Star Wars The Phantom Menace Reclaims Box Office Prestige

Meanwhile, the film was able to just barely push Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed tennis drama Challengers down to number three with a take of $7.6 million and a total so far of $29.4 million.

Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace returned to theaters to celebrate both its 25th anniversary since its 1999 release date and May the 4th, aka Star Wars Day.

The Phantom Menace’s box office take is definitely respectable, but the franchise has done a lot of work to revitalize the film in the eyes of fans.

This was once a fairly hated entry to the Star Wars universe, but nostalgia and a lot of spin-off content have retroactively improved the film since then.

The actors introduced to Star Wars in the prequel trilogy have gotten a lot of love from fans and the Star Wars franchise itself lately.

In 2022, Ewan McGregor reprised his role as Ewan McGregor, with his first appearance as the character being in Episode 1.

It’s safe to say that part of The Phantom Menace’s box office success this past weekend is due to Disney and LucasFilm’s recent interest in allowing these characters and actors to take the spotlight again.

Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace first hit theaters in 1999 and was a massive box office success, bringing in $924 million worldwide.

However, the film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, with some fans outright hating the expository dialogue and characters like Jar Jar Binks.

Still, the film’s success meant that George Lucas’ prequel trilogy was a success, and it was followed by Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

While none of the prequel trilogy was particularly showered with love upon their release, fans gradually came around and many defend the films to this day. This became especially true after projects like Star Wars: The Clone Wars added some much-needed context and depth to characters like Anakin, Darth Maul, and more.

At this point, you’d likely find far more Star Wars fans willing to defend The Phantom Menace than the most recent Star Wars film The Rise of Skywalker.

In any case, the Star Wars franchise is still going full steam ahead today, and those who contributed to The Phantom Menace’s box office fortunes this weekend also got a glimpse of the newest upcoming Star Wars project, The Acolyte.

The Acolyte takes place far before even the prequel trilogy, exploring the High Republic era for the first time in live-action. Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to come to Disney+ on June 4 with a two-episode premiere, so make sure to tune in to see the latest the Star Wars universe has to offer. 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter