‘Indiana Jones’ Director Admits He’s “Not Interested” in Continuing Franchise

On June 30, Disney released the fifth and final film in the Indiana Jones franchise — Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The film saw 80-year-old Harrison Ford return one last time to play the iconic, fedora-wearing archaeologist. Dial of Destiny shows Jones venturing across the world as he tries to find an ancient dial that can change the course of history. Of course, nothing is easy, and Jones soon finds himself battling against a former Nazi, who now works for NASA. Full of epic fights, great acting, and a great story, it’s the perfect ending for the legendary Ford.

Although Ford will not play Indiana Jones again, that does not mean that Disney is done with the franchise. There are several characters that have been introduced in the films that Disney could focus a new story around. They could also decide to create an entirely new character and a new story — much like they did with National Treasure: Edge of History. However, if Disney wants to continue the Indiana Jones franchise, they’ll have to do so without Dial of Destiny director James Mangold.

Mangold recently sat down for an interview with Variety and spoke at length about the making of the film and how they crafted a brand-new story. He was then asked about continuing the franchise, focusing on the character of Helena. Helena is Indy’s goddaughter and is played by Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Mangold was blunt and said he was “not interested.”

“I’m not interested,” he says. “I refuse. I just can’t do it.” He gestures to the rules hovering just over his shoulder. “The amount of lore and Easter eggs and fan service starts to become antithetical to any of this stuff at a certain point. It isn’t storytelling anymore. It’s large-scale advertising.” (For her part, Kennedy says that while it’s “entirely possible” that a Helena Shaw movie could happen, “we’re not having any of those conversations right now. We’re just focused on finishing this with Harrison.”)

Even though Mangold won’t be a part of the Indy franchise, should Disney decide to continue with it, he will still be a large part of the Disney family. The director is currently signed on to create a new Star Wars film.

With “Star Wars,” Mangold had “more than flirted” years earlier with making a Boba Fett movie that would have been a one-off spaghetti Western in the vein of Sergio Leone. (Lucasfilm turned it into the Disney+ series “The Book of Boba Fett” instead.) So while in production on “The Dial of Destiny,” Kennedy asked him if he was still interested in exploring a galaxy far, far away. “I said, ‘Yes, but it seems like everything you’re developing is continuing forward,’” he says. He pitched “a ‘Ten Commandments’ about the dawning of the Force,” he says. “It is basically, for fans, a kind of religion. What is it to have found this power and not even understand what it is?” Kennedy pounced.

So far, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has underperformed compared to the four other films in the franchise. It’s opening weekend only say $60 million in box office sales, despite audiences enjoying the story. It’s a massive bummer for Disney, who has struggled to create a movie that brings millions of people to theaters. The Little Mermaid performed well in theaters and received rave reviews, but Elemental, alongside Dial of Destiny, failed to see success.

In addition to Ford and Waller-Bridge, Dial of Destiny also stars Antonio Banderas as Renaldo, Toby Jones as Basil Shaw, Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Voller, Thomas Kretschmann as Colonel Weber, and Shaunette Renée Wilson as Mason. In homage to the original movies, Karen Allen returned as Marion Ravenwood and Jonathan Rhys-Davies returned as Sallah.