Indiana Jones 5 Has Accidentally Set An Unwanted Record Before Its Release

Believe it or not, but it’s been 15 years since we last saw Indiana Jones on our screens. That’s right; ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ first took Hollywood by storm in 2008, but it didn’t do particularly well compared to the other movies in the franchise. After all, the fourth movie came out 19 years after the last, but many were still pleased with the outcome.

The problem? It’s now time for another in the franchise to try and recreate the magic of the previous installments. Sadly, ‘Indiana Jones 5’ has accidentally set an unwanted record before its release, and many are wondering if it can recover from doing so badly before it’s even had its big release.

Indiana Jones 5 is set to be Harrison Ford’s final installment

Harrison Ford fans might be pleased to know that the actor hasn’t walked away from the franchise just yet, but the release of ‘Indiana Jones 5’ is about to see that change for good. ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ is the fifth installment in the franchise, with each movie seeing Ford take on the role of the titular character. However, this will be the last time we see Ford bring the archeologist to life. When talking to the ‘Dagobah Dispatch’ podcast, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy admitted that this is “Harrison’s last entry,” but it might not be the end of the franchise just yet.

The Dial of Destiny failed to impress critics during its premiere

Of course, Hollywood has come a long way since Indiana Jones first swung onto our screens in 1981, with Harrison Ford the one who brought so much to the franchise. Sadly, some critics think that magic could have been lost over the years - and they didn’t hold back in their reviews. In fact, ‘Indiana Jones 5’ has accidentally set an unwanted record before its release as it currently has the lowest score on Rotten Tomatoes of any movie in the franchise, settling on just 49%. Some claim this movie “isn’t the goodbye which Harrison Ford deserves.” In contrast, others have said a better version of the film is “buried in there somewhere” but that it would “require a feat of archaeology” or “at least a rewrite and some judicious editing” to bring it to the surface. Ouch.

Other Indiana Jones movies have done considerably better

Amazingly, even though the fourth installment in the franchise earned some incredibly mixed reviews from critics and audiences, it’s not the lowest-rated Indiana Jones movie so far. Instead, that title goes to the second film, 1984’s ‘Temple of Doom’ with 76%. 2008’s ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ comes next with 77%, with the third movie and 1989’s ‘The Last Crusade’ earning 84%, and the film that kicked it all off - 1981’s 'Raiders of the Lost Ark’ - taking the top spot with a rating of 93%. Of course, there’s every chance that ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ could do a lot better once it’s released to the world. For now, it has only been seen at the Cannes Film Festival. There’s every chance that the audience could fall for Harrison Ford’s sendoff in ways the critics didn’t - and it’s not like we haven’t seen that before.

There’s a chance Indiana Jones could return as a TV series

Just because ‘Dial of Destiny’ hasn’t done overly well with the critics doesn’t mean that everyone is ready to see Indiana Jones’ run come to an end. After all, plenty of us have grown up with the archaeologist, and the idea of not having him on the big screen is something that’s hit some hard. It turns out we might not be saying goodbye to the character just yet - just Ford’s version of Indy. Kathleen Kennedy admitted to the ‘Dagobah Podcast’ that if anything is on the cards, “it might be in series television down the road.” However, she wanted to make it clear they’re “not doing anything to replace Indiana Jones.” It’s a little cryptic, but Kathleen added Ford is “so specific and so unique to creating this role.” It appears director Steven Spielberg agrees, as it seems to be agreed that a TV series would never try to take away what Harrison Ford has brought to life for so many years.

‘Indiana Jones 5’ has accidentally set an unwanted record before its release, but there’s every chance things could change before the year is out. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long to see it all for ourselves, as ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ is set to hit Uk theaters on June 28 and US theaters two days later on June 30.