Indiana Jones 5 Title Revealed: Hints At The Hunt For A New Artifact

Disney has unveiled the title for Indiana Jones 5, indicating what the central McGuffin is and how it will impact the final Indy adventure.

The title for Indiana Jones 5 has finally been unveiled alongside the latest trailer. First announced back in 2016, the film has had a long road from development to the big screen. Indiana Jones 5 finally took shape when James Mangold stepped in as director, taking over from franchise mainstay Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford will return once more as the title character, and the movie itself is set for release on June 30, 2023. However, up until now, Lucasfilm has kept the official title for Indiana Jones 5 tightly under wraps.

Lucasfilm released the first trailer for the next Indiana Jones film at Brazil’s Comic Con Experience, and with it came the official title. The fifth film in the franchise is titled Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The title’s announcement comes almost seven months before the movie is set to open in theaters, which will mark Ford’s final time playing Indiana Jones.

Related: How Old Indy Is In Indiana Jones 5 (& Harrison Ford’s Real Age)

What Does Dial Of Destiny Mean?

Disney withholding the reveal of the full title of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is very similar to how long fans waited to find out the title of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That film, like the upcoming Dial of Destiny, was surrounded by secrecy and was another long-awaited return for Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Disney’s marketing approach for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is very similar to the trailers for Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which also used their teaser trailers to officially unveil their titles.

What the Dial of Destiny is or does remains to be seen, although the item does make a brief appearance in the trailer. Unlike past artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, there is no specific Dial of Destiny in ancient folklore and most likely is an artifact created specifically for the movie. It will mark the third time an Indiana Jones movie has had its central McGuffin in the title following Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

While the Dial of Destiny is currently an unknown item, the few plot elements and story details known about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may indicate its importance. The film is set in 1969 against the backdrop of the Space Race, with an old Nazi foe of Jones’ now part of the NASA project. A dial indicates a clock, so the artifact’s power might be able to reset time and change the future, possibly allowing for the Indiana Jones franchise to give Harrison Ford a proper goodbye while also leaving the door open for a new character to take over the franchise in a rewritten timeline.

Next: Indiana Jones: Every Real Artifact That Appears In The Franchise

Source: Lucasfilm