“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” hit theatres on Friday, but given the long-awaited sequel’s weak opening-day numbers, a better title may have been “Indiana Jones and the Box Office of Doom”.
Variety reports that the fifth and final film in the franchise brought in $24 million in its first day of release at the domestic box office, with an opening-weekend projection of $60 million.
Not only is this a disappointing number for a film that reportedly cost $295 million to make, it’s also significantly lower than the previous instalment, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, which brought in $100 million in its debut weekend back in 2008.
According to Deadline, the news isn’t much better internationally, where the film is tracking to bring in $70 million from 52 international markets for a projected total worldwide opening weekend of $130 million.
Since receiving a lacklustre response after its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, reviews haven’t been great; the film’s score on Rotten Tomatoes is a middling 68 per cent — not terrible, but also not exactly a blockbuster.
Meanwhile, the bar has been set high by the film’s predecessor; “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” ultimately earned $473,552,823 domestically, and $790,653,942 worldwide.
