‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Finally Breaks Even at the Global Box Office

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny might not be doing so bad at the worldwide box office, but its extensive production budget might be the factor that prevents it from being a total success. As of this morning, the sequel directed by James Mangold has earned $302 million, finally matching the estimated $300 million it cost to be made. Even with Harrison Ford back in the iconic role of an archeologist who spends his free time saving the world from unspeakable evil, there’s no denying that the movie will have a hard time with turning a profit for the studio.

In the fifth installment of the franchise, Indy is close to retiring from his position as a professor at Hunter College after decades of educating the youth with the context of his adventures. While he struggles to deal with the fact that he won’t have anything to do anymore, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) interrupts his misery by offering him the chance to join her in one final adventure set to take them into a different time. The Dial of Destiny has the ability of allowing its users to travel through time, and if it fell into the hands of Jürgen Voller (Madds Mikkelsen), the world would be in grave danger.

Dial of Destiny had a complicated journey from when it was conceived by Lucasfilm until it could finally be enjoyed by audiences, with multiple factors interfering in its journey. When the project began to gain traction after finding itself stuck in its writing process, the pandemic disrupted the entire industry, and the budget for the sequel was incremented due to the health measures the crew had to implement while working on the movie. At one point, Steven Spielberg was set to helm the film, until scheduling issues led the studio to hiring James Mangold to direct Indy’s final adventure.

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What’s Next for Lucasfilm?

Given how it’s very unlikely for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to become profitable, the studio might have to think twice before moving forward with their next film. After the financial disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story and the negative critical reception obtained by The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm is not in the position it was back when it was launching consecutive hits every year. Three new Star Wars movies were announced earlier this year, and while Disney has planted release dates for them on its calendar, there’s no way of knowing which project will come out first.

You can check out Collider’s interview with Harrison Ford below: