Harrison Ford Has Been Brutally Honest About His Biggest Box Office Bombs Including Indiana Jones An
There are innumerable examples of movies that seem to have all the components for success that end up falling short of expectations in the wide and unpredictable world of cinema.
Harrison Ford is well aware of this, and he has gone so far as to share his honest thoughts on some of his most successful—or lack thereof—films. Film review aggregators predicted that his turn in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny would underperform, hence it was "destined" to bomb.
Ford has not been shy about discussing his biggest flops at the box office. Was he being forthright about the reasons they didn't progress further?
6 Is Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny A Box Office Flop?
True film buffs know that Harrison Ford is solely responsible for Indiana Jones's enchantment on viewers. In fact, he was so committed to the role that he filmed scenes in increments due to injury pains on-set. It's too bad that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny might not do as well as he'd hoped at the box office.
It was expected that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny would open to a disappointing $60 million in the United States.
According to Deadline, industry insiders anticipated that the fifth and final installment in the franchise would earn between $60 million and $70 million during its five-day holiday debut. With a reported budget of $295 million, this picture was the most expensive in the Indiana Jones franchise. MovieWeb claimed that the film would only earn around $160 million worldwide.
While those are respectable statistics for any film, Disney and Lucasfilm were hoping that Harrison Ford's swan song as the archeological action hero would be a huge financial success. Additionally, tentpole movies of this nature have made their budget back in the first weekend. This includes the much-maligned Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which was a box office smash-hit, despite being loathed by critics and hardcore fans alike.
While Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny faired better in reviews, it seems to be a disappointment. And this is something that Ford himself may have foreseen, in a funny and honest way...
At the film's premiere in the United Kingdom, Ford said that, despite his fondness for the role, he found the decision to keep him in it to be "kind of silly."
"I mean, it's kind of silly. It's 42 years we've been going on with this. But the reason for that, I think, is because these are family films, and they're passed on from generation to generation of young people when their parents feel it's the right time.”
Since Ford is 80 years old, continuing the series just for the sake of continuity could not bring in the biggest audiences. It makes sense that he would give up on playing Indiana Jones again.
5 Paranoia Is Harrison Ford’s Biggest Box Office Flop
Harrison Ford co-starred with Gary Oldman and Liam Hemsworth in the picture Paranoia, although it's probably the film you know the least about.
Paranoia, despite having a stellar cast and a budget of $40 million, underperformed at the box office. Tragically, Paranoia was a flop. The film's first weekend gross was only $3.5 million, or $1,423 per theater.
That's not just Ford's worst wide opening weekend but one of the worst opening weekends ever for a movie in more than 2,000 cinemas.
On the other hand, Ford didn't appear too invested in the film's premise, to the point where he didn't want to be identified as himself, suggesting that his heart wasn't entirely in it.
He discussed this with the Los Angeles Daily News, saying, “What I wanted to do was not look like Harrison Ford,” he said of playing his character, Goddard. “Then people have this expectation about the character, they start watching for the Harrison Ford of it all, which is not very useful for the movie.”
4 Harrison Ford’s The Call of the Wild Lost $50 Million At The Box Office
A dog's tale starring Ford, The Call of the Wild, turned out to be a financial failure at the box office, costing millions to make.
The movie, which was adapted from Jack London's best-selling novel, earned $45 million in the United States and $79 million worldwide in its first two weeks of release. If The Call of the Wild's production and promotion expenses were average, it wouldn't be a bad outcome.
The costly (and frequently criticized) CGI used in the film drives up the budget to over $125 million. According to insiders and officials from competing studios, the film needed to gross $250–275 million just to break even. Yikes!
Ford has spoken out against the film's CGI, calling attention to the dog he co-stars with and saying it forces him into a “strange” situation.
He spoke to CBS News, saying that he needed more to work with in this film, stating, "You have to have something to work off of. I mean, it's a little strange, I'm rollin' around on the floor with this guy, and scratching his tummy, and rubbing him behind the ear."
Perhaps the CGI did more harm than good.
3 Harrison Ford's K-19: The Widowmaker Was A Major Box Office Flop That He Was Proud Of
There have been better submarine movies than K-19: The Widowmaker. In truth, the movie was largely underwhelming, especially in terms of box office receipts.
The final worldwide total for the film's earnings was $65 million, with $35 million coming from local sales and $30 million from the box office overseas. With a reported budget of $100 million, K-19: The Widowmaker was a massive financial failure.
What moviegoer wouldn't want to watch Harrison Ford in a submarine? Well, evidently, a lot of people, especially internationally, as the film struggled to cross the $2 million mark in all markets except Spain and Japan, where it earned $2.7 million and $9.8 million, respectively.
The man was rather pleased with his performance in the picture, despite its financial failure, because he was paid $25 million for only 20 days of work.
He told THR in 2023, "I'm proud of K-19: The Widowmaker, where I played a Russian submarine captain. I think they're good movies — that's why I'm proud of them." Rightfully so, Harrison Ford.
2 Harrison Ford Loves His Role In The Mosquito Coast, Even Though It Bombed At The Box Office
Ford once named the obscure 1986 picture The Mosquito Coast as his personal favorite. Perhaps the name sounds familiar to you. You may remember seeing Ford's clammy, stubbly, bespectacled face on the VHS or DVD cover of the film on store shelves.
The film cost $25 million to produce but only brought in $14 million at the box office. Even though The Mosquito Coast was a box office bomb that only a select few people saw, Ford found great inspiration in the role.
Ford has made frequent references to The Mosquito Coast during his career. According to an interview he gave to Entertainment Weekly in 1992:
"It's the only film I have done that hasn't made its money back. I'm still glad I did it. If there was a fault with the film, it was that it didn't fully enough embrace the language of the book. It may have more properly been a literary rather than a cinematic exercise. But I think it's full of powerful emotions."
It turned out not to be the only movie that lost money, but hindsight is always 20/20.
1 Harrison Ford’s Blade Runner 2049 Was A Box Office Bomb Despite Being A Cult Classic
One of the best science fiction films of the 21st century, Blade Runner 2049 is a fitting follow-up to the original. The film wasn't a total financial disaster, but it didn't do particularly well either.
There was a $150 million price tag for making this movie. After failing to earn $100 million in the United States, Alcon Entertainment may have lost as much as $80 million on the film.
Blade Runner 2049 may have bombed at the box office, but its neon-drenched atmosphere has quickly established an iconic vibe in modern filmmaking, and the picture earned Oscars for cinematography and visual effects.
Ford told The Globe and Daily Mail that he thought Blade Runner 2049 would have an instantaneous resonance with viewers rather than the incremental appreciation of the original film.
“These are existential questions, which the movie really doesn’t stop to ponder. It just keeps coming and life-like, and you figure it out a little bit later. But while you’re there, you’re so engaged by what’s happening. And the mix of character-story and the visual storytelling is, I think, one of the incredible things about this movie.”
But Ford wasn't thrilled with the film at first because of the cringe-worthy voice-over, stating it got "worse with every screening." When Ford saw the final cut without the voiceover commentary, he was satisfied.
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