An icon of the action-adventure genre,Indiana Joneshas some great movies under its belt.Raiders of the Lost Arkis still generally considered to be one of the greatest action movies made, and it’s still easy to see why 42 years later.Temple of Doomis rough around the edges, and definitely has some problematic moments, but the last 20 minutes are some of the best in the entire franchise. AndThe Last Crusadeis the perfect culmination of it all, seamlessly blending high-octane action, supernatural elements, and comedy to create a truly iconic movie.
But then there’s everything that came after. After wrapping up in 1989, just eight years after the first entry,Indiana Joneswas laid to rest by all those involved, and many were content to keep it that way. But in 2008, right as this new age of reboots, remakes, and legacy sequels was properly starting,Indiana Jonesmade one last appearance. And when that failed, the franchise went dormant again. But seeing the potential for redemption, Indy was pulled out of his grave once more forIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and by most accounts, it probably wasn’t worth it. As shown by the film’s box office performance, interest inIndiana Jonesmay be fading, which could make Machinegames' upcoming release a tough sell.
RELATED:LEGO Indiana Jones 3 Could Finally Do the Entire Series Justice
How Dial of Destiny’s Box-Office Flop Could Impact MachineGames' Indiana Jones Game
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyhas been a pretty divisive movie. When the movie was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival, critics weren’t too kind on it, and while many fans have since seen the movie and think the critics were being a tad too harsh, many still haven’t liked it. At its very best,Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyis a fine movie, and that’s not good enough to kickstart the franchise again. But regardless of critical reception, money talks, though in this case Disney might not want it to.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyhad a $60million opening in the US, and a $70million internationally, bringing its total from its opening weekend to $130million. While that might sound like a lot of money - and it definitely is - it’s an extremely poor figure for a movie like this. For reference,Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versereportedly earned just over $120million in its opening weekend, and that was just in the US. For a movie that apparently cost around $300million to make, this is a pretty disastrous reality, and it has the potential to have a knock-on effect on other projects bearing theIndiana Jonesname, like MachineGames' in-development title.
Announced back in January 2021, MachineGames is currently working on anXbox-exclusiveIndiana Jonesvideo game, being published by Bethesda, and with Todd Howard himself executive producing. But withDial of Destinybeing a pretty big box-office flop, it raises questions surrounding the desire for an Indy video game. While there are several reasons behindDial of Destiny’s failure, one of the biggest potential causes is the lack of interest in the brand. ThoughIndiana Jonesis an iconic series, and fans certainly exist still, it isn’t exactly the hot new thing anymore, and many general moviegoers might not have ever seen one before. And if audiences don’t turn up for a fully-fledgedIndiana Jonesmovie, they might not turn up for anIndiana Jonesgame either.
An eerily similar thing has actually already happened with theIndiana Jonesfranchise. Back in 2008, whenIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skullwas released, a big-budget Indy game was in the works at LucasArts. Titled theStaff of Kings, this Indy game would have used state-of-the-art physics engines to deliver a next-genIndiana Jonesexperience. But whenCrystal Skullbombed, LucasArts quietly canceledStaff of Kings' expensive next-gen ports. A similar thing might end up happening with MachineGames’Indiana Jonesproject, though hopefully it survives despite the new film’s struggles.
MachineGames’Indiana Jonesgame is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
