Armed with an estimated budget of $295 million – although reports have offered that it might actually be higher than that – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny needed to get off to a strong start at the box office to ensure that it didn’t continue Disney’s dismal run in theaters.
While James Mangold’s swansong for the iconic archeologist did comfortably top the domestic charts with a $60 million debut, that was the very lowest end of projections for the franchise’s fifth and final installment. Even worse, Dial of Destiny could only rustle up $130 million in total in global ticket sales, which is less than the $139 million brought in by The Flash, the DCU disaster already designated as one of the biggest box office bombs of all-time.
Having suffered disappointment on top of disappointment recently, the Mouse House really needed Indiana Jones 5 to open big and show some serious legs, but having missed out on the first Hail Mary, the second already seems out of reach when you consider Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Barbie, and Oppenheimer are all waiting in the wings to cannibalize the exact same audience.
Time will tell if it ends up being an out-and-out flop, but the signs are ominous enough as it is just days into Dial of Destiny’s theatrical run, proving once again that relying on nostalgia and brand awareness simply isn’t enough to cut it anymore as the tastes of paying customers begin to change the established hierarchy of blockbuster cinema.