While Indiana Jones 5 is well on its way toward completion ahead of its release in Summer 2023, its director recently set the record straight on rumors about test screenings for the film.
Harrison Ford is about to bring back one of his most iconic characters in Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, taking the leading role in his first Indy movie since 2008's Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Leading an all-star cast that includes Doctor Strange and Rogue One's Mads Mikkelsen and action movie veteran Antonio Banderas, all under the direction of Oscar nominee James Mangold.
With filming for Indiana Jones 5 now complete, fans are waiting to get their first taste of real footage after the film was promoted for the first time at the 2022 D23 Fan Expo. There have even been rumors about audiences recently seeing that first footage in test screenings, but those reports have officially been debunked by the man at the top of the Indiana Jones 5 food chain.
Indiana Jones 5 Director Clarifies Test Screening Reports
Indiana Jones 5 director James Mangold took to Twitter to correct claims about rumored poor test screenings of his movie.
Unsubstantiated reports have started circulating, as shared by YouTuber Overlord DVD, indicating that Disney is "so upset over this situation" that the studio is demanding that the movie go through reshoots due to how bad the film is:
“From what my Hollywood spies are telling me, it’s only gotten worse… Disney is so upset over this situation. When Disney announced the one-year delay in the release date, I was told Disney was mandating reshoots for this atrocity in an effort to avert disaster. But now given some brand new information provided to me by my Hollywood spies, I honestly don’t know what the hell they were doing this last year because from what I’m hearing, Indiana Jones 5 is a genuine s***show, a bomb just waiting to explode in theatres that will forever tarnish the brand and ruin Indiana Jones.”
The report continued to note that "Disney is panicking" since the screenings were reportedly so bad, with reshoots not even being able to save the sequel:
“According to my Hollywood spies…this film has not been saved by the reshoots, far from it. Disney is panicking because it’s so bad they don’t know what to do to save it.”
The video closed out by explaining that Disney has used "six different endings" with none of them being able to come out with good audience reception, the best one coming in at 35%:
“My Hollywood spies told me, allegedly Indy 5 is bad. We’ve been told that Disney has test screenings of not just one ending, but six different endings and not one can get a good audience score…We’ve been told out of the six endings they tested, the best one gets a 35 per cent approval from test audiences. We’ve been told that Bridge puts the hat on in every ending.”
Mangold debunked these rumors firmly on Twitter, confirming that no screenings have actually taken place for his new movie at this time:
"Nope. Haven't been any screenings at all."
Twitter user @WedgeDAntilles told the director that he was wrong, rebutting his statement by saying that Indiana Jones is actually replaced in the film and that audiences "HATE IT:"
"No but you're wrong, BasementDweller46 said that KK personally replaces Indiana Jones with a woman in the movie and test screening audiences HATE IT"
Mangold came back at this Tweet aggressively, making it unmistakably clear that "no one will ever replace Indiana Jones" in any cut of the movie:
"Well, Paulo, it's up to you who you believe — an anonymous troll named 'basement dweller' & 'doomcock' or the actual director of the film. No one will ever replace Indiana Jones. Not in any script. Not in any cut. Never discussed."
No Test Screenings Yet for Indiana Jones Sequel
While James Mangold isn't the first director to call out bogus reports online (see DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn), he becomes the latest to make sure fans are in the know about what's really happening with his movie.
It may be true that Indiana Jones 5 has faced four years' worth of delays thanks to an injury to Harrison Ford and COVID-related setbacks, amongst other factors. But Mangold made it clear that none of those delays are due to any faults with the movie itself, which he is still working diligently on in post-production for the next seven months.
Once the movie makes more progress in the editing room, these test screenings will surely take place, especially since the promotional tour won't even start for Indy's fifth movie until early 2023. And if any more false rumors like this one come to light, Mangold will be right there to make sure the right information is pushed to the forefront.
Indiana Jones 5 will premiere in theaters on June 30, 2023.
