When James Mangold was announced as the director of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, excitement for the long-awaited sequel increased massively.
However, even with a 70% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it still somehow ended up being one of 2023's biggest box office flops after earning a mere $384 million worldwide. With a whopping $295 million budget, it's thought the movie lost Disney and Lucasfilm upwards of $130 million.
Whether Kingdom of the Crystal Skull soured people on the idea of an older Indy or interest in the franchise has simply waned over the years is hard to say, but Harrison Ford's time as the iconic adventurer is officially over.
Talking to Deadline, Mangold admitted that the response to the movie - social media painted it as an insult to the iconic series - hurt him.
"You have a wonderful, brilliant actor who’s in his eighties," he started. "So I’m making a movie about this guy in his eighties, but his audience on one other level doesn’t want to confront their hero at that age. And I am like, I’m good with it. We made the movie."
"But the question is, how would anything have made the audience happy with that, other than having to start over again with a new guy?"
Reflecting on Ford, Steven Spielberg, and Kathleen Kennedy approaching him with the idea of helming the next Indiana Jones movie, Mangold said, "And then here come lifelong heroes from my childhood into my life going, 'We have something for you to work on."
He'd add that was it a "joyous experience, but it hurt in the sense that I really love Harrison and I wanted audiences to love him as he was and to accept that that’s part of what the movie has to say - that things come to an end, that’s part of life."
Despite delivering one of the biggest flops in recent memory, Mangold remains attached to Dawn of the Jedi, a new Star Wars movie which will take us back in time to tell the story of the Galaxy's first Jedi.
He's writing that with House of Cards and Andor writer Beau Willimon. Confirming they've been working on it, the filmmaker added, "I don’t know what’s next because we haven’t gotten to the end of that process. We’re trying to finish a draft."
Despite what's proven to be a somewhat disappointing end to the Indiana Jones franchise in theaters, a new video game - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - has been receiving rave reviews. In that, Troy Baker takes over the role from Ford.
Were you disappointed with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?