Indiana Jones 5 Has FAILED At The Box Office…Sadly

I mourn for what Indy was for so many people’s childhood, not for Disney and the corrupt Lucasfilm. Indiana Jones 5 has failed quite miserably at the box office as the returns the movie have seen are not only far underwhelming expectations, but they are in line with some of the worst box office failures ever.

I really feel sorry for Harrison Ford, all the classic Indiana Jones cast involved in this film, and us fans as this movie has soured the legacy of the brand.

Despite being the final outing of the great Harrison Ford as the iconic and legendary Indiana Jones, one of film history’s greatest heroes, Indiana Jones 5 or Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is BADLY underperforming at the box office and is on track to lose hundreds of millions of dollars for Disney and Lucasfilm. And, as I’ve said, I’m really unhappy that the film is failing at the box office, but it’s what Disney and Lucasfilm deserve.

If you are looking at this movie with a lens you would with any old film, then you’re probably scratching your head as to why I’m (and a lot of others) are labelling this film as a box office flop. Not only has the film grossed $83M in its opening business week (5 days) at the box office, but it has also posted worldwide box office totals of approximately $154M worldwide. And, if you’re film can rake in $150M in under a business week, then you know it’s extremely popular.

But I don’t know who expected an Indiana Jones film to not make at the very least $150M at the box office, so bringing that metric into classifying if the film is a bust or not would be nonsensical.

Rather, I believe the only way to judge a film like Indiana Jones for its box office success is: A. How it ranked against the previous entry in the franchise, B. How much money its predicted to make throughout its box office lifetime against the cost of making the film.

And that’s where this film falls on its face.

Staring off with the comparison, the previous entry in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, actually had the largest box office performance of any of the four films as it grossed a fantastic total of $790M with a domestic box office tally of $317M. Now, the film was widely considered the worst film of the franchise before Indy 5, but Lucasfilm bringing in an enormous $790M tally from an Indiana Jones film in 2008 (which would be app. $1.15B today) shows just how monumental the Indy brand is in Hollywood.

Indy 5 isn’t living up to the same hype as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as that film not only had an opening business week haul of $152M, but as I said, it made around $1.15B at the box office in today’s valuation during its 22-week box office lifespan.

Since Dial of Destiny dropped off app. 50% of its viewership (or cliental) from the Day 1 showing to the Day 5 showing (with app. 11% dropping each day), my most basic mathematical abilities are predicting the movie is probably going to make anywhere around $305M so long as the near 11% drop in daily viewership and near 16% international box office lag on the domestic trend continues without a hitch.

And that’s probably too generous of a prediction as usual box office declines/week are anywhere from 50%-70%, while good word of mouth is one of the only things that can keep a movie alive in the box office beyond the opening couple of weeks…which this isn’t getting.

Plus, those tallies are not even a half of what Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made in 2008 box office debut, and it’s not even a third of what Indiana Jones 4 would make today.

So, leading right into my next ranking system, Indiana Jones 5 is only predicted to earn $305M at the box office when all is said and done…which would make it the lowest grossing Indy film by today’s box office totals (today box office totals: Raiders of the Lost Ark: $709M, Temple of Doom: $527M, The Last Crusade: $491M, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $1.15B).

And, with a PRODUCTION BUDGET of at least $300M and a marketing budget of at least $100M, this movie is on track to lose Disney and Lucasfilm a whopping $100M! At the very least!

In my personal opinion, the film is a spit in the face of the legacy of Indiana Jones through its portrayal of Indy and the classic characters, but that’s beside the point as it’s a blatant commercial failure. And even if my predictions are wrong and the film goes on to make over $500M, that’s still not enough for an Indiana Jones movie to make at a 2023 box office.

This is Indiana Jones, after all. Not some throwaway Amazon Prime show.

Disney and Lucasfilm have failed Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford, the OG Indiana Jones cast, and most importantly, us fans with this bland, mediocre, crony corporate film unworthy to be the final entry into the Indiana Jones franchise.

Images Source: Featured Images: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer – YouTube)

In Text Image 1: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer – YouTube)

In Text Image 2: (Disney/Lucasfilm) (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer – YouTube)