Disney’s ‘Indiana Jones’ Turns “Woke” With Latest Development

in Entertainment

Harrison ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Credit: Disney

Many fans are not happy with the latest developments surrounding the Indiana Jones franchise.

In just a matter of weeks, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) will debut in theaters across the world. The movie, which is one of Disney’s most expensive projects of all time, boasts a massive budget of $294.7 million, making it the eighth-most expensive film of all time. The film sees Harrison Ford (Dr. Jones) return to his iconic role for the fifth and final time. The actor, who also wrapped up his time in Lucasfilm’s Star Wars franchise back in 2015 with the death of his iconic character Han Solo, has already shared that he wants to move on from the character following this movie.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Harrison Ford (L), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (R)
Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney/Total Film

Though Disney has teased potential spinoffs, including a Disney+ series that could star the likes of Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Helena Shaw in the new movie, it has yet to be announced by the company at this juncture. As a matter of fact, there have even been rumors involving Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, or even Harry Styles coming into the franchise to essentially replace Harrison Ford.

As we move closer toward the franchise’s fifth installment hitting theaters on June 30, 2023 and anticipation grows, it seems that some fans have become outraged over the content and messaging in the movie.

The Walt Disney Company has received its fair share of backlash over the last year, in particular with its animated films. Pixar’s Lightyear (2022) and Disney’s Strange World (2022) were two of the biggest box office failures that the company has seen in quite some time. They both had plenty of controversies that caused them to fail. Of course, one of the biggest complaints about The Walt Disney Company over the last year from many fans has been its perceived “turn to wokeness.” Inside the Magic has covered plenty of fan outrage regarding films and much more where people believed Disney attempted to put political messaging in its features, dubbing the company as “woke.”

Now, opposing fans are calling out Disney and Lucasfilm for doing the same thing with the new Indiana Jones movie.

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'
Credit: Lucasfilm

User @TimothyNerozzi shared screenshots of a scene in the movie that some fans are tabbing as another ploy from Disney to “become more woke.”

This movie is going to be catastrophically bad

As you can see in the screenshot from the trailer, which was recently released, we can see a scene that features Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones), Mads Mikkelsen (Jurgen Voller), and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Helena Shaw). Indy says, “You stole it!”, followed by Jurgen saying, “Then you stole it.” Finally, Helena says, “And then I stole it. It’s called capitalism.”

This dig at capitalism drew the ire of many fans, some of which said that it convinced them not to see the movie.

“Oh God, you just convinced me not to see it…,” one user said.

“They’re back at it. Hints that it’s not all about money for the studios, but also a lot about messaging. Why not just make a fun, good movie if they want to sell tickets?,” another user questioned.

The Foundation for Economic Education also commented on the post, saying that “Hollywood has no idea what capitalism is.” 

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' (2023). Credit: Lucasfilm
Credit: Lucasfilm

Indiana Jones 5 debuted at the Cannes Film Festival this past week, and the early reviews have not been promising, either. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received an abysmal 52% Tomatometer with 29 reviews currently. Of course, this should be taken with a grain of salt because the critic Tomatometer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) boasted a relatively-high 77% critic score, while the movie bombed with audiences, scoring just 53%. For reference, the film ended up doing $790.7 million at the box office with a budget of $185 million.

Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes have very little to do with box office success, though. For reference, both Lightyear and Strange World received high ratings from both critics and fans on the website, but it didn’t stop the two animated features from being box office busts. In the same way, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will not be made or broken by the rating system either.

Currently, the box office projection for Indiana Jones 5 rests at over $950 million. The franchise first started with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). The franchise took nearly a 20-year pause before George Lucas and Steven Spielberg brought it back with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008.

Will you be seeing the new Indiana Jones film? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!

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