One of the most divisive Star Wars movies in the franchise’s history has just become one of the highest-grossing films of all time… again.
The year was 1999. It had been 16 years since the world last visited the galaxy far, far away, but George Lucas and co. returned to tell the one story everyone wanted told: the origin of Darth Vader, and how Obi-Wan Kenobi lost his apprentice to the Dark Side.
There’s an argument to be made that The Phantom Menace wasn’t just the most anticipatedStar Wars projectever. It was — at that time, perhaps beforeMarvel movies— the biggest pop culture event in history.
And then… it hit cinemas, and the reception wasn’t entirely positive. Even today, its critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes are united: 52%, definitively ‘rotten’ but echoing the sharp divide decades later.
Yet, for all of their well-documented and debated flaws, affection for the prequels may be at an all-time high; after all, has there ever been a better lightsaber fight than Duel of the Fates, and do you still quote, “Now this is podracing!” on a daily basis?
It was second on the domestic chart, falling behindThe Fall Guywith $28.5 million but beatingChallengers($7.6m),Tarot($6.5m), andGodzilla x Kong($4.56m).
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“Funny that not too long ago — 25 years to be exact — STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE was met with mediocre (to terrible) reviews… and this weekend it saw a re-release score $8M and land #2 at the domestic box office. Not many films (or series) could pull that off. Much power this franchise still has,” one userobserved.
For more, you can check out our breakdown of theStar Wars timeline, our ranking of thebest Star Wars characters, and whyit’s time for a Star Wars horror movie.
Cameron Frew is Deputy TV & Movies Editor on Dexerto’s UK team. He’s an action movie aficionado, ’80s obsessive, and Oscars enthusiast. He loves Invincible, but he’s also a fan of The Boys, the MCU, The Chosen, and much more. He has previously written for LadBible, UniLad, and Flickering Myth. You can contact him at: cameron.frew@dexerto.com.
