James Mangold Laments Hugh Jackman Returning As Wolverine In ‘Deadpool 3’ But Knew It Was Inevitable

Filmmaker James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” is in theaters now, and while it seemed to underwhelm at the global box office in its opening weekend, the film has grossed $305 million worldwide so far, so maybe there’s hope it can have some minor legs. If anything, it maybe shows how making a blockbuster with an 80-year-old star can only take you so far with audiences.

With poor box office numbers so far for Pixar‘s “Elemental” and James Mangold‘s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” Disney sees itself in the middle of its worst theatrical slump in a long time. And it arguably started back in March with “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania,” which made less than $500 million worldwide and suffered the steepest second-week drop at the domestic box office of any Marvel film.

Harrison Ford was not completely impressed when he was presented with the costume he would be wearing as Indiana Jones for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Before “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” even opened, the Disney adventure tentpole sparked intrigue with a de-aged Harrison Ford, who, in his fifth film playing the whip-cracking archaeologist, is now 80 years old. The shots of a young Ford look impressive, and it’s thanks to the team of over 100 artists at Industrial Light and Magic, who spent three years on the film’s visual effects, which also included enhancing and developing their existing de-aging technology to create ILM FaceSwap. Photorealism de-aging was nothing new to the team. After all, technology such as Flux existed and had been used on films such as “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Irishman.”

With a mixed critical reception and low numbers at the box office, James Mangold‘s new entry in the “Indiana Jones” franchise is officially a disappointment. But that’s not entirely Mangold’s fault.

J. Kim Murphy “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is staying in line with some tempered box office expectations, still tracking to fall in line with estimates that had pegged the film with an opening between $80 million and $85 million through the Fourth of July holiday. The Harrison Ford finale earned $11.8 million on Monday, pushing its domestic total to $71 million. Unlike some other holidays, Independence Day isn’t exactly the largest box office booster — with families hitting the beach, barbecuing red meat and waiting for fireworks, filmgoing isn’t exactly at the top of the agenda for most Americans. Rather, it’s the time off around the Fourth that can offer some extra lift to studio tentpoles.

Shia LaBeouf‘s character Mutt Williams is not featured in the new movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and director James Mangold is explaining why the character was killed out of the franchise.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” features some of the titular hero’s most loathsome enemies — the Nazis — and it was up to military adviser Paul Biddiss to train over 300 extras to ensure the film’s battle scenes looked authentic. This fifth installment of the franchise sees James Mangold direct Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones. The year is 1969, and this time, Nazi scientist Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) is on a mission to seek out the Dial of Destiny, which he believes will “correct” Hitler’s mistakes. Fact, fiction and fascists are set against the backdrop of the space race as Voller aims to go back in time and kill Hitler, take over the Third Reich and lead Germany to victory.

Mads Mikkelsen stars opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny playing Nazi scientist Dr. Jürgen Voller. The actor recently opened up about the roles that he likes to play opting to play “losers” on-screen versus “cutie pie” characters.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Chief Correspondent SPOILER ALERT:This story discusses major plot developments in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which is now playing in theaters. Shaunette Renée Wilson (“The Resident,” “Black Panther”) landed the role of a lifetime when she was cast opposite Harrison Ford in his final “Indiana Jones” film. Wilson was hand-picked by director James Mangold to play Agent Mason in the major summer release. After a Zoom meeting with Mangold, she was cast and didn’t even have to audition, but when she received the script, she wanted to implement some changes.

J. Kim Murphy Indiana Jones has begun his last box office crusade, with the fifth franchise entry earning $24 million on its opening day from 4,600 theaters. It’s a figure that includes $7.2 million in previews in Thursday previews. The action-adventure film from Disney and Lucasfilm is expected to debut near the bottom of projections, projecting a three-day opening of $60 million or so. It’ll be more than enough for the Harrison Ford finale to land in the top spot on domestic charts, setting itself up to draw crowds through the Fourth of July holiday — but it’s not exactly the victorious tone-setter for one of the 20 or so most expensive blockbusters ever made. With a whopping $295 million production budget, “Indiana Jones 5” faces quite the trek to theatrical profitability.

SATURDAY AM: Refresh for chart…and more analysis Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is still bound to open at the bottom of end of tracking’s projection of $60M as this morning. I saw an estimate in The Flash vicinity of $55M last night and took an Alka Seltzer out of shock. Hopefully Dial of Destiny doesn’t fall apart tonight and at least stays on course for a Mission: Impossible – Fallout type opening in the $60M range over three days. That figure might be good for exhibition and popcorn sales over the five-day holiday weekend, but it stinks for a movie that has a reported cost of $250M to near $300M before P&A.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments, including the ending, of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” currently playing in theaters. When director James Mangold started writing “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” with screenwriters Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, he didn’t know how the movie was going to end. Mangold inherited the film from director Steven Spielberg, who had been developing the project for three years with screenwriter David Koepp. When Mangold took over, he and the Butterworth started effectively from scratch, crafting a story in which Harrison Ford’s titular archeologist and Nazi puncher contends with his own age and irrelevance while chasing after the Antikythera, a mysterious device with the power to find fissures in time, created by the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments, including the final scene, in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” currently playing in theaters. When Lucasfilm announced in 2016 that Steven Spielberg was making a fifth “Indiana Jones” movie with Harrison Ford, fans naturally wondered how much of a role Karen Allen’s Marian Ravenwood — Indy’s spitfire equal from 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the love of his life — would play in the new film. The last time audiences saw Marian, she was getting married to Indy at the end of 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” after she revealed to Indy that they’d had a child together, who Indy meets as teenage greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). So any follow-up movie would at the very least need to address the fact that Indy is married with a (grown) kid.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny does not feature Indy’s son, Mutt Williams, but his absence doesn’t go unexplained. [Spoilers ahead!]

Zack Sharf Digital News Director James Mangold is moving on to direct a “Star Wars” tentpole following “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” but it’s not his first go-around with the Lucasfilm franchise. Back in 2018, news broke that Mangold had been hired to direct a movie about the bounty hunter Boba Fett. He was also set to co-write the project with Simon Kinberg, best known as a writer and producer on the “X-Men” movies. Mangold’s Boba Fett movie never got off the ground, and he recently said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that it wasn’t too surprising given the overall tone of the project. “At the point I was doing it I was probably scaring the shit out of everyone,” Mangold said. “I was making much more of a borderline R-rated, single planet spaghetti Western. They probably would never be able to embrace Baby Yoda if I had made that. It didn’t really belong in the world I was kind of envisioning.”

revealed to Yahoo! that he didn’t even know at the time that Selleck had originally been attached to — and subsequently left — the project. Han Solo himself had just polished off filming the “Star Wars” flick “The Empire Strikes Back,” and director George Lucas asked him to read for the character of Jones.

Goodbyes don’t tend to mean much in the Hollywood franchise system. Death isn’t a reliable end for characters or, lately, even actors. Technology, nostalgia and the often-inflated value of brands and IP have created a nightmarish cycle of resurrection and regurgitation, curdling what we love most.

Facing the worst reviews ever for an Indiana Jones movie, the Lucasfilm franchise finale, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, is hoping to gain traction with audiences and best its $60M-$65M domestic start, $140M global opening.

Harrison Ford has suited up for the latest premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny!