They say you should never meet your heroes, lest the reality of their personhood taints that which made you fall in love with them in the first place.
Luckily for James Mangold, however, Steven Spielberg boasts just as much charm as a person as he does a filmmaker. For a longtime Spielberg fan that grew up to eventually helm the incoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (which bears the responsibility of sending off a character that Spielberg had such an enormous hand in creating, no less) getting to not only meet the legendary director, but also work alongside him, is probably akin to winning the lottery a couple of times.
And just as well, too; if you’re going to be handling material like Indiana Jones, it’s of utmost importance that you pay your creative respects to Spielberg’s tried-and-true approach that made the franchise what is is, and doing so was at the top of Mangold’s list of responsibilities.
In an interview with Screen Rant, the director explained how his personal creative impact on the Indiana Jones swansong would happen naturally, giving his more conscious filmmaking muscles the room he needed to capture the spirit of his hero Spielberg, complete with the icon’s input at his beck and call.
“This is not a movie where I set out to make it my own. My first responsibility, and it was kind of the opportunity of this movie, Steven has been a hero of mine all my life. So the idea of actually collaborating with him, of actually getting to spend time with him developing the script, talking to him every week or two while I’m shooting, and having him in the cutting room. These were gigantic opportunities to not just meet your heroes, but collaborate with them.”
One might think that the pressure of living up to Spielberg’s relics would be a one-way ticket to a nervous breakdown, but for Mangold, it’s an honor to hone the legacy of one of the greatest filmmakers in history, and even if Dial of Destiny isn’t quite matching the likes of Raiders, Temple or Crusade, the critical blessing of Spielberg himself is really all the praise you could ever need.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny swings into theaters June 30.