Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny box office tracking looks disappointing. The film is set to be the fifth and final film for the Indiana Jones franchise (although fans have heard that before). The film is directed by James Mangold, known for his work with Logan and Ford v. Ferrari, who will be stepping in to replace Steven Spielberg. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill.
Indiana Jones 5 recently debuted at the Cannes film festival and was received poorly. The Dial of Destiny currently has a 51% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, much lower than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the previous film in the franchise, which has a certified fresh 77% critics score. Although Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still has a much worse 53% audience score.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which premiered 15 years ago in 2008, had a 3-day opening box office of $100.1 million. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is expected to make $60 million in its opening weekend, far below its predecessor. Tracking data shows that older men are much more excited about the film than younger men. This data makes it comparable to the final film of Daniel Craig's James Bond movies, No Time to Die ($55.2M), and Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible - Fallout ($61.2M).
Some are more optimistic and believe that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny could make $70 million. However, the film shows about half of the tracking metrics that John Wick: Chapter 4 had, and that film opened to $73.8 million. On top of the bad reviews from the Cannes Film Festival, Disney has to contend with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and the upcoming Warner Bros. film The Flash, which opens on June 16. Disney will need to market more towards younger men if they want to increase their box office for Indiana Jones 5.
If Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens with $60 million, it will still make it the second-best opening for an Indiana Jones film. In 1981, Raiders of the Lost Ark opened to just $8.3 million. The 1984 sequel, The Temple of Doom, opened to a much improved $25.3 million. In 1989, Last Crusade performed slightly better than the previous film, with $29.3 million. If Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny can perform even half as well as expected, it will still be the second-best opening for an Indiana Jones film.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will be released in theaters on June 30, 2023.
Source: Deadline