The cracks in Disney’s box office armor have been appearing with alarming regularity after a string of high-profile flops, and things may not be about to change with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, either.
Despite being the iconic adventurer’s final big screen appearance – and first in 15 years since the divisive Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – James Mangold’s swansong for the whip-cracking archeologist is tracking to score a domestic opening weekend on a par with Black Adam and Solo, both of which were deemed as major commercial disappointments.
Things are looking even worse over in China, though, with Dial of Destiny set to make even less money in the country than The Little Mermaid, which is a concerning development when you remember industry insiders and analysts came right out and blamed the racist backlash for Rob Marshall’s recent live-action remake scoring an debut of just $2.5 million.
The Little Mermaid didn’t even cross $4 million in total during its run in Chinese theaters, but Dial of Destiny is conspiring to fare even worse. Per Luiz Fernando, the first installment not directed by Steven Spielberg has brought in a paltry $47,000 in pre-sales so far, which could see it end up securing the worst first frame Disney has experienced in the nation during the post-pandemic era.
Of course, there are a couple of reasons why, given that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull never played in China at all and the original trilogy doesn’t have the same sort of recognition and influence that it does in many other parts of the world, but the last thing Disney needs right now is another money-losing misfire, with Dial of Destiny reportedly costing a cool $300 million to produce.
