Why Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny Bombed At The Box Office

The results are in — Harrison Ford's big return to cinemas as Indiana Jones isn't quite the mystifying box office triumph it was cracked up to be. Despite the warm critical reception for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," it underperformed commercially throughout its debut. Per Variety, the film grossed just $82 million during its first five days in U.S. theaters, a relatively modest domestic opening compared to its inflated production budget of $295 million. Those numbers also place it well below its predecessor, 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which had a domestic gross of $100 million in its opening weekend on a budget of $185 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

For a franchise as renowned as "Indiana Jones," its understated performance as a tentpole summer blockbuster may come as a bit of a shock. While there are many circumstances that may have contributed to Dr. Jones' latest (and purportedly last) adventure not lighting the box office on fire, several factors stand out as major reasons for its struggle.

For the record, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is actually doing quite well in terms of critical reception. As it stands on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has settled at a 68 percent on the Tomatometer, giving it "Fresh" status, and it has an overwhelmingly positive audience score of 88 percent. Nonetheless, it's hard to deny that Indie's final adventure started things off on the wrong foot with early reviews.

Back in May 2023, Harrison Ford premiered the movie at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival. The early critical reactions that came out of this event proved to be extremely mixed-to-negative. Critics like Owen Gleiberman of Variety and Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote about their disappointment regarding various elements of the film, such as its generic blockbuster movie feel and uneven plot.

For some time prior to the release of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," the Cannes reaction was the dominant force in the conversation surrounding the movie's quality. That early negative buzz and word-of-mouth certainly didn't do the movie any favors in its pre-release marketing, even if it did ultimately turn out to be far more warmly received.

Longtime "Indiana Jones" fans will be quick to tell you that "Dial of Destiny" isn't the first time that Hollywood has attempted to resurrect this storied franchise. In 2008, nearly two decades after the swashbuckling archeologist's trilogy of 80s movies had concluded, came "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." The fourth film in the series attempted to move the story forward, placing an older and wiser version of Ford's Indie in the midst of a 1950s conspiracy narrative full of Cold War intrigue. Ultimately, the results were less than favorable in the eyes of audiences.

Reception to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was decidedly negative. Fans decried the film's formulaic approach to recreating the spectacle of the original movies and its introduction of questionable new elements like the character of plucky youngster Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf (who notably doesn't return for "Dial of Destiny"). For some viewers, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was proof that the "Indiana Jones" franchise would be better off left to rest in the glory days of old. As such, it's unlikely that they'll be convinced to watch a second revival in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," no matter how much of an improvement it is.

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" may have unexpectedly underperformed at the box office, but it's far from the only movie of its kind to have done so in June 2023. That same month, DC's massive superhero blockbuster "The Flash" similarly bombed at the box office, while Pixar's next big animated project "Elemental" also vastly underperformed. All of these movies are major productions that are attached to big studios and are intended to appeal to general audiences, so it seems that "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is also facing some issues that are more endemic to the greater industry.

While there's no definitive answer to the problem plaguing the blockbuster movie scene at the moment, there are a few factors to consider. While theaters have somewhat managed to recover from their struggles amid the era of COVID-19, the pandemic is still impacting theater attendance and likely making would-be moviegoers more selective regarding which movies can draw them back. Then, there's the matter of franchise fatigue. The general landscape of the film industry is currently filled with all manner of sequels, nostalgic revivals, reboots, and action-packed superhero flicks, and it's possible that the luster of a new "Indiana Jones" movie (along with the other films) has been considerably dulled.

The fact of the matter is that not everyone who wants to see "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is going to do so in theaters. While the film debuted exclusively in cinemas, it's only a matter of time until it becomes available to stream at home, and interested viewers may be content to wait until then to watch it.

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" currently has no set date for when it will become available to watch at-home through services like Disney+, but there probably won't be too long of a wait if precedent holds. Most recent Disney movies, such as "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," have come to Disney+ and other digital storefronts somewhere around 90 days following their theatrical release. That means that audiences likely only have to wait a matter of months until "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is available on-demand.