Harrison Ford gives two-word response to Indiana Jones box office flop

Fifth film in series lost Disney an estimated £114m

The latest Indiana Jones film may have failed at the box office, but Harrison Ford isn’t too upset about it.

Directed by James Mangold, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny sees Ford’s Dr Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr come up against an old Nazi adversary, played by Mads Mikkelsen, in 1969 to retrieve an ancient artefact which could change the course of history.

The 2023 film also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Jones’s goddaughter Helena Shaw, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, and Toby Jones.

Dial of Destiny opened to mostly mixed reviews and made $384m (£307.45m) worldwide, with the American media estimating a loss of $143m (£114.5m).

Ford shared in a new interview how he felt about the titular archaeologist’s adventure not doing so well at the box office. “S** happens,” the Oscar nominee told the Wall Street Journal.

“I was really the one who felt there was another story to tell. When [Indy] had suffered the consequences of the life that he had to live, I wanted one more chance to pick him up and shake the dust off his a** and stick him out there, bereft of some of his vigour, to see what happened.

“I’m still happy I made that movie.”

Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ (Lucasfilm Ltd)

The Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab gave the film three stars, describing it as “a film that feels like a mishmash of elements from the older movies” but praised Ford’s performance as “the hero of the hour, playing even the flimsiest scenes with conviction and dry humour”.

Ford said in an interview last year this was his last time playing Indiana Jones and that he wouldn’t be involved in a potential television series, which is in development.

“This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I’ll play the character,” Ford told Total Film magazine in April. “I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film.”

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Ford returned to his role as Dr Paul Rhoades in Apple TV+’s Shrinking and will be making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his role as Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Brave New World.

Speaking of his role in the forthcoming Captain America film, Ford said he accepted the role with “no script” presented to him, something he did when he signed on to both Shrinking and 1923.

“Why not?” Ford replied. “I saw enough Marvels to see actors that I admired having a good time.”

Ford added that he didn’t know his character would end up turning into the Red Hulk, but he was taking it in stride.

“I didn’t really know that at the end I would turn into the Red Hulk,” Ford joked.

“Well, it’s like life. You only get so far in the kit until the last page of the instructions is missing.”