year, such as Mission Impossible 7, Barbie, and Oppenheimer, will likely overpower Indiana Jones 5's potential for box office redemption.
6 Indiana Jones 5 Doesn't Appeal As Much To Younger Audiences
Indiana Jones 5 certainly caters to its audience, who are mostly above the age of 35 or older and grew up while the original trilogy was still fresh and culturally relevant. Disney failed to keep younger audience in mind with Dial of Destiny, instead making a movie that basically fan-serviced viewers of its original trilogy during the 1980s. Indiana Jones 5's lack of consideration for a broader, younger, more diverse crowd is a major reason why its box office numbers are failing to keep up with other theatrical summer releases.
5 Indiana Jones 5 Story Leaks Could Have Further Put Audiences Off
Another small but contributing factor to Dial of Destiny's lackluster box office performance is the plot information that leaked earlier in 2023. Fans who are wary of spoilers might have come across those leaks online months before the film was released worldwide and got discouraged from seeing the film in theaters as a result. This might have particularly fended off casual fans of Indiana Jones who would have happily seen the film going in blind but were unable to after the leaks that arose from the film's debut at the Cannes Film Festival.
4 Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny's Cannes Premiere Backfired For Disney
On the topic of Cannes, the Dial of Destiny received a 5-minute standing ovation at the acclaimed film festival, which comparatively isn't very good. The ovation is one of the entertainment industry's biggest gimmicks, however, there is some truth in the duration of the ovation to the quality of the film. For example, Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon received a nine-minute ovation. Indiana Jones 5 premiering at Cannes was intended to market the film as a critically-acclaimed accomplishment but ended up backfiring due to its mixed and underwhelming reviews.
3 A Lot Of Major 2023 Movies Are Underperforming At The Box Office
Indiana Jones is far from being the only major franchise flop at the 2023 box office, even if it is so far one of the worst performers of the bunch. The very hyped-up DC movie The Flash is tracking to be one of the biggest box office failures in Warner Bros. history. Fast X went to VOD very quickly after plateauing at the box office with an incredible production budget of $340 million. Rise of the Beasts is trending to be the lowest-performing installment of the Transformers franchise. There appears to be a pervasive issue with many big-name franchises at the box office in 2023 due to an oversaturated market, viewer disinterest, and several other factors.
2 The Franchise Already Said Goodbye To Indiana Jones Before
The Indiana Jones franchise essentially already said goodbye to Indiana Jones twice before, at the end of both Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The third movie certainly left room open for future installments despite a literal ride-off-into-the-sunset ending, but Crystal Skull really seemed to hand off the bullwhip to a younger generation. Even with two previous conclusions to Ford's Indiana Jones protagonist, Dial of Destiny somewhat forcibly pulled the beloved character out of retirement to give yet another on-screen farewell for no good reason.
1 Indiana Jones Needed A Full Reboot More Than It Needed Harrison Ford
While Harrison Ford will forever be celebrated for his iconic role as Indiana Jones, the critical and box-office failure of Dial of Destiny proves that it is time for a complete reboot of the massive franchise. Disney would be wise to build from the ground up with their next Indiana Jones installment, which could potentially be some type of spin-off series on Disney+. With Ford likely hanging it up after Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Disney will have no choice but to go back to the drawing board to revitalize the tumbling franchise.
