Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny lost $130 million

The fifth Indiana Jones movie was supposed to send the franchise out on a high note, but it proved to be a sad anti-climax to an amazing franchise. Indeed, yesterday, Disney boss Bob Iger won a brutal proxy battle against a group led by Nelson Pelts over control of the Disney board. One of the issues was how the company had a pretty dire 100th anniversary, with them posting a shocking number of flops, which included The Marvels, Haunted Mansion, and more. Yet, of all the films, none was a more bitter loss to the company than Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It’s now being estimated that the fifth Indiana Jones film lost upwards of $130 million.

While the movie grossed $174 million domestically for a $383 million worldwide total, the film cost a staggering $387 million. When a studio releases a movie, typically they only get to collect about 50% of the box office earnings. In fact, the figures put out by Disney that estimate a $137 million loss are probably generous, as there were probably a number of gross participants in the movie who likely collected from the net rather than the gross. The film will likely make up some of its losses in ancillary media, but even those prospects seem dire, as the movie is (so far) exclusive on Disney Plus. It’s gotten a physical media release, but it seems doubtful that sales will be able to make up for that shortfall.

So what happened? Fan reaction to the film was cool, and reviews (including ours) were mixed, with many pointing the finger at Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s shoe-horned in role, the annoying kid sidekick, and unconvincing de-aging effects. Indeed, it was a sad way to end the franchise, with it grossing hundreds of millions less than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull did, and no one really liked that movie, did they? Some fans even think Dial of Destiny was worse. Indeed, it’s a sad end to one of the greatest franchises ever. Alas, we’ll always have that original trilogy.