Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destinyshould’ve been one of the most anticipated sequels of 2023 but its global gross by the end of its run didn’t pull in a profit forDisney. In fact, according to a new report, they suffered a major loss. PerForbes, the exact financial loss suffered by theIndiana Jonessequel has been revealed, and its misfortunes begin with the film’s budget, which skyrocketed to $387.2 million.
The report reveals that $79 million of that went to post-production costs and once movie theaters took their share of thesequel’s global gross of $384 million, the House of Mouse was left with loss of $134.2 million. Theaters typically get half of a film’s global take, so that’s why making a certain amount of your production budget is essential for box office success. This figure doesn’t take into account marketing costs, which tend to be massive for a film of this size, although revenue grossed from merchandise and physical media wasn’t factored into this news, so that likely stopped SOME of the bleeding, but it’s still not news Disney wants to see reported.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Seeing Harrison Ford take on a role that is one of his signature characters should’ve generated more box office interest than this, but it was clear early on that that sequel was in trouble. Despite 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skullgrossing $790.7 million worldwide at the time of its release, the film received a polarizing response from fans, so the fanbase wasn’t exactly hungry for another entry. In order for a new installment to entice moviegoers to take another trip to the theater, the film had to be good, and the writing was already on the wall that Ford’s last hurrah as the character was lacking.
Early Signs Pointed to Trouble for Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny
While reactions to the sequel following the world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival were promising, the response following its wide release were subpar, and the movie debuted with arotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. Although the score ultimately improved to a fresh 70 percent, the story was already out there from that early response that the film wasn’t going to be as thrilling as some ofIndiana Jones’earlier adventures. When the movie opened wide, the film received a “B+” CinemaScore from opening day audiences, which isn’t a horrendous score, but it’s on the lower end for a tentpole release with this much pedigree behind it.
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Another factor in its box office underperformance is that the sequel skewed much older than most summer releases, and it failed to motivate a younger audience to check out the film. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is solid at 88 percent, which means fans that did see itlargely enjoyed what they saw, but it just didn’t resonate with younger viewers who drive a lot of the box office. This is a franchise that is over 40 years old, so Disney spending $387.2 million on the film was evidently a miscalculation on their part in terms of reading its popularity with the masses.
Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destinycan currently be streamed on Disney+
