Harrison Ford is one of the world’s most sought-after as well as highest-grossing grossing actors of all time. However, things weren’t always like this. In fact, for the better part of his earlier days in the industry, the actor struggled so much that he had to take up carpentry to support his then-wife and children way back in the ’60s.
Things took a turn for the better when his carpentry skills out of everything took him to Francis Coppola’s doorstep with a job of expanding the iconic director’s office space.
And this eventually took the actor to be cast in Star Wars and Indiana Jones years later However, his own legacy once became the very thing that pushed him into an early retirement and exile back in 2007, until Paramount brought him back with a gigantic paycheck.
Harrison Ford got out of retirement for Indiana Jones 4
As mentioned, the Blade Runner star was hired by Francis Coppola to expand his office space for his carpentry skills. Impressed by his talents in acting though, The Godfather director started giving him minor roles in movies like Apocalypse Now and The Conversation.
The late ’70s brought good news for him with noticeable roles in The Fresco Kid, and Heroes. However, his biggest break came when George Lucas, impressed with his performance, called him in to audition for one of the world’s biggest franchises in the making, Star Wars and the world gained their Han Solo.
He never had to look back after that and even started his own legacy in the form of the Indiana Jones franchise in 1981. With a whopping salary of $5.9 million and tremendous box office success, Harrison Ford finally started making his prominent mark in the industry.
However, the second movie of the franchise, Temple of Doom had a pay cut with his salary decreased to $4.5 million even after taking the box office by storm. The third movie The Last Crusade did not fare much better for him, as his paycheck only increased to $4.9 million.
This was shocking for him as with each movie in the franchise the hype around it only kept increasing. And by the third, it had already become one of the cult classics in cinema history with critical acclaim and recognition worldwide.
As such, the lack of appreciation for his craft allegedly took a toll on him, urging him to go on a retirement and self-imposed exile in 2007.
Thankfully for him, and his fans, though, Paramount was finally successful to lure him out of retirement for the fourth movie The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Not only that, the movie also saw a massive increase in his paycheck with a humongous total sum of $65 million.
Now, a salary of about 13 times more than the one that pushed him into early retirement, will obviously soften anyone’s heart, as it did for Harrison Ford. Something his fans are immensely grateful for.
Harrison Ford is closing the curtain with Dial of Destiny
Now, after 4 decades of adventure, that very franchise is coming to its conclusion with Dial of Destiny releasing next month. Harrison Ford, after dedicating all his hard work to the franchise, is again reprising his role playing an older version of the Archeologist.
Dial of Destiny, according to Ford, will enchant the fans with its fascinating plot throughout its run-time. As the final film in the franchise, he noted in an interview last month,
“I’ve been able to deliver amazing films developed by Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] over a 40-year period, and to end it not with a whimper, but a bang, has been my greatest ambition for this excursion.”
He also mentioned that it will be the last time he reprises his iconic role and possibly the last time the character appears on screen as well. And even if the rumored TV adaptation ever comes to pass, he will not be a part of that.
Marvel star Chris Pratt was once interested in playing this titular character, however, Ford’s statement, “Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy,” in an interview years ago, seems to have scared him away for good.
Although, numerous TV series adaptations of Hollywood’s some of the most iconic franchises, like Harry Potter already being in production make it seem like only time can give the answer to that question for sure.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is arriving at theaters on June 30th, 2023.
Source: Showbiz CheatSheet
