Tag: james mangold

How Disney has sold the return of the iconic man in the hat

In over a century of cinema there are few characters who are more associated with a single actor more than Indiana Jones is associated with Harrison Ford. Now, for the fifth and reportedly final time, Ford dons the hat, jacket and whip as the adventuring archeologist for this week’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

In this latest installment, which takes place in 1969, Jones is pulled into the action by his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who is on the hunt for the Dial of Destiny, an ancient device reportedly created by Archimedes to aid in traveling back through time. They’re not the only ones looking for it, of course, and have to contend with Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a former Nazi who is looking for the Dial so he can go back and make pre-WW II Germany even stronger.

Antonio Banderas, Shaunette Renée Wilson, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones and others are along for the ride as some of the people who help Indy and Helena out along the way.

For the first time someone who’s not Steven Spielberg is in the director’s chair for an Indiana Jones film. Instead, duties have been handed to James Mangold, who co-wrote the screenplay along with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp. But John Williams is still here to provide the score, so start humming (you probably already are) that theme and let’s look at how Walt Disney Studios have sold the movie.

announcements and casting

Disney announced it intended to make a fifth Indiana Jones movie when it acquired Lucasfilm, including the Indy IP, in 2012. At that point there was already work being done by series originator George Lucas to develop a story, though nothing was set in stone. A 2019 release date was set in early 2016 but was pushed back as Spielberg, still attached to direct at that point, got involved with other projects and various writers entered and exited this movie.

While news of the movie was circulating for a while, in February of 2020 Ford revealed production was likely to begin around mid-year. That was just before a report that Spielberg, for the first time in the franchise, would hand the director’s duties over to Mangold.

While he was promoting Call of the Wild, Ford assured fans the filmmakers wouldn’t be making another Indy movie if it weren’t something they were confident in and felt audiences would love.

Disney pushed the movie by a full year when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down both theaters and productions. During this time Mangold was reportedly refining the story and script to make it a more unique adventure and provide a satisfying conclusion to the story of Indiana Jones.

A few more details were added in December of that year during Disney’s presentation to investors.

Waller-Bridge was added to the cast to much acclaim in early April 2021, followed by Mikkelsen, Wilson and others. At the same time a release date was finally announced along with the news Williams was once more creating the score.

As is now standard, Ford was injured early on in production.

Banderas was cast in an undefined role in mid-July 2021.

Marshall announced the end of principle photography in late February 2022, with Mangold asking fans for patience as he started serious editing and other post-production work a bit later.

Holbrook commented briefly on how excited he was to be part of the movie while he was promoting Vengeance.

At Star Wars Celebration in May of that year Lucasfilm released a teaser image while confirming the release date. Ford appeared on-stage at the event and was there for the news that John Williams was returning to provide the film’s score.

Williams once again stirred things up when he debuted “Helena’s Theme”, a new piece he wrote for the film, at a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in early September 2022.

A short while later at Disney’s D23 Expo the studio had costumes for Indy and Helena on display for fans to gawk at. Ford, Waller-Bridge and Mangold also appeared on stage to get fans excited and give them a quick look at a little footage.

A better look at the movie came in mid-November when Empire featured the movie on a series of five covers. That story included comments from Ford, Mangold and others and revealed Ford would be digitally de-aged for certain sequences and more. There were also plenty of first-look photos at many of the characters.

the marketing campaign

It was early December of last year when the marketing efforts began with the release of the first trailer, which also officially revealed the film’s full title. That trailer starts with Indy catching up with Salah as we’re shown a random collection of scenes including a car chase, a castle being blown up by Nazis and more. When Indy takes over the narration he explains that he’s seen lots of things in his life but it all comes down to how hard you believe in something. There’s no real through-line here, just an attempt to show off the style of the film until the ending where we get a couple classic Indiana Jones moments, one of which involves Helena explaining how the two of them know each other.

The poster released at the same time simply shows Indy with his trademark fedora obscuring most of his face and the release date at the bottom.

Mangold talked more about how he tried to make a film worthy of what’s come before in an interview that was part of EW’s Summer Movie Preview. And Ford couldn’t help but be asked about the movie, specifically the de-aging process used, while he was promoting the Apple TV+ series “shrinking in late-January/early-February.

That show’s publicity cycle included a profile of the actor where he reflected on his career, harumphed at a lot of the pretense of his profession and talked about why he was so excited to return for what he says will be his last outing as Indiana Jones.

We get slightly more of the story in a TV spot that debuted during February’s Super Bowl broadcast. The primary takeaway here is that Indy is still out there punching Nazis, which is something we should all aspire to.

At the end of March it was announced the movie’s world premiere was scheduled for the Cannes Film Festival. Out of competition of course, but it provided a big publicity boost for the movie as it showed a great deal of faith from Disney and the screening was coupled with a tribute to Ford and his long and successful career.

The theatrical one-sheet came out in early April and while it wasn’t illustrated by acclaimed artist Drew Struzan, who had done the art for the previous films along with “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” and numerous novels, the style certainly evokes Struzan’s work by showing Jones at the top and other characters, settings and items from the story around him. That style certainly makes it a cut above what usually passes for key art in franchise movies and continues the spirit of what’s come before so this at least looks like it’s part of the same set.

