Indiana Jones 6: would Disney really be dumb enough to make another one?
The last Indiana Jones movie lost Disney an estimated $134 million and sent the franchise out on a whimper. So is there any chance of a sixth film, or a reboot? Here’s where the whip-cracking series actually stands, and whether Disney is bold (or foolish) enough to try again.
The last Indiana Jones movie was a box office disaster that cost Disney an estimated $134 million. So you’d think the idea of another one would be dead and buried like a lost ark.
And yet, the door isn’t fully closed. So the question is fair: would Disney really roll the dice on Indy again after getting burned so badly? Here’s the honest state of the franchise.
Just how badly did the last one flop?
To understand the hesitation, you have to grasp how rough Dial of Destiny really was.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, released in 2023, was meant to be Harrison Ford‘s grand finale as Indy. Instead, it became one of the biggest money-losers in recent Disney history.
The numbers are brutal. The film cost a staggering $295 million or more to make, by some counts one of the most expensive movies ever produced. It grossed only about $384 million worldwide, which sounds like a lot, until you learn it needed somewhere around $477 to $600 million just to break even. The estimated loss landed around $134 to $143 million.
For comparison, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade pulled in nearly $800 million (adjusted) back in 1989. The franchise didn’t just stumble, it fell off a cliff.
Why it didn’t connect
It wasn’t only the money. The movie struggled to win people over, and even its director understands why.
Dial of Destiny earned mixed reviews and a soft audience response, sitting far below the beloved original trilogy. Director James Mangold later spoke candidly about the core problem: audiences didn’t want to see their hero get old.
“You have a wonderful, brilliant actor who’s in his eighties,” Mangold told Deadline. “So I’m making a movie about this guy in his eighties, but his audience on one other level doesn’t want to confront their hero at that age… It hurt.” It’s an honest read of a real, unsolvable problem: Ford was Indy, but Ford had also aged out of the role.
So is Indiana Jones 6 happening?
Here’s the straight answer: not right now, and maybe not for a long time.
Outgoing Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy addressed the franchise’s future directly as she prepares to step down. Her key quote sums it up perfectly: “I don’t think Indy will ever be done, but I don’t think anybody is interested right now in exploring it.”
In other words, the character is too valuable to kill off forever, but there’s no active sixth movie in the works, and no real appetite to make one at the moment. Notably, Kennedy revealed that Ford himself drove the last film. “He did not want Indy to end with the fourth movie. He wanted a chance at another, and we did that for him.” With Ford now in his 80s and finished with the role, that motivation is gone.
What about a reboot with a new actor?
This is where the rumors get interesting, and shaky.
There’s been a persistent report (from the scoop site DisInsider) that Lucasfilm is quietly planning a full reboot of Indiana Jones, with a new actor, a fresh timeline, and a possible reveal at a future D23 Expo. Disney clearly still believes the name has value, even if the last movie didn’t perform.
But pump the brakes. Insider Jeff Sneider threw cold water on the timeline, saying any reboot is “many, many years away.” And Lucasfilm has a lot on its plate already, its focus has been squarely on rebuilding Star Wars, which keeps pushing Indy to the back burner.
So a reboot is a maybe-someday, not a greenlit project. Nothing is official.
The recasting problem
Even if Disney wanted to reboot, there’s a real hurdle: fans are protective of Indy.
Recasting an icon is dangerous territory, and Disney knows it. Kennedy herself pointed to the painful lesson of Solo: A Star Wars Story, where recasting a young Han Solo flopped and put the new actor “in an impossible situation.” Indiana Jones, like Han, is so fused with Harrison Ford that any replacement faces an uphill battle for fan acceptance.
Names get floated in fan circles, your Pedro Pascals, your Chris Pines, but that’s all speculation. There’s no actor attached, because there’s no actual project yet.
So, would Disney be dumb enough?
Here’s the real takeaway, weighing it all honestly.
Right now, Disney is being cautious, not dumb. After a $134 million loss, nobody is rushing to make Indiana Jones 6, and Kennedy basically admitted as much. The franchise isn’t dead, but it’s resting, “in the freezer,” not in the ground.
The smart long-term play is probably what’s rumored: let it sit for years, let the sting of Dial of Destiny fade, then reboot it fresh with a new face and a lower budget, treating it like the valuable but dormant IP it is. That’s not foolish, that’s patient.
The dumb move would be rushing another expensive, aging-hero sequel, and there’s zero sign Disney plans to do that. So would they be dumb enough to make another one now? No.
But would they be bold enough to bring Indy back eventually, when the time and the take are right? Almost certainly.
The whip will crack again someday. Just don’t expect it anytime soon, and don’t expect Harrison Ford to be the one holding it.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Deadline, via ScreenRant and ComingSoon (January 2026), verified for Kathleen Kennedy’s “I don’t think Indy will ever be done” quote, the “he did not want Indy to end with the fourth movie” Ford detail, the Kennedy exit, and the Filoni/Brennan succession
Forbes and Wikipedia (2025-2026), verified for the Dial of Destiny budget (~$295M+), the $384M worldwide gross, the $477-600M break-even estimate, the $134-143M loss, and the 2023 release/final-Ford-film status
DisInsider, via Fiction Horizon and IMDb (2025-2026), verified for the reported full-reboot plans, the new-cast/new-timeline framing, and the possible D23 2026 reveal — all reported as rumor, not confirmed
ComicBook.com (Jeff Sneider) (2025), verified for the “many, many years away” reboot-timeline counter, and James Mangold’s Deadline quote on audiences not wanting to see an aged hero