INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY Will Explore How The World is Changing Around Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones has embarked on a lot of crazy adventures in his life and when we pick up with him in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, he’s an old man! But, his age isn’t going to keep him from getting himself into some crazy and dangerous situations and fighting Nazis. That’s just what Harrison Ford’s Jones does!

This next chapter of Jones’ story is set 1969, and Indiana Jones is “living against the backdrop of the space race – but the American effort to beat the Russians to the moon brings with it some uncomfortable truths for Indy.”

While talking with THR, director James Mangold opens up about what makes this iteration of the character so different and one thing he wanted to showcase in this movie was how the world has changed around the legendary archeologist. He said:

“The first three Indiana Jones movies took place in roughly the same period. They all easily fit with the serialized, theatrical, almost screwball-action style of the movies that were being released in the period they’re set in. The challenge for [director Steven Spielberg] on [Crystal Skull], and for me on this one, is: How do you move forward into new decades where the world is no longer seen in such clear demarcations of black and white and good and evil? Where the whole concept of raiding tombs and fighting over relics is looked at in a different way? It’s not about changing the story but allowing the character to experience how the world has changed around him.”

With the film being set in 1969, James says that it gives the story a chance to explore more of how soldiers of fortune like Indiana Jones are not entirely looked at as heroes anymore. Mangold went on to talk about the grey area of the era, saying:

“And our perception of politics is more gray. Who’s a villain? Who are we working with? Who are we fighting against? Proxy wars, all of that. It’s not as simple as the era around World War II. What happens to a hero built for a black-and-white world, when he finds himself in one that is gray? It’s a problem that produces humor, produces contradictions, produces adjustments that this character’s going have to make.”

In the film, we learn that the moon-landing program was run by a bunch of ex-Nazis and that gets under Jones’ skin. He’s a man out of time, and it’s explained that: “It’s not just that the model of what a hero is has completely changed. It’s not just that they’re looking for something where there’s nothing up there – it’s like Reno without the gambling, or whatever his line is. But the people that are behind it are, you know, his sworn enemies.”

The film comes from producer Steven Spielberg, and it also stars Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident), and Thomas Kretschmann (Avengers: Age Of Ultron).

 The film will open in theaters on June 30, 2023.