Indy500 BrianBonner

''Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'' is a 2023 American action-adventure film directed by James Mangold and written by Mangold, David Koepp, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. It is the fifth and final installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' film series. Harrison Ford, John Rhys-Davies, and Karen Allen reprise their roles from the previous films, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore, and Mads Mikkelsen joining the cast. Set in 1969, the film follows Jones and his estranged goddaughter, Helena, who are trying to locate a powerful artifact before Dr. Jürgen Voller, a Nazi-turned-NASA scientist, who plans to use it to alter the outcome of World War II.

''Dial of Destiny'' is the only film in the series not directed by Steven Spielberg nor conceived by George Lucas, though both served as executive producers. Plans for a fifth ''Indiana Jones'' film date back to the late 1970s, when a deal was made with Paramount Pictures to produce four sequels to ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981). Lucas began researching potential plot devices for a fifth film in 2008, and Koepp was hired to write the screenplay in 2016. In 2018, Jonathan Kasdan replaced Koepp but later left the project. Originally set for release in 2019, the film faced delays due to rewrites and the COVID-19 pandemic. Spielberg was initially set to direct but stepped down in 2020, with Mangold taking over. Filming began in June 2021 in various locations including the United Kingdom, Italy, and Morocco, wrapping in February 2022.

Franchise composer John Williams returned to score the film, earning nominations for Best Original Score at the 96th Academy Awards and Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Williams won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for "Helena's Theme".

''Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'' premiered out of competition at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 30, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $384million worldwide, becoming a box-office bomb due to being one of the most expensive films ever made.

Plot

Toward the end of World War II, Nazis capture Indiana Jones and Oxford archaeologist Basil Shaw as they attempt to retrieve the Lance of Longinus from a castle in the French Alps. Astrophysicist Jürgen Voller informs his superiors the Lance is fake, but he has found half of Archimedes' Dial, an Antikythera mechanism built by the ancient Syracusan mathematician Archimedes which reveals time fissures, thereby allowing for possible time travel. Jones escapes onto a Berlin-bound train filled with looted antiquities and frees Basil. He obtains the Dial piece, and the two escape just before Allied forces derail the train.

In 1969, Jones, who is retiring from Hunter College in New York City, has been separated from his wife Marion Ravenwood since their son Mutt's death in the Vietnam War. Jones' goddaughter, archaeologist Helena Shaw, unexpectedly visits and wants to research the Dial. Jones warns that her late father, Basil, became obsessed with studying the Dial before relinquishing it to Jones to destroy, which he never did.

As Jones and Helena retrieve the Dial half from the college archives, Voller's accomplices attack them. The CIA assists Voller, now working for NASA as "Dr. Schmidt". Helena, revealed as an antiquities smuggler, absconds with the Dial to auction it on the black market. Jones is framed for two colleagues' murders, forcing him to escape through the Apollo 11 moon landing parade, then an anti-war protest.

Jones seeks out his old friend Sallah, now a New York cab driver, who helps him flee the country after surmising that Helena will likely sell the Dial in Tangier. In Tangier, Jones disrupts Helena's illegal private auction, but Voller and his henchmen arrive and steal the artifact. Jones, Helena, and her teenage accomplice Teddy Kumar chase them through the streets in a tuk-tuk. The CIA intercepts Voller after the U.S. government disavows him for going rogue, but he and his cohorts murder the agents and steal the CIA's helicopter.

Jones, Helena and Teddy trail Voller to Greece and team up with Jones' old friend Renaldo, a professional diver. Guided by Basil's research, they dive to the Antikythera wreck and retrieve a "graphikos" tablet containing directions to the Dial's other half. Voller arrives and murders Renaldo and his crew, but Jones' group escapes and heads to Sicily, pursued by Voller.

Inside the Ear of Dionysius cavern, Jones and Helena find Archimedes' tomb, the Dial's second half, and a 20th-century wristwatch on Archimedes' skeletal arm. Voller appears and captures Jones, wounding him. Helena and Teddy escape and chase Voller. Voller reassembles the dial and intends to time-travel back to 1939 to help lead Germany to victory in World War II by assassinating Adolf Hitler and avoiding his mistakes. At an airfield, Voller activates the Dial and locates a time fissure in the sky. Jones is held captive on Voller's stolen plane while Helena stows away through its landing gear. Teddy follows in another plane.

Whilst approaching the fissure, Jones realizes that continental drift could have altered the timeline coordinates. Rather than 1939, the group arrives at the Siege of Syracuse in 212 BC. The warring armies shoot down Voller's plane, believing it to be a dragon. Jones and Helena parachute out just before the plane crashes, killing all aboard, while Teddy lands safely. Archimedes finds Voller's body and wristwatch in the wreckage. He gives Jones the Dial but keeps the watch. Jones and Helena learn that Archimedes created the Dial to bring allies from the future through fissures that lead only to 212 BC to save Syracuse and lift the siege. As the fissure begins to collapse, Jones wants to remain behind, feeling he has nothing left to return to. Helena, fearing a time paradox and unwilling to give up on him, knocks Jones unconscious.

