Although “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” wasn’t the worst movie in the franchise, it was definitely the worst performing financially. It made $384 million at the box office, which sounds good until you remember that the movie cost $300 million to make. /Film’s box office expert Ryan Scott has long insisted that modern blockbusters really need to knock it off with the over-inflated budgets, and “Dial of Destiny” serves as a prime example of why. If this movie had been produced for the same reasonable $67 million budget that went into “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (yes, that’s adjusted for inflation), its box office performance could’ve been considered a success.
But the movie’s inflated budget can’t be undone, and the fact remains that $384 million is significantly below the performance of the much worse “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” back in 2008, which earned $786 million worldwide. It seems that whatever public appetite there was for a new “Indiana Jones” movie had long dissipated by 2023. Nevertheless, Harrison Ford has no regrets. As he explained in a recent interview:
“S**t 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.”
Why Ford’s answer is so sweet
Ford’s answer on the movie feels commendable because, well, not every Hollywood actor has responded to a box office flop with that level of grace. With “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” for instance, Ford’s co-star Shia LaBeouf responded to the movie’s poor critical reception by publicly complaining about director Steven Spielberg. He later apologized, but the damage was already done. Ford’s decision to stand by his work, and not throw anyone involved under the bus for the movie’s failure, is perhaps the classiest way for an actor to respond in this situation.
Hearing Ford standing up for “Dial of Destiny” also feels nice because there are still plenty of Indy fans who loved it. While few fans would put it in the same ranks as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or “The Last Crusade,” many think the movie deserved more love than it got. It was a fun adventure story that served as a perfectly fine, if bittersweet, final note for the iconic character. The fact that Ford himself clearly still loves Indy and wanted to do the character justice doesn’t hurt it either.
Indy’s dynamic with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena Shaw was also entertaining, even if the internet at large seemed to disagree. Personally, I thought they had a great rapport, and at the very least, she was a major step up from past co-leads like sullen Mutt Williams or trodden-upon Willie Scott.
“Dial of Destiny” may not have been the billion-dollar box office hit fans were hoping for, but as far as big franchise finales go, it sure could’ve been a lot worse.
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