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‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ becomes one of the most expensive movies ever made at $300 million

Fri 10 February 2023 9:43, UK

The forthcoming Disney movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has cost the giant entertainment conglomerate almost $300million to put together, making it the seventh most expensive movie ever made.

Released ahead of Disney’s recent unveiling of its first-quarter earnings, the exact figure of $294.7million (£244.1million) comes as the company attempts to lure fans back into cinemas after years of hardship after the Covid-19 pandemic. Costing around $100million more than the previous instalment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and a whopping $280million more than the 1981 original, Disney is pinning a lot of hope on this sequel.

The first Indiana Jones movie not to be written by George Lucas or directed by Steven Spielberg, Dial of Destiny is helmed by James Mangold, the same mind behind 2017s Oscar-nominated superhero flick Logan. Starring Harrison Ford in one of his most iconic recurring roles, the movie will also feature Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the title character’s sidekick and Mads Mikkelsen as the maniacal villain.

Speaking to Empire about the new release, Mangold revealed: “I wanted the chance to dive into this kind of full-on George-and-Steven old picture and give the audience an adrenaline blast”. To do this, Mangold eyed up a special opening scene that acts as a throwback to 1981s Raiders of the Lost Ark, sending Harrison Ford back to 1944 in a set piece that will see the actor considerably de-aged.

Using ILM software that crafted a younger version of Ford utilising archived material, Mangold and producer Kathleen Kennedy have high hopes for the sequel. “My hope is that, although it will be talked about in terms of technology, you just watch it and go, ‘Oh my God, they just found footage. This was a thing they shot 40 years ago’” Kennedy states, adding: “We’re dropping you into an adventure, something Indy is looking for, and instantly you have that feeling, ‘I’m in an Indiana Jones movie.’”

Take a look at the bombastic trailer for the long-anticipated Hollywood blockbuster below.