Disney and Lucasfilm were counting on nostalgia to lure in longtime moviegoers with the theatrical release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny last year.
That didn't quite happen, though, as the movie collected a meager $384 million at the box office worldwide when its theatrical run came to a close. Given the $295 million production cost of Dial of Destiny, astute film buffs already knew that the latest Indiana Jones film would not be profitable.
How the film's box office earnings turned out is somewhat baffling, given the fact that the film received favorable reviews from fans and critics alike.
Thanks to Forbes, who analyzed Disney's recently released financial statements, it's been revealed that Disney has told investors that the company lost $134.2 million on the pic.
That figure makes sense when you consider that box office receipts from theaters and movie studios are split evenly, so the studio only received $192 million of Dial of Destiny's total box office receipts.
Those financial statements also revealed that a sizable portion of the film's budget ($79 million) went to VFX cost, something that becomes a little more eye-raising given the fact that the movie features a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford.
The previous film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released in 2008 and grossed $790.7 million from a production budget of $185 million.
Prior to the Crystal Skull's release, there hadn't been an Indiana Jones film released since 1989. Maybe all the nostalgia points the franchise had left were swallowed up by that movie, because sentimentality clearly wasn't a winning ploy for Dial of Destiny.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Official Synopsis: Harrison Ford returns as the legendary hero archaeologist in the highly anticipated fifth installment of the iconic “Indiana Jones” franchise, which is directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”).
Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Shaunette Renee Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Oliver Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”).
Directed by James Mangold, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers.
John Williams, who has scored each Indy adventure since the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981, is once again composing the score.