Harrison Ford cracked the whip on too many jokes about age in new ‘Indiana Jones’ movie
By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
Indiana Jones might be a few decades older than when the first film about the titular hero was released, but Harrison Ford doesn’t want the character’s age to be a punchline.
“In (new film ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’) there were a lot of old jokes in the script. We took them all out,” Ford said in a interview with The Hollywood Reporter, published Wednesday.
Ford, who turned 80 last July, said he wanted “to see circumstances in which the audience gets a chance to experience the story,” adding that he would “rather create behavior that is the joke of age rather than talk about it.”
“Dial of Destiny” does attempt, at least in one instance that we’re aware of, to turn back time. The character was de-aged for the movie’s flashback opening sequence, which is previewed in the first trailer.
“I never loved the idea until I saw how it was accomplished in this case — which is very different than the way it’s been done in other films I’ve seen,” Ford said. “They’ve got every frame of film, either printed or unprinted, of me during 40 years of working with (‘Indiana Jones’ production company) Lucasfilm on various stuff. I can act the scene and they sort through with AI every f**king foot of film to find me in that same angle and light. It’s bizarre and it works and it is my face.”
The new film is the character’s first foray on the big screen since 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which was not very well received by critics and a departure from the first three beloved entries in the franchise.
“I think that everyone has a right to their opinion,” Ford said of that cool reception, adding that “the film was not as successful as we wanted it to be.”
“But it didn’t create an attitude or a behavior that carried over into this film,” he added.
In September, Ford revealed at Disney’s D23 convention that “Dial of Destiny” will be the last film in which he portrays Indiana Jones.
“Indiana Jones movies are about mystery and adventure, but they’re also about heart,” Ford said, adding with a laugh that “this is it. I will not fall down for you again.”
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” will hit theaters on June 30, 2023.
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