How Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny And Logan Will Be Both Similar And Different, According To James Mangold
More than forty years after "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was released in 1981, the "Indiana Jones" franchise is making a return to craft an end to Harrison Ford's legacy as the title hero. Though "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" may be a coda to Indy's adventures, the film presents a list of firsts for the series. It's the first entry that Disney, not Paramount, is spearheading since the company acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, it's the first time that George Lucas wasn't involved in the production, and perhaps most significantly, it's the first film in the franchise that Steven Spielberg won't direct. Instead, James Mangold will take the reigns and close out Indy's story as he concluded the saga of the X-Men's Wolverine in "Logan."
Spielberg and Lucas had, in fact, floated ideas for a fifth "Indiana Jones" movie shortly after "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" released in 2008. However, the pair didn't get far with any of their plans before Lucas gave control of his studio and the project over to Kathleen Kennedy. David Koepp, who wrote "Crystal Skull," as well as a Jonathan Kasdan, son of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" co-scribe Lawrence Kasdan, were both attached at different points to the screenplay, and Spielberg was still signed on for years until finally relinquishing his job to Mangold in 2020. The new director brought on a fresh set of screenwriters, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, who both helped write Mangold's previous film "Ford v Ferrari," to collaborate on a new script as a trio.
A Hero at Sunset
For a movie taking fifteen years between sequels to debut, Mangold and the Butterworths seemed to have worked remarkably quickly since taking the reigns. It's unclear if they used any of the previous ideas of Spielberg, Koepp, or Kasdan, but based on Mangold's descriptions of the film, it's looking like "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is shaping up to be a product of his own original concepts. According to the filmmaker, the last hurrah of the famous treasure hunter will share themes to his other farewell to a hero, "Logan," and explore the "idea of a hero at sunset."
The difference, of course, is that while "Logan" was a dark, mature, R-rated character study that feels more like a violent drama than a superhero flick, "Dial of Destiny" will still strive to capture the fun and bright-eyed feeling of wonder that is so closely associated with "Indiana Jones." Mangold explained in Entertainment Weekly:
"I am under no illusions that my job making an Indiana Jones film was to suddenly beat the humor out of it and turn it into some kind of dirge... I think that what we're trying to do is balance both an accurate and realistic appraisal of where this character would be at this time in his life, and do that honestly, and at the same time, try and carry forward... a wonderful adventure with action and chivalry and escapes by the skin of your nose and ingenious solutions to diabolical problems."
In other words, "Dial of Destiny" should deliver a genuinely classic Indy adventure while wrestling with all the complicated sentiments that come with old age.