Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

''Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'' is an upcoming American action adventure film starring Harrison Ford as archaeologist Indiana Jones in the fifth installment of the ''Indiana Jones'' film series, following ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' (2008). The film is directed by James Mangold, who co-wrote the script with Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth. It is the first film in the series not directed by Steven Spielberg nor with a story written by George Lucas, with Spielberg and Lucas serving as executive producers instead. It is also the first film in the series not to have the involvement of Paramount Pictures, as The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. John Rhys-Davies reprises his role as Sallah, and new cast members include Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Olivier Richters, Ethann Isidore and Mads Mikkelsen.

Plans for a fifth ''Indiana Jones'' film harken back to the late 1970s when Lucas and Spielberg negotiated with Paramount for four sequels to '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981). Lucas began researching potential plot devices for a fifth film in 2008, although the project stalled for years. He passed the project to producer Kathleen Kennedy in 2012, when she became the president of Lucasfilm. Progress on a fifth film remained dormant while the company worked on the ''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy. David Koepp was eventually hired to write the fifth film in 2016, with a release date set for 2019, although this was delayed several times due to script rewrites. In 2018, Jonathan Kasdan was hired to replace Koepp, who returned to scribe in 2019 before eventually leaving the project. Spielberg was to direct the film, but stepped down in 2020, with Mangold taking his place. Filming began in June 2021 and concluded in February 2022. Shooting locations include across the United Kingdom in England and Scotland, Italy and Morocco.

''Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'' is scheduled for release theatrically in the United States on June 30, 2023, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Premise

In 1969, American archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones lives against the backdrop of the Space Race. Jones is uneasy over the fact that the U.S. government has recruited former Nazis to help beat the Soviet Union in the competition to make it to space. His goddaughter, Helena, accompanies him on his journey. Meanwhile, Jürgen Voller, a NASA member and ex-Nazi involved with the moon-landing program, wishes to make the world into a better place as he sees fit.

Cast

* Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, the world-renowned globe-trotting archaeologist and college professor. Mangold considers Jones as "a phenomenally unique hero" and a "brilliant nerd who is also a badass"
* Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena, Jones' goddaughter. Mangold identifies Helena as the "catalyst" of the film, kicking off the film's plot after dragging her godfather into a problem of hers. She is also the daughter of an old friend of Indy who hasn't been shown before
* Mads Mikkelsen as Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi during World War II who has been hired by NASA and seeks to use the Apollo moon landing program for his own gain
* Antonio Banderas as Renaldo, a friend of Indy.
* John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, Jones' old friend who aided in finding the Ark of the Covenant in 1936 and the Holy Grail in 1938
* Shaunette Renée Wilson as Mason, a government agent
* Thomas Kretschmann as Colonel Weber, a Nazi working with Voller in 1944
* Toby Jones as Basil, an ally of Jones'
* Boyd Holbrook as Klaber, Voller's nefarious right-hand man in 1969

Additionally, Olivier Richters and Ethann Isidore are cast in undisclosed roles.

Production

Development

In 1979, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made a deal with Paramount Pictures for five '' Indiana Jones'' films. In April 2008, Harrison Ford said he would return as Indiana Jones for a fifth film if it does not take another twenty years to develop, referring to the long development of ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' (2008), which was released a month later. The film introduced the character Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf. Producer Lucas suggested an idea to make Williams the lead character in a fifth film, but later decided against this. Lucas said that Ford's age would not be an issue in making another film, saying "it's not like he's an old man. He's incredibly agile; he looks even better than he did 20 years ago".

Lucas began researching potential plot devices for another film in 2008, and stated that Spielberg was open to directing it, as he had done for the previous films. Explaining the process for each film, Ford said, "We come to some basic agreement and then George goes away for a long time and works on it. Then Steven and I get it in some form, some embryonic form. Then if we like it we start working with George on it and at some point down the line it's ready and we do it." Lucas stressed the importance of having a MacGuffin that is supernatural but still grounded in reality with an archaeological or historical background, saying "you can't just make something up, like a time machine". Speaking about the previous film and the franchise's future, Lucas said "we still have the issues about the direction we'd like to take. I'm in the future; Steven's in the past. He's trying to drag it back to the way they were, I'm trying to push it to a whole different place. So, still we have a sort of tension". Later in 2008, Ford stated that Lucas' concept for the fifth film was "crazy but great". In November 2010, Ford said that Lucas was still working on the project. In July 2012, producer Frank Marshall stated that the project had no writer and said about its progress, "I don't know if it's definitely not happening, but it's not up and running".

In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm, giving the parent company ownership rights to the ''Indiana Jones'' intellectual property. In December 2013, Walt Disney Studios purchased the distribution and marketing rights to future ''Indiana Jones'' films from Paramount Pictures, with Paramount receiving financial participation compensation for all future films. With the 2012 sale, Lucas passed ''Indiana Jones 5'' to new Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Lucasfilm planned to focus on the '' Star Wars'' franchise before working on a fifth ''Indiana Jones'' film. In May 2015, Kennedy confirmed that Lucasfilm would eventually make another ''Indiana Jones'' film. Kennedy, Spielberg and Ford had discussed a couple of story ideas by the end of 2015.

