The anticipation for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny has ramped up in the past few weeks. The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival just days ago and ended with a standing ovation. The swan song for the fedora-toting, globe-trotting Doctor Indiana Jones is one many are looking forward to. Still, amidst all the anticipation, director James Mangold has shared his thoughts on the recent WGA writer’s strike. 

At the festival, Deadline reports that when Mangold was asked about the state of the strike, he responded with, “No movie happens without a great script, and no great script happens without writers.” He also added that writers are the crucial first step and wind up first to be forgotten, and he says, “I support them in their struggle for what is fair for everybody.” 

The Writers Guild of America has never seen a more unified strike than the one unfolding before our eyes. When prompted with a vote to go on strike, 98% of voters said yes, as Forbes reports, in hopes of receiving better pay, better staffing, and safeguards in place with the advancing technology of AI, among other things. 

As Mangold said, writers are the first step in telling a story, and that’s a crucial part of filmmaking that countless talents in Hollywood who aren’t writers have been able to admit. The strike has been in place since May 2nd and doesn’t show signs of letting up soon. 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will hit theaters on June 30th and feature Harrison Ford playing the titular adventurer one last time, alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Mads Mikkelsen.