Key Release Dates
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Release Date:2023-06-30
Disney’s decision to premiere Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at Cannes Film Festival may have been a big mistake after the movie debuted with a Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. As the fifth and final Indiana Jones movie featuring the return of Harrison Ford for one last appearance as one of the most iconic characters in cinema history, it makes sense why Disney and Lucasfilm wanted to give the movie a prestigious unveiling at Cannes Film Festival in France, but after mixed reactions and a bad Rotten Tomatoes score, it may not have been the best way to kick off the run-up to the movie’s release.
After Top Gun: Maverick‘s popular debut at Cannes in 2022, and the epic box office run that followed, it’s understandable why Disney may have thought Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny could follow a similar path. Quality of the movies aside, they’re both sequels to iconic movies featuring a beloved Hollywood star, and a thumbs up from the critics at Cannes is a great way to boost a marketing campaign. Unfortunately, while Top Gun: Maverick arrived at a time when the film industry was in sore need of a winning blockbuster movie in 2022, Cannes critics weren’t nearly as receptive to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Indiana Jones 5’s Cannes Debut Gave it a Bad Rotten Tomatoes Score Weeks Before Release
After debuting at Cannes, reviews for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny give it a Rotten 52 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with just 29 reviews. Normally studios follow carefully crafted rollout plans to put their best foot forward when it comes to critic reactions and reviews, but that same approach is harder to follow when the movie premiere’s at Cannes and critics can react right away. Additionally, while Top Gun: Maverick debuted to a Rotten Tomatoes score well over 90 percent at Cannes, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny marketing doesn’t look like it would be as suitable for the more serious crowd of critics at Cannes.
Why Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Could Still Get a Fresh Rotten Tomatoes Score
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny could have debuted to better reviews under other circumstances, and its Rotten Tomatoes score could still climb into Fresh territory. Of the 14 negative reviews submitted so far, 12 are reviews from Rotten Tomatoes’ specially selected “Top Critics,” which usually only compose a small percentage of the movie’s overall review count; however, since Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny debuted at Cannes, they make up a far larger percentage of total reviews. For comparison, if Top Critic reviews are removed from the current review count, the remaining reviews from other critics actually give the movie an 80 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.
Whether the initial wave of negative reviews and bad Rotten Tomatoes score impact the next wave of reviews remains to be seen, but with a much smaller percentage of Top Critics in the overall pool, don’t be surprised if the score increases, possibly even climbing into Fresh territory in the coming weeks before release. While an eventual Fresh score could be a sigh of relief for Disney and Lucasfilm, it’ll only highlight how much of a miscalculation it was to premiere Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at Cannes, and the major Rotten Tomatoes backfire it caused.
