“We’re not sinking, we’re crashing!”, said Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones 5 crashes at the box office.
When early reviewers lamented about Ford’s last run as Indy being substandard at best, the future of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny seemed bleak, but not so abysmal that the franchise would lose all hope; since it’s the last time people would be seeing the daredevil archaeologist don his iconic whip and hat, the film at least had the nostalgia factor to cash on.
But now, after over a week of its theatrical run, the James Mangold-helmed venture seems to be doing nothing but suffering, and as if that wasn’t enough, a freshly released horror film just thwarted the former in the blink of an eye.
Insidious: The Red Door Puts Indiana Jones 5 to Shame
The Insidious films have been known to receive tepid greetings from the box office, with Insidious: Chapter 2 having the highest earnings, tipping over just $160 million globally. But the latest installment in the horror franchise seems to have taken the world by surprise thanks to the rather glorious opening weekend it witnessed.
Opening to $32.65 million, Insidious: The Red Door marks the second-best opening weekend in the horror film series after 2013’s Insidious 2 which welcomed $40.2 million. Meanwhile, Indiana Jones 5 continues to tread a dismal path after its lackluster opening weekend of $26.5 million as Sony’s latest addition to the Insidious franchise eclipses Indy’s last adventure. What’s more, the numbers for the Harrison Ford-led movie have only dropped further as it transitions into its second week at the cinemas.
So far, the Lucasfilm tentpole, which was propped up on a colossal production budget of $300 million, has only managed to amass about $247.9 million worldwide, and if what THR suspects is true, then it’s only going to go downhill for Indy 5 hereafter (the numbers for the film are believed to decline even more, as much as 58%).
What Went Wrong With Harrison Ford’s Last Adventure?
Starting with the hefty sum that the studio spent on Dial of the Destiny, making it the most expensive Indiana Jones film ever – the result has simply failed to manifest on the screens. So, technically, Indy 5 was doomed from the very moment Disney and Lucasfilm settled on such an inflated budget which makes it nearly impossible to bring home any significant profits.
Then there’s the all-too-well predicament of overused CGI with a digitally de-aged Ford only adding fuel to the fire, something that seems to have played quite a huge role in polarizing the audience. In fact, some critics even complained that Indiana Jones 5 gambled the fate of the entire franchise on the prospect of nostalgia, believing that the idea of bidding farewell to Indy after all these years of thrilling and memorable ventures would be enough for it to succeed. But alas, fate had different plans for the film.
Both Insidious: The Red Door and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny are currently playing in theatres.
Source: Deadline
