Credit: LucasfilmHarrison Ford’s final outing as the titular archeologist in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) might not’ve been the smash hit Disney and Lucasfilm expected it to be when it premiered over the summer. But flash forward to today, and the action-adventure flick is finally getting some recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences thanks to its composer, John Williams.
Related: Harrison Ford Officially Replaced as Indiana Jones
It seems a whopping 52 Oscar nominations (and five wins) simply wasn’t enough for legendary film composer John Williams — best known for creating iconic soundtracks for the Star Wars and Harry Potter soundtracks, among countless others — who remains second only to Walt Disney as the most nominated person of all time.
The affectionally-dubbed “Maestro of the Movies” was honored by the Academy Tuesday morning for his work on the fifth Indiana Jones installment when the complete list of nominees for this year’s ceremony was announced, along with fellow composers like Ludwig Göransson for Oppenheimer (2023) and Jerskin Fendrix for Poor Things (2023).
Related: Legendary Composer John Williams Drops Huge Retirement News
And as if earning yet another Oscar nod for Best Original Score under his belt wasn’t already an awe-inspiring feat, Williams has also broken a long-standing record. At the age of 91, Williams is making film history as he is officially the oldest person ever to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Although many moviegoers would say the Indiana Jones movies have varied in terms of their quality over the years, their respective scores have always remained strong, and Dial of Destiny is no exception. When the movie was first announced, it came as no surprise that Williams, who’s held the position of the franchise’s composer since Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), would be returning, initially telling the press that the blockbuster would be his final film score before hanging up his baton for good.
Since then, Williams has walked back his statements about retirement, saying that he likes to “keep an open mind.” But even an iconic score couldn’t save Dial of Destiny from near-total disaster. The blockbuster was both a critical and commercial flop for Disney and Lucasfilm, becoming one of the biggest box office bombs of all time after earning $384 million worldwide against a budget of $300 or so million.
Directed by James Mangold, the latest (and presumably last) installment in the Indiana Jones franchise sees Harrison Ford suiting up as the iconic archaeologist once more — this time, to search for Archimedes’ mysterious Antikythera mechanism. The film co-stars Mads Mikkelsen as the evil Dr. Jürgen Voller, along with Fleabag alum Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays Indy’s goddaughter, Helena Shaw.
While it’s unclear where the Indiana Jones IP will go from here, whether that be a Disney+ series, a new spinoff movie, or just a complete desertion of the property altogether, one thing’s for sure: John Williams still has the magic touch all these years later.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is streaming now, exclusively on Disney+.
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