Final Indiana Jones film aims to prove age is just a number

Movies

Published: 16 Jun. 2023, 14:40

Final Indiana Jones film aims to prove age is just a number

Director James Mangold, left, and actor Harrison Ford speak during an online interview with local reporters on Friday. [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

Age is just a number – Hollywood actor Harrison Ford attempts to prove that in the new Indiana Jones film “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

Indiana Jones has been played by Ford since the first film “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1981. He was 39. Ford, who is now 80, returns as Jones in the fifth and final installment of the franchise, “Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny,” set to be released in local theaters on June 30.

“I didn’t want to ignore my own age in the series, and I wanted to make it an important component of the story itself,” said Ford, during an online group interview with local reporters on Friday. “I thought that the age component would also help close the story. I am really excited to have the opportunity to bring this character back to the screen.”

Main poster for ″Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

In “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Ford still has all the action moves, hurling around his signature whip while wearing his signature fedora hat.

“I enjoy doing physical acting, and if it is judged that something is maybe too difficult or potentially dangerous, I would tell people that I can still do it,” said Ford, laughing. “But I also love the quiet talking scenes as I much as I love running, jumping and falling down.”

Ford decided to take on the role of Indiana Jones once again because he was “ambitious,” and because the script that director James Mangold came forward with was so good.

Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones in the fifth and final installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, ″Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

“I wanted the next Indiana Jones film to be about the character’s age because it is the big question in everyone’s mind — where Indiana Jones has gone as he aged and is he still Indiana Jones or is he an old man,” said Ford. “At a certain point Steven [Spielberg] and I had other obligations and we needed to have somebody else step in and work with us. James [Mangold] then went off and created a beautiful script and addressed every ambition I had for the next and last Indiana Jones film.”

Indiana Jones’s popularity and iconic status has been proven through the success of the previous four films, which have grossed a total of $905 million altogether so far. The character has also been named No. 1 on the Greatest Movie Characters lists by film magazines such as Empire and Total Film.

Actor Harrison Ford [ANDREW ECCLES]

Such long-running and highly successful popularity is due to the Indiana Jones films’ ability to transcend generations and ages, according to James Mangold, who took on the director’s role from Steven Spielberg for the fifth and final film.

“There are stories that we tell, that we all share with our children and share with our grandchildren,” said Mangold during the online interview Friday. “Each family and each person has their own kind of connection to Indiana Jones and has their own favorite among the Indiana Jones movies. I am also an Indiana Jones fan, and I am always thinking about the first time I saw the films. I hope this fifth and final film will give old and new fans of Indiana Jones something to remember and share with their families.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]