For a while, it seemed that the key to box office success — apart from superheroes and comic book properties — was the return of franchises on the big screen, especially by invoking a sense of nostalgia alongside updated special effects. That was certainly the case with Jurassic World and Star Wars, both becoming billion-dollar IPs within the past decade. So if nostalgia worked just a few years ago, then why are this summer’s blockbusters flopping? Surely the return of the ’80s action and adventure hero Indiana Jones would attract everyone to theaters, right? But according to box office numbers, the answer is no. Harrison Ford’s final return to the fedora in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is, unfortunately, considered a flop. In order to understand why it failed financially, one can look no further than to what most movie studios have been largely riding the coattails of: nostalgia. Generally speaking, nostalgia only works if the movies are relevant to viewers. In the case of Dial of Destiny, Indiana Jones just wasn’t as relevant to as many people as expected.
The Indy Movies Just Aren’t Relevant (To Younger Generations)
As someone who was born in the ’90s and grew up in the early 2000s, I had no attachment to Indiana Jones. While Stars Wars had always been relevant specifically with the prequel trilogy, Harry Potter, X-Men, and Spider-Man were among the other IPs I gravitated towards. For many in my generation, our nostalgia lies in the early 2000s — not in the ’80s. So, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade were not at the forefront of my pop culture consciousness. As a kid, I watched these films on TNT or TBS spliced up with commercials in between. I don’t remember if I even watched these films completely. I also don’t remember if I watched Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in a theater in 2008 or if I caught it on television months later like the other films. Personally, I had no affinity for them.
So, when I finally went out to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I found myself having a hard time caring for the character and his final adventure. There were moments I knew that were meant to be nostalgic for audiences familiar with the franchise, but to me, they didn’t elicit the same sentimental feelings. For example, when Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) appeals to Indy’s past adventures with his own father, we are meant to remember Henry Jones, Sr. from The Last Crusade, played by Sean Connery. That emotional moment, however, would be lost on anyone who hasn’t seen The Last Crusade. The final scene of Dial of Destiny is also meant to tug at the heartstrings as Indy’s estranged wife Marion (Karen Allen) reunites with the hero. Without the context of Raiders and even Crystal Skull, Marion comes off as a woman who abruptly enters Indy’s apartment in the final scene. Furthermore, the offscreen death of their son Mutt (Shia Labeouf) doesn’t help add any more context. Without these nostalgic touchstones from the previous films, these moments lose their meaning and significance.
A more specific example is the opening action sequence that takes place at the end of World War II with a de-aged Harrison Ford, which harkens back to the time period of the original films. It is “classic” Indiana Jones, a swashbuckling adventure in search of a legendary artifact while simultaneously beating up Nazis. But to someone with a very loose recollection of the earlier films, this opening sequence fails to provide anything new, apart from an uncanny, videogame-like rendition of Harrison Ford in his late 30s. Instead, the opening reminds me of Captain America: The First Avenger, which is no doubt in part because of actor Toby Jones who plays Indy’s archaeologist friend Basil Shaw (ironically, Jones plays a Nazi in The First Avenger).
Furthermore, in Indy’s absence for much of the 21st century, other IPs and franchises have taken its place, be it the MCU, National Treasure, and even the videogame Uncharted. These properties do take influence from Indiana Jones. But they are also indicative of why Dial of Destiny’s dependence on nostalgia ultimately falls flat. For a large group of the movie-going audience that grew up in the 2000s, there isn’t much about Indiana Jones to be nostalgic for.
Indy’s Franchise Potential Wasn’t Fully Realized
For many who saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, the Indiana Jones franchise holds nostalgic significance alongside other ’80s properties like Terminator, Die Hard, and even Batman. But just as Michael Keaton’s return as the caped crusader in The Flash didn’t attract the attention of a large and particularly younger audience, Harrison Ford’s return in Dial of Destiny failed to capture the nostalgic appeal that the filmmakers were hoping for. For those who didn’t grow up in the ’80s, the last theatrical appearance of Indy wasn’t much of a draw either. Sure, Shia Labeouf might have been a familiar face from the Disney Channel show Even Stevens and the first ever live-action Transformers, but Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — much like Dial of Destiny — garnered no sentimental value for younger moviegoers.
The mistake of Dial of Destiny was in propping up Indiana Jones as if he were a multigenerational, pop culture icon when, in fact, the franchise had failed to appeal to newer fans all along. Compared to Lucasfilm’s more prominent franchise Star Wars, Indiana Jones pales in comparison. While many consider the original Indy trilogy one of the best, it did not have the franchise momentum of the galaxy far, far away. While the Star Wars prequels did not live up to the original trilogy in terms of quality, it did bring in an entirely new generation into the fandom who inevitably revisited the earlier films. Furthermore, video games and animated shows such as Battlefront and The Clone Wars kept the franchise relevant to fans, old and new, in the pop culture zeitgeist. So, by the time the sequel trilogy was released, everyone went to go see them, with each new entry grossing over a billion dollars at the box office.
On the other hand, after the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones didn’t have the same makings of the Star Wars franchise. In the early ’90s, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones kept the character alive on television, exploring the titular hero’s earlier adventures. But by the 21st century, Indiana Jones was largely absent. Apart from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and a few Lego video games, the franchise wasn’t winning over newer and younger fans. The fandom was shrinking, not growing. It’s no wonder Dial of Destiny is experiencing a similar fate to The Flash at the box office.
To use an example that isn’t Star Wars, Spider-Man: No Way Home is the perfect example of a franchise movie that appealed to multigenerational fans. Whether fans came from the Tobey McGuire era, Andrew Garfield era, or the most recent Tom Holland era, they all showed up to the theater. As haphazard as Sony’s reboots of the Spider-Man franchise have been, they undoubtedly helped keep Spider-Man relevant in live-action theatrical films. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about Indiana Jones. While nostalgia can be a step towards blockbuster success, it shouldn’t be a one-size fits all approach to moviemaking. For some, nostalgia is a step towards blockbuster failure — Dial of Destiny and The Flash are just recent examples. Hopefully studios learn this lesson. Maybe, this time, Indy can finally rest in retirement.
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