With the upcoming release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the franchise was seemingly expanding with a developing Disney Plus series. However, following the failure of some of the other Lucasfilm projects in recent years, that appears to no longer be the case.
It's now been rumored that the upcoming Indiana Jones series planned by Lucasfilm has now been shelved for the time being following the commercial and critical failure of the Willow series that came out on the streaming service towards the end of last year. The decision was reportedly made after Lucasfilm was told to shift its focus.
On the YouTube show, The Hot Mic, Jeff Sneider gave the whole scoop on what was happening. "I'm told that the Ravenwood Indiana Jones series at LucasFilm is dead, and I'm told that Disney's told LucasFilm, 'You're only making Star Wars stuff from now on,'" Sneider reported. "They canceled Willow. They have Indiana Jones 5 coming out, but you tell me, does that feel like one of the biggest movies of the summer when people are talking about Oppenheimer and Barbie and Fast X. Does that feel like one of the biggest movies of the summer?"
Disney has done this before with some of their previous franchises. After Solo: A Star Wars Story did not get the financial return Disney wanted, they scrapped many Star Wars spinoffs they planned to release. After complaints about a toxic environment within their VFX team, Marvel Studios got rid of Victoria Alonso, who was believed to be behind it all. Disney might also be doing this because one of its primary rivals, Warner Bros., has scrapped nearly all of its previous projects and started from scratch. In other words, they might be realizing that the failure of these projects has led to everyone's wallets getting lighter, so producing these sequels, prequels, and spinoffs may not be the best idea moving forward if they intend to make money.
Also, reading into what Sneider is saying, it sounds like Disney is anticipating that the next Indiana Jones installment will not do well for them. It might not be too bad of a hunch because several franchises they own are not doing too hot. Marvel movies are not making nearly the same bank they used to, while Star Wars properties are not gaining the same viewership Disney wanted. Despite being two of the biggest blockbuster franchises in Hollywood, Disney is bleeding financially because they have struggled mightily to keep fans invested.
Even though Indiana Jones is a beloved franchise, everyone's at the point now where not only has the nostalgia teat been milked dry, but audiences no longer want to see a classic story get revisited to add more unnecessary stories, especially in the Indiana Jones case, where they tried that 15 years ago, and it blew up in their face. Even if there's still an established fanbase, nobody asked for this movie, and seeing how other franchises have suffered financially because they greenlit movies that fans had no interest in, Indiana Jones 5 may have reached a point where, whether it's good or not, it might be a foregone conclusion that the film will flop when it hits theaters.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will premiere in theaters on June 30, 2023.
Source: The Hot Mic/YouTube