When Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012, the Mouse House didn’t only get the rights to the lucrative Star Wars property. The company also became the new home to the Indiana Jones franchise. Over the years, Disney’s Star Wars output has obviously outpaced that of Indiana Jones (which has seen just one film in the Disney era), but that could change in the future. As the studio figures out what to do with its collection of popular IP, an Indiana Jones reboot is reportedly on the table. According to DisInsider, this could be announced soon.
“Lucasfilm is letting the franchise rest for a bit before they do a full reboot of the franchise,” wrote DisInsider co-founder Skyler Shuler in response to a fan mailbag question inquiring about the future of Indiana Jones. “I would expect the studio to announce something next year at the D23 Expo because even though the last film tanked at the box office, Indiana Jones is still an iconic IP and Disney/Lucasfilm do not want to waste that.”
A fifth Indiana Jones movie lingered in development hell for an extended period of time following the Lucasfilm sale. It cycled through multiple writers, and eventually, series veteran Steven Spielberg (who helmed the first four films) stepped down as director. In 2023, the famous archeologist finally returned to the big screen in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, directed by James Mangold. Though the film received generally positive reviews, Dial of Destiny was a box office bomb, grossing $384 million worldwide against a production budget somewhere between $295-387 million.
In the aftermath of the movie’s mixed reception, Mangold admitted “it hurt” that Dial of Destiny didn’t achieve greater success. For his part, franchise star Harrison Ford seemed to take the movie’s performance in stride, saying, “S— happens.” Despite Dial of Destiny going down as a loss, the actor is still happy it was made. Disney has not officially announced the development of another Indiana Jones film, though the franchise remains in the spotlight thanks to the critically acclaimed video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
Though Dial of Destiny flopped at the box office, the first four installments in the series were all massive box office hits. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the second highest-grossing film of 2008 worldwide (behind only The Dark Knight), bringing in $786.6 million. The property is still instantly recognizable and iconic, so it’s understandable why Disney would be interested in pursuing new projects. Going the reboot route is arguably for the best, as it would allow the studio an opportunity to recast Indy with a younger actor. Ford is synonymous with Dr. Jones, but Dial of Destiny made it clear audiences aren’t interested in seeing an elderly archeologist embark on an adventure. Part of the character’s appeal is living vicariously through an action hero in his prime tracking down priceless artifacts and fighting against villains.
Of course, rebooting Indiana Jones comes with its fair share of risks. Finding the right actor to follow Ford’s footsteps would be a tall task that could doom the film before a scene is even shot. This is something Disney has been through before when Lucasfilm made Solo: A Star Wars Story, a spin-off prequel movie that starred Alden Ehrenreich as a young Han Solo. Ehrenreich’s performance captured the spirit of the smuggler, but Solo still bombed in part because audiences weren’t interested in seeing someone else play Han. Getting viewers on board with a new Indy could prove to be a tough hurdle, although, characters like James Bond and Batman have been rebooted multiple times. Following the Bond formula and finding a younger actor to headline a series of adventure films could yield positive results if handled properly.
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