How Does ‘Dial Of Destiny’ Compare With Other Indiana Jones Films? So Far, Not Well.

Topline

A close look at the numbers shows Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth installment in the iconic film franchise, which debuted to lukewarm reviews and disappointing box office numbers, falling well behind the critical praise and commercial success of its predecessors.

Key Facts

Ranked By Opening Weekends

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): $100.1 million
2. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023): $60.4 million
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): $29.4 million
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): $25.3 million
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): $8.3 million

Ranked By Opening Weekends (Adjusted For Inflation)

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): $146.9 million
2. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): $106.4 million
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): $77.5 million
4. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023): $60.4 million
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): $31.5 million

Ranked By Critics’ Scores

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): 93% Rotten Tomatoes, 85% Metacritic
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): 84% Rotten Tomatoes, 65% Metacritic
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): 77% Rotten Tomatoes, 65% Metacritic
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): 77% Rotten Tomatoes, 57% Metacritic
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023): 68% Rotten Tomatoes, 57% Metacritic

Big Number

$250 million to $300 million. That’s how much the latest installment of Indiana Jones reportedly cost to produce, making it one of the most expensive films of all time. A budget of $250 million would place it among the 25 costliest, but a $300 million budget would place it among the top 10.

Tangent

Indiana Jones is one of several concurrent box office flops, including Pixar’s Elemental and the DC Extended Universe film The Flash. Those two films opened June 16 and were expected to start the summer strong as box office hits, Variety reported, but fell short of expectations. Both debuted with even smaller opening weekends than Dial of Destiny: The Flash collected $55 million and Elemental $29.5 million in their domestic openings, disappointing results for both films, which reportedly cost $200 million apiece to produce. Analysts say lukewarm reviews and the lack of a traditional promotional campaign (in the case of The Flash, largely because of star Ezra Miller’s string of legal and behavioral issues), contributed to a lackluster box office performance, Variety reported. Elemental, Pixar’s worst opening weekend since Toy Story in 1995 (without adjusting for inflation), may have flopped because of a lower demand for original animated Pixar films and consumer expectations that the film will soon be streamable on Disney+, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Crucial Quote

“Anything Disney threw out in 2019 made $1 billion,” Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations, told Variety. “Now, it’s more difficult than ever to release a film worldwide. The international landscape has changed. It’s not close to back.”

What To Watch For

Will the box office make a comeback later this month? Several films with big box office potential are set to debut in the coming weeks: Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One on July 12, and Barbie and Oppenheimer (that’s an interesting pair) on July 21. The Hollywood Reporter projected a $90 million domestic five-day opening for the Tom Cruise-led Mission: Impossible film, with $65 million or more in its first three days. Deadline projected domestic opening weekend totals of more than $80 million and $40 million for Barbie and Oppenheimer, respectively. The two films premiering on the same date has long been the subject of internet memes among film fans who have jokingly pitted the movies against each other and are excited for a “Barbenheimer” double feature.

Further Reading

Summer flopbusters: why were Indiana Jones and The Flash box office bombs? (The Guardian)

Disney’s Harsh New Reality: Costly Film Flops, Creative Struggles and a Shrinking Global Box Office (Variety)

‘Barbie’ Glamming Up For $80M-$100M Opening With Presales Bigger Than ‘Little Mermaid’; ‘Oppenheimer’ Has Shot At $50M – Box Office Outlook (Deadline)