The Big Picture

The Phantom Menace
‘s re-release pulled in $8 million domestically, with a global weekend gross of just under $15 million.
The film has grossed around $1.04 billion globally, making it the fifth-biggest
Star Wars
movie of all time.
Despite mixed reviews,
Star Wars
fans are showing renewed interest in
The Phantom Menace
due to recent franchise entries.

It’s the season of re-releases at the box office, and this week’s offering, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, managed to deliver the sort of numbers in its 25th anniversary year that some brand-new movies would pray for. The Phantom Menace actually finished second on the domestic box office chart behind the summer’s first tent-pole, The Fall Guy, which under-performed in its opening weekend. Originally released in 1999, The Phantom Menace delivered the second-best opening weekend haul for a re-release this decade, between two James Cameron blockbusters — Avatar and Titanic.

The Phantom Menace generated a little over $8 million domestically this weekend — Avatar made $10 million in its 2022 re-release debut while Titanic grossed under $7 million in its re-release debut last year. It added another $6.4 million from overseas markets, for an estimated global cumulative haul of just under $15 million this weekend. This takes the film’s running domestic total to $482 million, including all past re-issues. Globally, The Phantom Menace has grossed around $1.04 billion. The movie debuted in around 1,300 domestic theaters this weekend and reported a per-theater average of nearly $3,000. Directed by George Lucas, the film served as a prequel to his groundbreaking original Star Wars trilogy, which was released between 1977 and 1983. The Phantom Menace spawned a trilogy of its own, which was followed by a new trilogy of movies that began in 2015.

Contrary to what the excitement around its re-release might suggest, The Phantom Menace famously opened to a sense of deflation in 1999. It was immediately seen as massively inferior to the original trilogy, although it emerged as a major box-office success. The film’s reputation hasn’t exactly improved in recent years, although the mixed response to the more recent theatrical Star Wars films has certainly painted it in a favorable light among a certain section of the franchise’s fans. On the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Phantom Menaceholds a “rotten” 52% score — the second-lowest for a live-action installment of the franchise, which has grossed over $10 billion worldwide.

‘The Phantom Menace’ Is the Fifth-Biggest Star Wars Movie of All Time

Skywalker Saga Movies Global Box Office A New Hope $775 million The Empire Strikes Back $549 million Return of the Jedi $482 million The Phantom Menace $1.04 billion Attack of the Clones $656 million Revenge of the Sith $848 million The Force Awakens $2 billion The Last Jedi $1.3 billion The Rise of Skywalker $1.07 billion

The highest-grossing Star Wars movie, un-adjusted for inflation, remains Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, which grossed over $2 billion worldwide almost a decade ago. The Phantom Menace is among the five Star Wars movies to have generated more than $1 billion in global box office revenue, including the spin-off movie Rogue One. In recent years, the franchise has pivoted towards streaming, with well-received shows such as The Mandalorian, Andor, and Star Wars: Ahsoka. Under Disney’s stewardship, the franchise is undergoing something of a reinvention, with several standalone theatrical projects in different stages of development.

In recent weeks, studios have been re-releasing a host of popular older titles on key anniversaries. Alien, The Mummy, and Shrek 2 all generated a little over $1 million each in their respective re-releases, while the ongoing “Spider-Mondays” program has already seen the first three live-action Spider-Man films re-issued to strong response. The Phantom Menace tells the origin story of the villainous Darth Vader when he was just Anakin Skywalker. The film starred Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor as Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Both stars reprised their roles in the recent Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

You can watch The Phantom Menace in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Two Jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their original glory.Release Date May 19, 1999 Director George Lucas

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