Ouch!
Poor Indiana Jones. On the second Friday of release, “Dial of Destiny” made half as much as “Insidious,” a horror film sequel that had a fraction of the former film’s budget. Indy took in just $7.6 million last night.
Strangely, they are each the fifth in a series. “Dial of Destiny” wraps up a 40 year history. “Insidious” is probably going to be followed by many more scarefests with the same branding.
So ignominious for Indy to be beaten by Insidious. What instigated this?
The news is also insulting on two other levels: “Dial of Destiny” made little more than $15 million on its first Friday. Yikes. And “Dial of Destiny” was already beaten once this week by an indie upstart called “Sound of Freedom.”
Who takes responsibility for this at Disney, the home of “Dial of Destiny”? The same people might be questioned about Pixar’s “Elemental,” which has scored just $103 million in 22 days — and there’s no school!
Something has gone terribly wrong.
As for Indy, now I’m reading interviews with Karen Allen in which she says she’s angry about not being in the movie more, and thought the script would have involved her character, Marion, more than just arriving at the end. Who would ever think Karen Allen would be giving negative interviews? That speaks volumes.
Add to that the deep displeasure of fans toward Phoebe Waller Bridge as Indy’s goddaughter, and you can start to tally up the problems.
Would it have been better to just bring back Shia LaBeouf as Indy and Marion’s son, Mutt? Or invent another young male character as Indy’s brash student and buddy? Monday morning quarterbacking is easy, but you do wonder…
