After the original three Indiana Jones movies entertained audiences in the 1980s (some of you might even consider them to be among the best ‘80s movies), the film series was revived twice: first with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 and then with The Dial of Destiny in 2023. Both those movies earned mixed critical reception, but Dial of Destiny further suffered from being a box office bomb. Now Indy himself, a.k.a. Harrison Ford, has shared his thoughts on Dial of Destiny flopping, and the thoughts he shared about this unfortunate turn of events make me love the actor even more.
Harrison Ford, who’s currently doing press for Captain America: Brave New World, the 35th of the Marvel movies in order, addressed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny while speaking with The Wall Street Journal. Rather than take the movie’s underperformance badly, in typical Ford fashion, he shared that he wasn’t remotely bothered by that, saying:
Shit happens. I was really the one who felt there was another story to tell. When [Indy] had suffered the consequences of the life that he had to live, I wanted one more chance to pick him up and shake the dust off his ass and stick him out there, bereft of some of his vigor, to see what happened. I’m still happy I made that movie.
There you have it. Despite Dial of Destiny not going down as one of 2023’s biggest cinematic wins, Harrison Ford has no regrets making it. With the movie picking up in 1969, after his son Mutt died in Vietnam and he was separated from Marion Ravenwood, the actor welcomed the opportunity to give his popular character one last onscreen adventure. It may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but it allowed Ford to give Indy the kind of closure he wanted. Most important, I’m so glad he prefaced all that with “shit happens.” That’s just the kind of bluntness I expect and welcome from Ford.
Officially, Disney has said that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was made off a nearly-$295 million budget, though other sources claim that amount was well over $300 million. Either way, since the 2023 movie only ended up making $384 million worldwide, that cemented it as a commercial disappointment, as well as the second-lowest-grossing Indiana Jones movie, with Temple of Doom in last place. However, when accounting for inflation and the budget that movie was made off of, there’s no question the 1984 movie was a financial success.
As for Dial of Destiny’s critical reception, it has a 70% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. Our own Sarah El-Mahmoud skewed on the more positive side with her Indiana Jones 5 review, giving it 4 out of 5 stars and writing that it “feels most like an ode to the franchise and sweet fanfare for the eponymous character after the upheaval reaction of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” You’re welcome to stream Dial of Destiny with a Disney+ subscription if you’re in the mood to reevaluate it or maybe even watch it for the first time.
In any case, Harrison Ford’s time as Indiana Jones is done, but you can see him taking over the role of Thunderbolt Ross from the late William Hurt in Captain America: Brave New World starting February 14. If you’re looking for new content featuring the fedora-wearing, whip-wielding archaeologist, consider playing the new video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
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