Why It's So Hard To Make Indiana Jones Sequels
Though Indiana Jones is perhaps the most iconic action-adventure franchise in existence, it has had remarkable difficulty in recapturing the original film's success in its sequels. The Indiana Jones franchise got its start with Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, a film that introduced the eponymous archeological adventurer to a global audience. Thanks to the film's massive popularity, Indiana Jones quickly became a pop culture icon, and the franchise was born.
After Raiders of the Lost Ark, the franchise continued in 1984 with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which served as a prequel to the original film. This was followed by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, but the franchise then saw a 19-year gap before the next sequel, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was released in 2008. Additionally, Indiana Jones 5's delays have seen the upcoming sequel pushed back numerous times, causing a 15-year gap between the fourth and fifth films in the franchise.
Related: Indiana Jones 5 Needs To Clear Up One Huge Crystal Skull Plot Hole
Though the first two Indiana Jones sequels were largely well-received, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull flopped with critics and audiences alike. None of the subsequent films in the Indiana Jones franchise have been able to fully recapture the magic of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and delays on the fifth film in the franchise seem to serve as further evidence of this difficulty. Raiders is such a coherent, enduring piece of outstanding storytelling that its sequels seem far less cohesive as a result, owing in part to their inclination to raise the stakes or establish different story elements that distance it from the near-perfection of the franchise's first film.
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