Back in 1969, a recovering Jones awakens in his apartment and reunites with Helena, Teddy, Sallah and Marion. Jones and Marion reconcile.

Cast

* Harrison Ford as Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr., a world-renowned globe-trotting archaeologist and college professor.
** Anthony Ingruber as young Indiana Jones (1944). Ingruber had portrayed a younger version of Ford's character William Jones in ''The Age of Adaline'' (2015), serving as the on-set body double before Ford's de-aged likeness and voice was inserted over Ingruber's using CGI for brief parts of the 1944 scenes of ''Dial of Destiny''. Ingruber also portrays a hotel guest attending Helena's auction.
* Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena Shaw, Jones' goddaughter. The filmmakers described the character as "slippery, charming, the girl next door, a grifter," a "pioneer in ethical accounting" and similar to comedic characters with "machine-gun" dialogue akin to those of Ben Hecht's plays. She is the daughter of Indy's old friend and colleague, Basil Shaw. Holly Lawton portrays a young Helena.
* Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Jürgen Voller, a sociopathic German scientist, astrophysicist and former Nazi during World War II who has been hired by NASA under the name "Dr. Schmidt" to run the Apollo Moon landing program, while using CIA assets for his own gain. The character is based upon real life Nazi Wernher von Braun, while his dressing style is inspired by that of previous ''Indiana Jones'' villain Major Arnold Ernst Toht, whom Mikkelsen deemed iconic due to Ronald Lacey's performance but made sure to avoid copying him, in addition to deny any connection between the two as "Toht was more of a henchman" while Voller is the "brain" behind a lot of things. Mikkelsen felt that Voller is a man who would like to "correct" some mistakes of the past with the film's MacGuffin to make the world "a much better place to live in," matching wits against Jones in a race to retrieve the artifact.
* Antonio Banderas as Renaldo, an old friend of Jones who operates as an expert frogman. Banderas claimed that his character is a rogue who is "a good guy who dies for Indiana Jones". He enjoyed working with Ford, Mangold and Steven Spielberg, who co-produced ''The Mask of Zorro'' (1998), one of his previous films. Banderas also pointed out that his role as Renaldo veers more into a cameo appearance.
* John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, Jones' old friend who aided in finding the Ark of the Covenant in 1936 and the Holy Grail in 1938. Sallah and his family have since immigrated to New York City with Jones' assistance. He now works as a cab driver.
* Toby Jones as Basil Shaw, an Oxford professor of archaeology, ally of Jones from his days in World War II, and Helena's father, who was obsessed with the Dial.
* Boyd Holbrook as Klaber, Voller's nefarious and trigger-happy right-hand man in 1969. Holbrook described Klaber as Voller's lapdog, "and a very crazy one at that".
* Ethann Isidore as Teddy Kumar, Helena's young Moroccan sidekick in Tangier.
* Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, Jones' estranged wife, who aided in finding the Ark of the Covenant in 1936 and the Crystal Skull of Akator in 1957.
* Shaunette Renée Wilson as Agent Mason, a CIA agent assigned to work for Voller.
* Thomas Kretschmann as Colonel Weber, a Nazi for whom Voller works in 1944.
* Olivier Richters as Hauke, a henchman of Voller.
* Mark Killeen as Pontimus, a soldier from 212 BC during the Siege of Syracuse.
* Nasser Memarzia as Archimedes, a brilliant scientist from 212 BC Syracuse and inventor of the Antikythera ("Dial of Destiny").
* Martin McDougall as Durkin, a CIA agent working with Voller.
* Alaa Safi as Aziz Rahim, the son of a Moroccan mobster, who was previously engaged to Helena Shaw.
* Anna Francolini as Mandy, one of Jones' colleagues at Hunter College.

Photographs of Sean Connery and Shia LaBeouf are used to represent their respective ''Last Crusade'' and ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' characters: Henry Jones Sr. and Mutt Williams (Henry Jones III).

Production

Development

In 1979, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made a deal with Paramount Pictures for five ''Indiana Jones'' films. In April 2008, Harrison Ford said he would return as Indiana Jones for a fifth film if it did not take another twenty years to develop, referring to the long development of ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' (2008), which was released a month later. That film introduced the character Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf. Writer/producer Lucas suggested an idea to make Williams the lead character in a fifth film with Ford's Jones in a supporting capacity akin to that of Sean Connery's Henry Jones Sr., but later decided against this. Lucas said that Ford's age would not be an issue in making another film, saying, "it's not like he's an old man. He's incredibly agile; he looks even better than he did 20 years ago".

Lucas began researching potential plot devices for another film in 2008, and stated that Spielberg was open to directing it, as he had done for the previous films. Explaining the process for each film, Ford said, "We come to some basic agreement and then George goes away for a long time and works on it. Then Steven and I get it in some form, some embryonic form. Then if we like it we start working with George on it and at some point down the line it's ready and we do it". Lucas stressed the importance of having a MacGuffin that is supernatural but still grounded in reality with an archaeological or historical background, saying, "you can't just make something up, like a time machine". Speaking about the previous film and the franchise's future, Lucas said, "we still have the issues about the direction we'd like to take. I'm in the future; Steven's in the past. He's trying to drag it back to the way they were, I'm trying to push it to a whole different place. So, still we have a sort of tension". Later in 2008, Ford stated that Lucas's concept for the fifth film was "crazy but great". In November 2010, Ford said that Lucas was still working on the project. In July 2012, producer Frank Marshall stated that the project had no writer and said about its progress, "I don't know if it's definitely not happening, but it's not up and running".

In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm, giving Disney ownership rights to the ''Indiana Jones'' intellectual property. In December 2013, The Walt Disney Studios purchased the distribution and marketing rights to future ''Indiana Jones'' films from Paramount, with the latter studio retaining the distribution rights to the first four films and receiving "financial participation" for any additional films as well as an "in association with" credit in the film's billing. The fifth film would become the first in the series to be co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm. With the 2012 acquisition, Lucas passed ''Indiana Jones 5'' to new Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Lucasfilm planned to focus on the ''Star Wars'' franchise before working on a fifth ''Indiana Jones'' film.

In May 2015, Kennedy confirmed that Lucasfilm would eventually make another ''Indiana Jones'' film. ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' ended positively for Indiana Jones, with his marriage to Marion Ravenwood. However, Ford did not necessarily view the film as a definitive ending for Jones, wishing to make one more film that could expand the character and conclude his journey. Ford felt that ''Crystal Skull'' "ended in kind of a suspended animation. There was not a real strong feeling of the conclusion or the closure that I always hoped for". According to Kennedy, "we all felt that if we could conclude the series with one more movie, given the fact that Harrison was so excited to try to do another one, we should do it". Kennedy, Spielberg and Ford had discussed a couple of story ideas by the end of 2015.

Pre-production

In March 2016, Disney announced that the fifth film would be released on July 19, 2019, with Ford reprising his role. Spielberg would direct the film, with Kennedy and Marshall as producers. In April 2016, Marshall said the film was in early pre-production. A MacGuffin had been chosen for the film, and work on the script began a few months later, with David Koepp as the screenwriter. The story was conceived by Koepp and Spielberg. Koepp had previously written several other Spielberg films, including ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull''. It was initially reported that Lucas would not be involved in the project, although Spielberg later said that Lucas would serve as an executive producer: "Of course I would never make an ''Indiana Jones'' film without George Lucas. That would be insane". Later in 2016, it was announced that Lucas would have no involvement, with Marshall stating two years later that "life changes and we're moving on. He moved on".

In 2017, the film's release date was pushed back to 2020, as Spielberg was busy working on ''Ready Player One'' (2018) and '' The Post'' (2017). Koepp said "we've got a script we're mostly happy with". Spielberg set ''Indiana Jones 5'' as his next film, with production set to begin in the UK in April 2019. However, filming was pushed back as a final script had yet to be approved. In early 2018, Lucasfilm met with screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods for an "open canvas talk" including the ''Indiana Jones'' and ''Star Wars'' franchises in the wake of their success with John Krasinski's film ''A Quiet Place'' (2018). Beck stated that they had considered writing the next ''Indiana Jones'' installment, but that ultimately he and Woods were more interested in establishing an original franchise. Marshall said that a lot of people had pitched ideas for the film. Jonathan Kasdan was eventually hired to replace Koepp in mid-2018, and a new release date was set for 2021.

Kasdan had departed the project by May 2019, and it was rumored that writer Dan Fogelman would take over. In September 2019, Koepp announced that he had re-joined the production as writer, stating that the filmmakers had "a good idea this time". Koepp ultimately wrote two versions of the film, but neither were approved. He said that efforts to produce the film had failed because of disagreement between Spielberg, Ford, and Disney regarding the script.

In February 2020, Spielberg stepped down as director, as he wanted to pass the film series to a new filmmaker for a fresh perspective. Kennedy later said that Spielberg "was kind of off and on" about directing the project, although he did remain as a hands-on producer. James Mangold was confirmed as director in May 2020, when he began work on a new script. He had previously offered Ford a role in his film ''Ford v Ferrari'' (2019) and the two also worked together on ''The Call of the Wild'' (2020), which Mangold produced. As a result of this relationship, Ford suggested that Spielberg and Kennedy hire Mangold as director. He is the first person besides Spielberg to direct a film in the series.

Koepp departed the project again after Spielberg stepped down, saying it "seemed like the right time to let Jim have his own take on it and have his own person or himself write it". Mangold had considered turning down the director position, as Lucasfilm wanted filming to begin in about six months to meet the 2021 release date. However, Mangold wanted more time so he could refine the script. He eventually signed on to the project after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the release date, giving him the time he wanted. The pandemic had also shut down pre-production on ''A Complete Unknown'' (2024), Mangold's film about singer Bob Dylan.

Mangold wrote the new screenplay with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, who worked with him previously on ''Ford v Ferrari'', over the course of six to eight months. Mangold said, "I wanted to really retool the existing script pretty aggressively, almost entirely". Koepp received credit alongside Mangold and the Butterworths for his earlier work. Among the previous films in the series, Mangold cited the first entry, ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981), as his biggest inspiration while making ''Dial of Destiny''. He considered ''Raiders'' his favorite film in the series, and said "you go to the original because that's where the standard was set".

Mangold conceived the film's time-travel element and its use of the Antikythera mechanism as the MacGuffin. To suit the story, artistic liberty was taken with the film's dial, giving it the ability to detect time fissures. Mangold considered time travel on par with the previous films: "It's no more of a wild swing in my mind than ghouls flying out of a box and melting people's heads through the sheer power of dark angels, or a 700-year-old knight existing in a cave for perpetuity. These are all beyond the scope of all physical belief". According to Mangold, the earlier draft by Koepp featured a MacGuffin that was "just another relic with power, similar to the relics we had seen", with no emotional connection to Jones. Multiple versions of the film's dial would be created by the prop department for different scenes. Although Greek inventor Archimedes is presented in the film as the Antikythera's creator, it is unclear whether that is true in reality.

Earlier films had featured Nazis as the antagonists, and Mangold and the Butterworths were inspired by Operation Paperclip as a way of reincorporating them for ''Dial of Destiny''. Mangold considered Nazi Germany for the film's time-traveling final act, with Jones attempting to stop Voller's plan. However, as this idea was developed further, Mangold considered it too predictable. He also found that it lacked emotional resonance for Jones and played out like a spy film, prompting him to choose the Siege of Syracuse instead. The Butterworths suggested the idea to end the film with Jones and Marion discussing their emotional pain, a callback to a similar conversation in ''Raiders''. A post-credits scene featuring Short Round from ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' (1984) was considered according to storyboard artist Gabriel Hardman, but the idea was discarded early on so Ke Huy Quan wasn't contacted to reprise the role, with Mangold opting to not bring Shorty back due to wishing to assemble a story in the film's present that made sense and not wanting to include another adult companion for Indy, with Helena Shaw only being there to challenge him as the adventure's sole female character.

Mangold consulted with Lucas and Spielberg, who served as executive producers. As the script was being written, Mangold would send pages to the duo for input. Recalling advice that Spielberg offered, Mangold said, "It's a movie that's a trailer from beginning to end — always be moving".

Casting

Despite Ford's age, Marshall and Spielberg ruled out the possibility of recasting his character. Ford said, "I'm Indiana Jones. When I'm gone, he's gone". Spielberg also said Jones would not be killed off during the events of the film. Likewise, Mangold and the Butterworths never considered killing off the character, despite fan assumptions Mangold would "kill another icon" after doing so with James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' (2000-2020) film ''Logan'' (2017). Ford was paid $10–12 million for his involvement.

In April 2021, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen and Thomas Kretschmann were cast in undisclosed roles. Boyd Holbrook and Shaunette Renée Wilson were added the next month. Holbrook previously co-starred in Mangold's ''Logan'', in which he portrayed Donald Pierce, also a second-in-command villain; this made him initially hesitant to accept the similar role of Klaber. Wilson was cast without auditioning, after a Zoom meeting with Mangold, who agreed to change the "problematic" way in which Mason originally exited the film due to some dialogue that made Wilson uncomfortable. She felt that her character's government connections fit into the story in a similar way to how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the CIA recruited black agents to infiltrate the Black Panther Party in the 1960s. In July 2021, Antonio Banderas was cast in the film portraying an ally to Indiana Jones. Ethann Isidore was cast as Teddy Kumar, marking his film debut.

Waller-Bridge described her character as "a mystery and a wonder", and Mangold referred the actress to Barbara Stanwyck's performance as Jean Harrington in ''The Lady Eve

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases