Indiana Jones is back for another action-packed adventure in his franchise's fifth film installment, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Just a few months ahead of its highly anticipated summer premiere, we finally have a closer look at what to expect from the movie that marks the final return of Harrison Ford's legendary titular hero.
On 6 April, 2023, the film unveiled its first full-length trailer as part of Lucasfilm's panel at the Star Wars Celebration in London. The movie preview teases Jones's last mission just as he's on the brink of retirement, and of course it all centers on the dial of destiny — the artifact his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) knows he once found, per her dad, that could "change the course of history." But now it's Helena chasing the thing that "drove her father crazy," and she'll do anything to get her hands on it.
It's been over 40 years since audiences were first introduced to Jones as the legendary adventurer and archaeologist. The first film in the iconic franchise, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," was released in 1981 and has since generated four more films, inspired several video games, and garnered a fiercely loyal fan base.
Now, all these years later, fans will still get to enjoy seeing a young Ford in "Dial of Destiny," as director James Mangold told Total Film that the opening sequence of the movie features 25 minutes of the de-aged actor in a flashback "extravaganza." "The goal was to give the audience a full-bodied taste of what they missed so much," he told the publication in an interview published on 24 April, 2023.
The fifth Indiana Jones film is heading to cinemas this summer, but first, it'll premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May. Disney announced in a statement on 3 April that "Dial of Destiny" will debut at the French film festival out of competition (meaning it won't be eligible for awards there). The entertainment giant calls the movie "a big, globe-trotting, rip-roaring cinematic adventure."
Disney released the first teaser for the film back in December 2022. It shows the intrepid title character embarking on a series of increasingly dramatic high-speed chases, occasionally accompanied by Waller-Bridge's Helena. Another teaser was released on Super Bowl Sunday, 12 Feb., 2023, expanding on what to expect from the story.
Although it's unfathomable to imagine the franchise without Ford, rumours did circulate in 2019 that "Jurassic World" actor Chris Pratt would replace Ford in a reboot of the Indiana Jones franchise. In a July 2022 episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, Pratt jokingly said he didn't want to replace the veteran actor, and for an amusing reason. "All I know is I once saw a quote from Harrison Ford, and I don't even know if it was really him but it was enough to scare me, that was like, 'When I die, Indiana Jones dies.' And I'm like, 'Am I going to get haunted by the ghost of Harrison Ford one day when he dies if I play . . . ?'" Pratt said.
Here's everything we know about the upcoming Indiana Jones movie, from the big trailers and cast members to the release date, first-look photos, and more.