If the dismal trends hold from its opening day, super-woke Disney’s “blockbuster” new “Indiana Jones” movie is cratering.
Moviegoers, however, aren’t planning to stay home, because “Sound of Freedom,” a faith-based Jim Caviezel film, has already earned an impressive amount at the box office, and it hasn’t even had its opening day.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the fifth in the Indy series, arrived in theaters on Thursday, 15 years after the fourth episode debuted. And, if its dismal opening day numbers hold, “Dial” will become of one the lowest-earning Indy flicks of the pack.
According to Variety, “Dial” only earned $7.2 million in ticket sales during its Thursday previews and another $16.8 million on Friday. This is not a stellar performance, especially when comparing it to Warner’s “The Flash” which earned $9.7 million for its Thursday previews, and “Flash” is being considered a failure.
This puts “Dial” as the lowest-earning Indy film yet on opening weekend for modern-day film openings. The fourth film, “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” earned more than $100 million and it is generally considered the worst of the bunch.
Of course, the original and its sequel, which earned $8.30 million and $25.33 million respectively on opening day, came out in 1981 and 1984, and the 80s was a far different time for movie finances, so it isn’t really proper to compare the two (and adjusted for inflation, they are both north of $143 million, anyway). Especially considering the original went on to make more than $250 million on a mere $18 million budget. Regardless, “Dial” is coming up way short.
If projections hold and Disney’s “Dial” doesn’t all of a sudden catch fire, that means the film will only earn about $60 million for its opening weekend, Deadline reported. And that, folks, is a crushing defeat for Disney, especially considering that the film cost nearly $300 million to make, distribute and advertise.
“Dial” has already had stiff headwinds ahead of its opening. As Deadline noted, it earned lackluster reviews when Disney debuted it at the Cannes Film Festival this year and it has been dogged by low approval ratings on nearly every ratings board ever since. Critics’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, for instance, have it at a low 68 percent.
Are you more likely to see a faith-based film?
Yes: 86% (19 Votes)
No: 14% (3 Votes)
This particular opening weekend coincides with the Independence Day weekend, so that will give “Dial” an extra day to be considered for its “weekend box office.” So, that may boost it to $80 million in earnings.
Regardless, all that money talk means that “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is cruising to a major financial flop for Disney.
Again, we can compare it to Warner’s “The Flash,” which skidded to a stop at $55 million for its opening weekend, far below the hoped-for $70 million, the Hollywood Reporter noted last week.
Despite its creepy CGI cameo of Christopher Reeve as Superman, the film at least seems to have broken even with its overseas box office added to its domestic take.
“Dial,” though will likely struggle to achieve a break-even point, if these projections hold. What a disaster for ultra-woke Disney, a studio that has already lost nearly $900 million over its last eight-box office bombs.
Meanwhile, Angel Studios seems to have a guaranteed hit on its hands with the Jim Caviezel-starring action picture, “Sound Of Freedom,” a faith-based movie following the efforts of Tim Ballard, a U.S. Homeland Security agent who went on a crusade to save trafficked children.
“Sound” won’t open until Tuesday, but the film already has racked up more than $7.2 million in ticket pre-sales, according to Deadline.
Angel Studios was the team behind Easter’s standout film “His Only Son,” which was about the prophet Abraham, and opened to $5.5M with a more than $12 million domestic box office.
The studio set a goal of selling two million pre-sale tickets ahead of its Tuesday, July 4 opening, and as of the publication of this story, they have already hit more than 869,000, according to its running tracker. And those sales are soaring minute by minute, the tracker shows.
Angel Studios’ upcoming film is not an outlier, either. Moviegoers may also remember that Lionsgate had a surprise hit on its hands earlier this year with “The Jesus Revolution,” a faith-based film that opened with a $15.8 million weekend box office, and earned an amazing $51 million for its theatrical run, easily paying off its $15 million budget.
Will Hollywood learn that people are sick and tired of the woke garbage that studios are throwing at them? If “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” fails as badly as it seems it might, maybe the light will start going on in boardrooms across the entertainment industry.
