The use of de-aging in movies is constantly evolving and seeing new and more impressive results. For example, this summer, Harrison Ford will be taken back to his Raiders of the Lost Ark days in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny through the use of the technology that has previously been responsible for turning back the years for the likes of Samuel L. Jackson in Captain Marvel. While appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ford explained how he has been amazed by what the VFX team on the movie has been able to do and how they did it. He said:
“That is my actual face. At that age. They have this artificial intelligence program. It can go through every foot of film Lucasfilm owns, because I did a bunch of movies for them. They have all this footage, including film that wasn’t printed. They could mine it from where the light is coming from, the expression. But that’s my actual face. I put little dots on my face and I say the words and they make it. It’s fantastic.”
Ford has already made it clear that this is the last adventure for Indiana Jones, and that is part of the reason he returned to the franchise one more time. The question is whether the movie can recapture the feel of those classic Indy adventures of the past and make its star look like he did in those movies.
Will Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Set Up a Spin-Off Franchise?
There has been a lot of speculation over exactly how the final Indiana Jones movie will end and what it will mean for the franchise. There is already a prequel TV series in development, and rumors that Phoebe Waller-Bridge could be getting her own “Indy-esque” movie or series, but one thing that seems to have been made clear is that the role of adult Indy will always belong to Harrison Ford and no one is going to take that from him.
While Ford himself has meandered around the subject of whether Dial of Destiny will be a “torch-passing” end to the franchise, director James Mangold has been much more outspoken on the subject of Ford possibly being replaced. He previously said:
"One more time. No one is 'taking over' or replacing Indy or donning his hat nor is he being 'erased' thru some contrivance- and he never was, not not in any cut or script – but trolls will troll – that's how they get their clicks, and please don't exhaust me pointing out how once in a while a troll is 'right.' Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now & then. All one has to do is look at set photos & interviews & u get enough info to make wild guesses about a movie plot."
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will be released in theaters on June 30, 2023.