How director James Mangold feels about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate by James Mangold was a monstrously expensive film to make. One report in Forbes noted that the price of the film could be as high as $387 million, which, if true, would make it one of the 10 most expensive films of all time. It came at the tail end of an unfortunate Hollywood trend—which is still fading—of overspending on mega-blockbusters in the hope that it will make billions in return. This model worked for the very, very, very, very expensive Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which cost around $447 million to make but grossed over $2 billion worldwide. However, in recent years, flops have become much more common than hits, and such expensive productions as “The Marvels” or “The Flash” end up failing.

“Dial of Fate”, the fifth film in the successful “Indiana Jones” series, aimed to capture the same enthusiasm as “Star Wars”, but audiences were underwhelmed by the film’s scale, its uninteresting plot and the fact that Garrison Ford’s star had previously the capable action star who often beat up bad guys, rode motorcycles and slept with women was now 80 years old and younger able to do these things. It was also the first film in the series not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, which likely turned off some of the most ardent fans. It didn’t help that the reviews were lukewarm; it has a modest 70% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Dial of Fate” earned only $384 million worldwide. By Hollywood accounting (which includes marketing), the film probably lost about $143 million overall.

Mangold was naturally not happy that the film flopped. The director of Cross the Line, Logan and The Complete Unknown put a lot of thought and energy into his Indiana Jones film, spending millions to make it as smooth as possible, and was delighted to be able to continue the series he adored since childhood. Then, after all his hard work, most of the audience didn’t care. Mangold spoke with Deadline recently and stated that he suffered.

Mangold admits that he is in a bit of a quandary. Already tasked with directing the new Indiana Jones movie, he could either hire 80-year-old Harrison Ford or cast a new actor. Given the options, the former seemed far preferable, but Mangold understood that audiences would reject either. He described his dilemmas this way:

“You have a wonderful, brilliant actor who is over 80. (…) So I’m making a film about this guy who’s over 80, but his audience is on a different level not wanting to confront their characters at that age. .. And I say: “It’s good for me.” We made the movie, but the question is, how could it make anything happy other than having to start over with a new guy?”

Most of all, Mangold understood that audiences rejected his film’s themes of mortality. All heroes die, he wanted to say. Action heroes, after all, live by a code of violence, often punching and killing hundreds of “bad guys” in the name of justice. But all this killing must exhaust the human soul and does not necessarily guarantee a peaceful existence at the end of life. Audiences embraced these themes in Mangold’s Logan — about an aging Wolverine — but rejected it along with Indiana Jones. He said:

“So my childhood heroes (Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy) came into my life, who say: “We have some work to do.” (It was a joyous experience, but it was painful in the sense that I really love Harrison, and I wanted the audience to love him for who he was and accept that this is part of what the film has to say, the ending. This is part of life”.

The elderly Indiana Jones, unfortunately, was not suitable either for a major studio or for a mass audience. Harrison Ford has stepped down from the role, and there are currently no media plans for Indiana Jones. This is how the franchise ends. Not with bangs, but with a dial.