Pre-production

In March 2016, Disney announced that the fifth film would be released on July 19, 2019, with Ford reprising his role. Spielberg would direct the film, with Kennedy and Marshall as producers. Marshall said the film was in early pre-production. A MacGuffin had been chosen for the film, and work on the script began a few months later, with David Koepp as the screenwriter. The story was conceived by Koepp and Spielberg. Koepp had previously written several other Spielberg films, including ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull''. Spielberg said the title character would not be killed off during the events of the film. Marshall stated that the story would continue from where the previous film ended. It was initially reported that Lucas would not be involved in the project, although Spielberg later said that Lucas would serve as an executive producer: "Of course I would never make an Indiana Jones film without George Lucas. That would be insane." Later that year, it was announced that Lucas would have no involvement, with Marshall stating two years later that "life changes and we're moving on. He moved on".

In 2017, the film's release date was pushed back to 2020, as Spielberg was busy working on ''Ready Player One'' (2018) and '' The Post'' (2017). Koepp said "we've got a script we're mostly happy with", and confirmed that LaBeouf's character, Mutt Williams, would not appear in the film. Spielberg set ''Indiana Jones 5'' as his next film, with production set to begin in the UK in April 2019. However, filming was pushed back as a final script had yet to be approved. In early 2018, Lucasfilm met with screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods for an "open canvas talk" including the ''Indiana Jones'' and ''Star Wars'' franchises. Beck stated that they had considered writing the next ''Indiana Jones'' movie, but that ultimately he and Woods were more interested in establishing an original franchise. Marshall said that a lot of people had pitched ideas for the film. Jonathan Kasdan was eventually hired to replace Koepp in mid-2018, and a new release date was set for 2021.

Kasdan had departed the project by May 2019, and it was rumored that writer Dan Fogelman would take over. In September 2019, Koepp announced that he had re-joined the production as writer, stating that the filmmakers had "a good idea this time". Koepp ultimately wrote two versions of the film, but neither were approved. He said that efforts to produce the film had failed because of disagreement between Spielberg, Ford, and Disney regarding the script.

In February 2020, Spielberg stepped down as director, as he wanted to pass the film series to a new filmmaker for a fresh perspective. Kennedy later said that Spielberg "was kind of off and on" about directing the project, although he did remain as a hands-on producer. Filming had been scheduled to begin later in 2020, although the film's release was subsequently delayed to 2022, and eventually 2023. James Mangold was confirmed as director in May 2020, when he began work on a new script. Ford suggested Spielberg and Kennedy to hire Mangold to take over the directing duties, owing to their already existing friendship due to Mangold offering him a part in ''Ford v Ferrari'' (2019) and the two having worked together in ''The Call of the Wild'' (2020). Koepp departed the project after Spielberg stepped down, saying it "seemed like the right time to let Jim have his own take on it and have his own person or himself write it". Mangold wrote the new screenplay with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, who worked with him previously on ''Ford v Ferrari''. Among the previous films in the series, Mangold cited '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981) as his biggest inspiration while making ''Dial of Destiny''.

''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' ended positively for Indiana Jones, with his marriage to Marion Ravenwood. However, Ford did not necessarily view the film as a definitive ending for Jones, wishing to make one more film that could expand the character and conclude his journey. According to Kennedy, "we all felt that if we could conclude the series with one more movie, give the fact that Harrison was so excited to try to do another one, we should do it". Ford said in 2020 that the film would show "new developments in ndiana Jones'life, his relationship", and resolve "part of his history".

Speaking about the film as a finale, Mangold said, "It became really important to me to figure out how to make this a movie about a hero at sunset". He said that Jones's age would be a major part of the film, something that was touched upon only briefly in the earlier drafts: "The issues I brought up about Indy's age were not things I thought were being addressed in the material being developed at the time. There were 'old' jokes, but the material itself wasn't about it. To me, whatever your greatest liability, you should fly straight towards that. If you try to pretend it's not there, you end up getting slings and arrows the whole way."

The film's opening sequence, set in 1944, is used to juxtapose the differences between then and 1969, when the rest of the film takes place. Mangold sought to portray "an accurate and realistic appraisal of where this character would be at this time in his life", describing Jones as "a hero who is used to a black and white world" when it comes to villains, who now finds himself in a gray world with a lack of "clear good guys and bad guys". Jez Betterworth noted the presence of ex-Nazis involved in the U.S. government's moon-landing program.

Mangold consulted with Lucas and Spielberg, who serve as executive producers. Recalling advice that Spielberg offered, Mangold said, "It's a movie that's a trailer from beginning to end — always be moving".

Casting

Despite Ford's age, Marshall and Spielberg ruled out the possibility of recasting his character. Ford said, "I'm Indiana Jones. When I'm gone, he's gone."

In April 2021, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen and Thomas Kretschmann were cast in undisclosed roles. Boyd Holbrook and Shaunette Renée Wilson would be added the next month. Waller-Bridge described her character as "a mystery and a wonder", and Mangold referred the actress to Barbara Stanwyck's performance as Jean Harrington in ''The Lady Eve

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