We don’t actually hear anyone name the Dial of Destiny or see it in the trailer (12.1m YouTub plays) that came out at the same time. But we do get a good idea of the overall story, including how Helena pulls Indy out of a retirement funk, her family’s connection to the thing she’s hunting for and the kinds of world-ending stakes that accompany the race to find it first. There’s also just a whole lot of good old-fashioned thrills and chases on display, and that’s what really matters.

That trailer debuted first at Star Wars Celebration, with Mangold, Waller-Bridge and Mikkelsen on stage to introduce it and get attendees excited.

In an interview in Total Film that featured Indy, Helena and Voller on the cover Mangold talked more about the technology used to make Ford appear 45 years younger than he was, clarified that the sequence accounts for a good chunk of the movie and isn’t just a quick flashback and praised Ford for being in good enough shape to pull off moving like a much younger man.

Spielberg gave the movie his seal of approval in comments made at a Time magazine event.

Later that month footage from the movie was shown at CinemaCon, though none of the talent could be there to introduce it.

In mid-May Disney announced the first four movies along with “Young Indy” were finally coming to Disney+. The movies themselves have long been available for streaming on other platforms but bringing them all under the Disney brand was a strategic move. More importantly, it marked the first time “Young Indy” had been released in any format in several years, giving subscribers a chance to experience a part of the story that might not be canon but is awesome.

That preceded the Cannes screening, which all the major players came out for. Doing interviews at the festival, Ford talked a lot about what it was like to suit up one more time, what he hopes the character’s legacy has been and will be and lots more. His costars also talked about how enthusiastic they were to join the story and how inspiring it was to work with Ford.

While critical reaction to the screening was mixed, the tribute to Ford was a big and emotional event, showing just how substantial the actor’s impact on the industry and culture has been over the last 50 years.

Mangold, Ford, Waller-Bridge and Kathleen Kennedy all comment in a featurette about how good it felt to bring Indy back one more time and how excited they were for audiences to see the movie.

The Dial itself gets a bit more of an introduction in the first real TV spot, also used as pre-roll and elsewhere. Another longer commercial released as tickets were going on sale offers additional background on the MacGuffin and why everyone is chasing after it.

Variations on the visual idea of Indy being hidden or obscured in some manner are used on the posters from IMAX, Dolby, ScreenX and 4DX, indicating we’re all still chasing the feeling of that moment from Raiders of the Lost Ark where he steps out of the shadow and is fully revealed for the first time.

Ford narrates a commercial that aired during the NBA Finals that mixed footage from the movie with basketball-themed animation in the style of the Indy films.

Indy smirks on the next poster, released at the end of May and one of a series of character posters that gave the audience better looks at some of the supporting players in the story.

How he worked to make sure he looked and acted his age in the movie was a major theme of an interview with Ford, including my favorite anecdote about him shooing away some stunt assistants because he *is* an old man getting off a horse and wanted to look like that.

One more poster has Jones wielding his whip amid a slightly different collection of characters and locations, still with a hand-drawn look to it.

The first official clip was released in mid-June and shows Indy and Helena working out yet another ancient puzzle that will hopefully lead them to the treasure they’re searching for.

Most of the cast and Mangold are joined by Spielberg and, notably, Ke Huy Quan (Short Round in Temple of Doom) in a featurette on the legacy of Indiana Jones and why the series is so beloved and fun.

A People magazine profile of Ford came just before the movie’s Los Angeles red carpet premiere where the cast and crew were all in attendance. That event had everyone talking more about the same topics they had since Cannes and included a surprise concert conducted by John Williams.

Williams was the subject of the next featurette that had lots of the major players talking about how his music is indelibly associated with Indy’s adventures and contribute to the power those scenes and characters have.

Another interview with Mangold had the director offering much more detail about how he got involved in the movie, the trepidation he had about doing so, and how he worked hard to avoid the kind of Easter Egg-filled fan service so many other long-running or returning series these days become mired down in.

Stops on the global press tour for the cast and crew included Berlin, Taormina and London.

A couple more featurettes focused on the behind the scenes process involved in making the stunts practical and believable and how all of Indy’s adventures have led him to this one.

Waller-Bridge finally got a profile of her own that had her putting joining the Indiana Jones universe in the context of everything else in her career.

overall

There are so many things to like about this campaign, including:

• The irascible Ford, who continues to look like he’s having the time of his life in the last decade or so as he becomes the age he’s always acted like he is.
• The charming Waller-Bridge, who may be one of the like dozen human beings capable of going toe-to-toe with Ford in terms of banter and charm.
• The way the marketing team has retained a lot of the visual elements that have been associated with the series since the beginning but used them in new and inventive ways.

On top of all that it’s just an enjoyable effort from beginning to end. The Dial of Destiny itself doesn’t play a major role in the messaging but that’s likely because there’s just so much else here, and the MacGuffins have never been the point in the Indiana Jones movies; it’s more about the adventure along the way and the characters we follow.

All of that makes the movie not only look immensely enjoyable but also less like many of the other franchise entries from the past several years, which look boring and tedious by comparison.

Whether or not the movie can succeed in hitting the $70 million opening weekend it’s projected to have remains to be seen, especially in light of recent high-profile releases that have performed well below expectations. But that’s beside the point, as a thrilling Indiana Jones outing is what’s sold be the campaign outlined above and that’s all we’re really looking for.

picking up the spare

Once news of her appearance in the film leaked, Karen Allen was interviewed about returning to the character of Marion here at the end of the journey.