‘Indiana Jones’ misses estimates in hit to theatres’ rebound

INDIANA Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the series about a globe-trotting archaeologist, brought in US$60 million in ticket sales in its North American weekend debut, a disappointment for theatres trying to bounce back from the pandemic.

The US and Canadian tally, reported on Sunday (Jul 2) by Comscore, missed the US$70.3 million projected by Box Office Pro. Sales outside North America came to US$70 million. The film’s distributor, Walt Disney, was forecasting as much as US$65 million for Friday through Sunday in the US and up to US$145 million globally through long Jul 4 holiday in the US.

The sum was bad news for the movie’s producer, Lucasfilm – and parent Disney – as well as the theatre industry.

Two bombs this summer movie season, Warner Bros’ The Flash and Disney’s Elemental, have led analysts to cut their forecasts for the year and raise fresh questions about the longer-term outlook for theatres.

“Consumer demand for going to the movies is in flux,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts wrote on Jun 28. Citing Box Office Pro, they added that they were anticipating full-year ticket sales of about US$8.8 billion in North America. That is down from a peak estimate of US$9.2 billion just a few weeks ago and far less than the US$11 billion-plus logged annually before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The analysts also said that production delays tied to striking writers in Hollywood could push a full recovery for the theatrical industry beyond the next two years.

Through mid-2023, theatres have rung up domestic ticket sales of US$4.54 billion in the US, an increase of 18 per cent from last year. But sales remain 21 per cent below the same period in 2019, according to Comscore.

The weekend tally for Dial of Destiny showed fans retained some affection for the adventurous professor Indiana Jones, played again by Harrison Ford, despite a 15-year gap since the last picture. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opened weekend sales of US$100 million in North America in 2008, and went on to take in US$790.7 million worldwide.

One problem: Dial of Destiny is especially popular with older audiences that have been among the most reluctant to return to theatres.

SEE ALSO

Indiana Jones gets less than a fitting farewell

Harrison Ford hangs up his ‘Indiana Jones’ hat in ‘Dial of Destiny’

In the latest film, Jones, played by the 80-year-old Ford, races to retrieve an artefact that can change the course of history. His co-stars include Antonio Banderas and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Karen Allen returns as Marion.

Critics were mostly favourable, with about two-thirds recommending the picture, according to Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates reviews. The film cost about US$295 million to make, according to Variety, and many tens of millions more to market, suggesting it will face a high hurdle to break even.

A couple of big successes later this month could narrow the gap. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, a Paramount Pictures release featuring Tom Cruise, opens Jul 12 and is forecast to generate more than US$300 million in North America, according to Box Office Pro. Warner Bros’ Barbie, out nine days later, could bring in as much as US$240 million domestically.

Another Cruise-Paramount Global collaboration, Top Gun: Maverick, was among the highest grossing films of 2022 in the US, with US$718.7 million in ticket sales.