It’s no secret that studios often go out of their way to make films with massive budgets and the recent Indiana Jones films are no exception. After all, Harrison Ford’s adventures as the fedora-wearing Indy have been loved by fans since the first film of the franchise released in 1981.
Since Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is Harrison Ford’s last run with the franchise, many were expecting the film to bring in a good amount of profit for Lucasfilm. Unfortunately, Harrison Ford’s farewell has turned sour as the film is a financial failure and its humongous budget could be one to blame.
Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones 5 Fails to Impress at the Box Office
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny starring Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge released on June 30. The film opened with $60.4 million at the domestic box office which is quite less compared to predictions that had it making as high as $111 million. $60.4 million is incomparable to the film’s predecessor, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which made $101 million during the opening weekend, back in 2008.
Even looking at the critics’ score for Indiana Jones 5 (69%), the film has somehow done worse than Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones 4 (77%) which has been the least-liked film of the franchise so far thanks to a weak script and it diverging from the theme of the previous films.
Coming back to the box office, Indiana Jones 5 has made $375.4 million worldwide and while it is not the lowest amount the franchise has brought in, it is the most brutal. Why? Well, thanks to a massive budget of around $300 million, excluding the promotional costs of $100 million, the film has failed to make a profit.
According to a report by Variety, not only has the film failed to bring in profit for Lucasfilm, but it might be sending the studio into a loss of about $100 million. Combine the massive budget with the film’s box office earnings and you have got yourself the perfect recipe for a financial disaster.
This is a new low for the franchise as there was a time when even the least-liked Indiana Jones film was able to gross $786.6 million worldwide, which is the highest-earning film of the franchise.
Harrison Ford Seems to be Unlucky in His Exits
Indiana Jones 5 is the last we will ever see of Ford as Indiana Jones, the actor has made this quite clear in the past. Thanks to this, the film’s financial failure is even more hard-hitting as our beloved Indy did not get the farewell it deserved. What’s even more devastating is the fact that there are two more characters that Ford retired who received a similar treatment.
The 2017 film, Blade Runner 2049 saw Ford return as Rick Deckard. The film was a box office bomb with only $267 million to its name. On the bright side, it received positive reviews from critics and has a Rotten Tomatoes score of a whopping 88%.
Moving on, Ford’s last run with Star Wars, too, failed to impress. The Rise of Skywalker, where he returned as Han Solo, was a critical disappointment with only a 52% approval rating to its name despite grossing a little over a billion dollars at the box office.
You can stream Indiana Jones 4 and The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ while Blade Runner 2049 is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Variety
