Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Fortune was supposed to be a dignified send-off for the beloved adventure hero, but instead it seems to have been a... bad choice. Here's why the film isn't doing as well with audiences as expected. Although box office returns are disappointing—according to Variety, The Wheel of Fortune grossed $82 million in its first five days of release, against a production budget of nearly $300 million—the film is actually doing quite well with critics. It has a 68 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer, giving it "fresh" status, and it has an overwhelmingly positive audience score of 88 percent. But Indy's final adventure got off to a bad start with early reviews. In May 2023, the film, starring Harrison Ford, premiered at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival. Critics' reaction to that screening was mixed to negative. Critics such as Owen Gleiberman of Variety and Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote of their disappointment with various elements of the film, such as its generic blockbuster-movie feel and uneven plot. For several weeks, the Cannes reaction dominated discussion of the film's quality. That early negative buzz certainly didn't do the film any favors in its pre-release marketing, even if it was ultimately received far more positively by those who bothered to see it. Wheel of Fortune isn't the first time Hollywood has tried to revive this storied franchise. In 2008, nearly two decades after The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released. The fourth film in the series attempted to move the story forward by placing an older and wiser version of Indy in the middle of a 1950s conspiracy tale filled with Cold War intrigue. Fans weren't too happy with the result, criticizing the film's formulaic approach to replicating the spectacle of the original films. Nor were they thrilled with questionable new elements, such as the character of plucky young man Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf, who doesn't appear again in The Wheel of Fortune. For some viewers, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was proof that the Indiana Jones franchise was better left in the glory days of old. It's unlikely, then, that those fans will be convinced to watch a second revival of The Wheel of Fortune, no matter how much better it might be. The Wheel of Fortune is far from the only film of its kind to underperform this year. There are other examples, even from the same month, June 2023. DC's superhero blockbuster The Flash also bombed at the box office, and Pixar's Elemental also performed significantly worse. All of these films are big productions, produced by major studios and designed to appeal to a wide audience. It seems that Wheel of Fortune is struggling with some issues that are typical of the entire industry. While there is no definitive answer to the problem currently plaguing the blockbuster scene, there are a few factors to consider. While theaters have somewhat recovered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still aftereffects. Potential moviegoers seem to be more selective about which films can lure them back into darkened theaters full of other people. Add to that franchise fatigue. The film industry is currently full of sequels, nostalgic reboots, reboots and action-packed superhero movies, and it's entirely possible that the luster of a new Indiana Jones movie alongside other franchise films has worn off considerably. Mixed initial reactions 0:00 The previous entry wasn't well received 1:31 A downward trend overall 2:39 Destined for Disney+ 3:55 Read the full article here: https://www.looper.com/1331463/why-in...