Latest Indiana Jones Movie Box Office: No Memorial Day Record

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf. Steven Spielberg’s latest Indiana Jones movie is a global blockbuster.

Box office: Steven Spielberg’s latest Indiana Jones movie has near-record-breaking debut

May 23–26 (Memorial Day) weekend box office: Directed by Steven Spielberg and bringing back Harrison Ford as the intrepid titular character, Paramount Pictures’ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull grossed a fantastic $126.9 million in North America (U.S. and Canada only) over the extended holiday weekend, according to final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com.

Is that a Memorial Day weekend box office record?

No, it is not.

Spielberg’s fourth Indiana Jones movie – following Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – is no. 2 on the list, behind another big-studio, big-budget franchise entry, the Johnny Depp star vehicle Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which took in $139.8 million in 2007.

What about this other Memorial Day weekend box office record?

Now, adding the $25 million Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull earned on its opening day – Thursday, May 22 – its five-day domestic total has reached almost $152 million.

Is that a Memorial Day weekend box office record?

No, it is not. The five-day Memorial Day Weekend record-holder remains George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which drew in $172.8 million three years ago.

Besides Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford (Witness, 1985), the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull cast includes Shia LaBeouf, Oscar winners Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, 2004) and Jim Broadbent (Iris, 2001), Raiders of the Lost Ark leading woman Karen Allen, two-time Oscar nominee John Hurt (Midnight Express, 1978; The Elephant Man, 1980), and Ray Winstone.

Budget: $185 million (as always, not including marketing and distribution expenses).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a worldwide mega-hit

Update: Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ultimately collected $317.1 million domestically and $473.6 million internationally. Worldwide total: A fantastic $790.7 million – definitely a profitable blockbuster.

For comparison’s sake (not adjusted for inflation/currency fluctuations): The previous Indiana Jones movie, Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), took in $197.2 million domestically and an estimated $277 million internationally. Worldwide total: $474.2 million. Harrison Ford starred opposite River Phoenix, Sean Connery, and Alison Doody.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s top international markets were the United Kingdom/Ireland ($79.3 million), Japan ($53.1 million), France ($41.1 million), Spain ($32.8 million), Germany ($31.2 million), Australia ($27.2 million), South Korea ($26.5 million), Italy ($19 million), Russia/CIS ($16.9 million), Brazil ($12 million), and Mexico ($11.5 million).

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian with Ben Barnes.

Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian deposes Marvel’s Iron Man

May 16–18 weekend box office: After two weekends atop the domestic chart, Marvel/Paramount’s Iron Man has been dethroned by the Walt Disney Studios’ Andrew Adamson-directed The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which scored an impressive $55 million.

On the downside, this $225 million adventure fantasy based on C.S. Lewis’ novel fell short of the $65.5 million December 2005 opening of Adamson’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And that spells trouble domestically, though moviegoers overseas will surely flock to the rescue of this one.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian features an international cast that includes Ben Barnes as the titular character, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Sergio Castellitto, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis, Vincent Grass, Pierfrancesco Favino, Damián Alcázar, and Alicia Borrachero.

At no. 2 on the chart, Iron Man brought in $31.8 million. Domestic cume: $223.1 million. Jon Favreau directed Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin, 1992), winner Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love, 1998), and a couple more nominees, Jeff Bridges (Starman, 1984; etc.) and Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, 2005).

Global blockbuster – but … profitable?

Update: Walt Disney Pictures’ The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ultimately collected $141.6 million domestically and nearly twice as much – $278 million – internationally. Worldwide total: $419.6 million, or a notch above another mid-2008 blockbuster, Sex and the City, though likely not enough to make Disney’s mega-budget fantasy adventure profitable at the box office alone.

For comparison’s sake (not adjusted for inflation/currency fluctuations): The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe brought in $291.7 million domestically and $453.3 million internationally. Worldwide total: A far more remarkable $745 million.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’s top international markets were Japan ($27.7 million), France ($25.5 million), the United Kingdom/Ireland ($21.6 million), Mexico ($19.3 million), Spain ($15 million), Russia/CIS ($14.8 million), Australia ($13.2 million), Germany ($13.1 million), China ($12.5 million), and Italy ($10.8 million).

“Latest Indiana Jones Movie Box Office: No Memorial Day Record” notes

See also: James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a mega-disaster in relation to its exorbitant cost.

Unless otherwise noted, “Latest Indiana Jones Movie Box Office: Steven Spielberg Blockbuster Fails to Break Memorial Day Record” box office information via Box Office Mojo. Budget info – which should be taken with a grain of salt – via BOM and/or other sources (e.g., the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Screen Daily, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline.com, etc.).

Comments about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and other titles being hits/profitable or flops/money-losers at the box office (see paragraph below) are based on the available data about their production budget, additional marketing and distribution expenses (as a general rule of thumb, around 50 percent of the production cost), and worldwide gross (as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the Hollywood studios, around 50–55 percent of the domestic gross and 40 percent of the international gross goes to the distributing/producing companies).

Bear in mind that data regarding rebates, domestic/international sales/pre-sales, and other credits and/or contractual details that help to alleviate/split production costs and apportion revenues are oftentimes unavailable, and that reported international grosses may be incomplete (i.e., not every territory is fully – or even partially – accounted for).

Also bear in mind that ancillary revenues (domestic/global television rights, home video sales, streaming, merchandising, etc.) can represent anywhere between 40–70 percent of a movie’s total take. However, these revenues and their apportionment are only infrequently made public.

Shia LaBeouf and Harrison Ford Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull image: Paramount Pictures.

Ben Barnes The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie image: Walt Disney Studios.

“Latest Indiana Jones Movie Box Office: No Memorial Day Record” last updated in July 2023.