Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the last Indiana Jones movie starring Harrison Ford, and the actor thinks it'll mark the last time the archaeologist will grace the big screen, which is a huge claim. The 2023 movie will undoubtedly be one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer, as it's the first Indy film since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and it looks like a return to form. The film will also get a huge turnout at the box office because it's the last time Indy will be seen in theaters for a while, and Ford thinks it'll be the last time ever.

In an interview with Total Film, along with definitively noting that he won't be playing Indiana Jones again, Ford explained, "This is the final film in the series... I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film." There's no denying that, along with the whip, the get-up, and the John Williams score, Ford helped make the actor iconic, and it's hard to see any other actor in the role. However, just because Ford is hanging up the fedora doesn't mean that the franchise is over for good. Indiana Jones is a successful franchise and it'll likely go on a hiatus until it's inevitably rebooted.

The Indiana Jones Franchise Is Too Successful Not To Be Revived

The financial success of the franchise alone is enough for the studio to continue the franchise. Raiders of the Lost Ark was a phenomenal success, making 20 times its budget with $389 million, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade made almost 10 times its budget with $474 million. Even the two less-liked movies in the franchise were huge hits. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which was criticized for being too dark, made $333 million, again more than 10 times its $28 million budget. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which unsurprisingly had a much bigger budget of $185 million, made almost $800 million.

In total, the series is just $39 million away from hitting the $2 billion milestone (via The Numbers). Based on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny's budget, the fifth film needs to make $1 billion for the production to have been worth it, and if it does, the series will sit at a huge $3 billion. As the first four movies cost less than $300 million in total to make, the net profit is sky-high. No studio in its right mind would shelve a franchise for good that consistently makes huge numbers like these, even if the actor who made them iconic retired from the role.

Different Actors Have Already Played Indiana Jones - With Success

Indiana's fifth movie has a great cast, as it brings back characters from the original movies and introduces exciting new characters, but, most interestingly, the film de-ages Harrison Ford to look like a 1980s version of himself. The 20-minute opening action sequence riffs on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which also had an opening action sequence featuring a younger Indy. The teenage Indy was played by River Phoenix, who proved how great of an actor he was at such a young age, and though he was only in the first sequence of the 1989 movie, he could have easily led a whole prequel movie series of his own.

Sean Patrick Flanery also played the character in the successful and canonical The Indiana Jones Chronicles, which has become a cult classic series. As two other actors have played the archaeologist and grown their fanbases from the role, that itself is proof that Ford could potentially be replaced without a recasting being a total upset. The studio can cast a younger Indy in a reboot, as that has proved successful not once but twice. However, those two younger portrayals of the character were decades ago when the character wasn't as iconic, and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ran alongside the main movie series and was canonical.

Harrison Ford Is Right About Indiana Jones' Future After Dial Of Destiny - Sort Of

Even though another Young Indiana Jones project has potential, Ford is right that the franchise shouldn't continue without him, especially as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny's trailer sets up the conclusion to the series. However, the actor is ultimately wrong when he says that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the last Indy movie. Between the phenomenal financial success of the series and how other castings have worked in the past, sooner or later, whether it's in 10 years or 20 years, 20th Century Studios will reboot the series in some form or another, even if a reboot absolutely shouldn't happen.

Sources: Total Film, The Numbers