Turns out the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny might only be the second-best thing to happen with the movie this month. The top spot might be reserved for the film’s director James Mangold, who’s been patiently, but directly, explaining to people on Twitter he knows more about his movie than they do.
It began a few weeks ago when Mangold came out to clarify that online rumors about the film’s ending—in which Indiana Jones is erased and replaced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character— were inaccurate. The director made this very, very clear, but still, weeks later, people don’t believe him and he continues to defend himself and his film.
“So,” the tweet reads. “I took a b-day break from trolls. But it seems I gotta once again say. We’re not shooting & never shot any new scenes or ‘alt endings.’ Our film is 99% finished, getting rated by MPAA & VFX being completed. Happy Holidays!” Mangold’s tweet sparked a new round of replies some of which were reasonable and respectable. Others… were not.
“Do you ever wonder why Spielberg wanted nothing to do with this???” one response read. “Could it have anything to do with [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy’s] desire to destroy every male character that either George or he created? That woman needs help.” “No,” Mangold answered. “I never wondered why SS wants nothing to do with it. Cause he is a producer on the film, seen it many times and we have talked weekly for over two years.”
“Bullshit,” another user replied. “Every Disney movies nowadays are filmed as somekind of scrapbook with alternative scenes.” The problem with that response, besides the grammar, is that Mangold has made movies owned by Disney before. “Well, Anthony,” he replied. “It is so kind of you to call me bullshit but I made Logan and Ford v Ferrari and Indiana Jones 5 and it didn’t happen on any of them. I can only speak to my experiences. Be well.”
One particular point of contention seems to be a clip where legendary composer John Williams reportedly says something about a new ending. Mangold assures everyone that if that’s what Williams said, he was joking or misspoke and that the composer has “written and conducted 2 hours of brilliant music, at least 60+ cues. Maybe there are one or two small pieces left behind but it’s a huge score and 99% in the film.”
My favorite, though, has to be a thread of someone criticizing the look of the film, calling out this image in particular.
“The lighting here is not good,” the tweet reads. “The bike and the man look like cutouts compared to the background shot. Obvious green screen and studio lighting. You can tell because of the spotlights on his hair and back shoulders. It’s not natural light. It’s studio lights.” Too bad this person tagged the person who actually shot the scene. “Um. That’s an actual location shot of Boyd Holbrook on the street,” Mangold replied. Too funny. There’s much more too.
Now, to be fair, it is true that sometimes people involved with movies have to lie about things. There are many well-documented accounts of actors or directors lying to protect spoilers in a film—think Andrew Garfield saying he’s not in Spider-Man: No Way Home, or everyone denying Khan was in Star Trek Into Darkness. But Mangold isn’t cheeky with his answers. If people did guess the ending of his film, he would almost certainly just ignore it and hope the information didn’t spread. The problem is we live in a world filled with so much distrust and misinformation, for some reason certain people would rather believe the ramblings of YouTube trolls than the word of the person most directly responsible for the work at hand. One with a financial and professional stake in the film.
Plus, as Mangold points out, he knows he’ll be proven right in the end when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny comes to theaters on June 30. Head to his Twitter feed to see more destruction.
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