It's official: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will take its worldwide bow at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival this May. Talk about fortune and glory.
Lucasfilm's iconic hero, played by the ageing but seemingly not ailing Harrison Ford, will crack the whip in his fifth big-screen adventure. (Ford is de-aged for a pivotal flashback sequence in the movie.) However, regular helmer Steven Spielberg is stepping aside in favour of Logan and Le Mans '66 director James Mangold. (Spielberg remains on board as a producer.)
Mangold said: “In 1995, I was honoured to come to Cannes with my first film as part of Director's Fortnite. 28 years later, I am proud to return with a slightly larger spectacle. My legendary collaborators and I are very excited to share a brand new and final Indiana Jones adventure with you!”
The Dial of Destiny promises the same kind of worldwide scope, popcorn thrills and hide-behind-your-fingers terror that has distinguished the classic adventure series, which was jointly created by Spielberg, George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan and Philip Kaufman. If the original trilogy, spanning Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Temple of Doom (1984) and The Last Crusade (1989), is considered an unimpeachable classic, then things later went a little pear-shaped with the Spielberg-directed The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. (Incidentally, that also played at Cannes.)
Mangold's film promises to make amends for that lapse, and with both Ford and composer John Williams on board, we can surely expect great things. The Dial of Destiny pits Ford's title character against his nemeses the Nazis for the first time since The Last Crusade, and they're embodied by the sinister Mads Mikkelsen as scientist Voller. The latter has been recruited by the USA to help beat the Soviet Union in the 1960s space race. Dare we say, bad idea?
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is starring as Jones' goddaughter Helena and John Rhys-Davies is (finally) back in front of the camera as Indy's loyal ally Sallah. Other cast members include Toby Jones, Antonio Banderas and Boyd Holbrook. Add all that up and there are plenty of reasons to get excited. Plus (as hinted in Mangold's quote above), this is very likely to be the 80-year-old Ford's final appearance as the character – no movie fan will want to miss this piece of cinematic history in the making.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny plays at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on May 18th before going on worldwide release on June 30th.
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