The Star Wars prequels ("Phantom Menace," "Attack of the Clones," and "Revenge of the Sith") don't exactly have the greatest of reputations with movie fans. However, there is a subculture that absolutely adores them, including the likes of James Cameron and … Kanye West.
Those fans, who totally abide by these films, came out in droves this weekend as “Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace” was re-released, 25 years later, in 2700 theaters and ended up finishing second at the box-office, with an $8.5 million gross. It even beat out “Challengers” ($7M), which, by the way, might have decent legs.
‘Phantom Menace’ also added great numbers internationally — racking up an additional $6 million overseas. All this to say, however much the core Star Wars fanbase might have been turned off by Disney’s recent treatment of the franchise, they would all, 100%, support another George Lucas directed trilogy. It would no doubt be this huge event. Sadly, that’ll never happen, Lucas sold the rights to his creation, to Disney, and he’s basically done with the franchise.
A few months ago, Empire decided to bank on the nostalgic semi-reappraisal of Lucas’ originally panned prequels, via a starry cover story, to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker, was interviewed by the magazine and he admitted that, despite the “bumpy ride” he experienced during back in the day, the newfound love and reappraisal for Lucas’ prequels was something that he’s very proud of:
It’s like vindication for the work that we did […] I think that those movies have held up well over time.
Mark Hamill stated that he found Lucas’ prequels more original than the Disney trilogy.
Full-on admittance: I haven’t seen ‘Phantom Menace’ in over 20 years, but are we actually saying that these films are now “beloved” by the general public? I don’t think the full stink has dwindled yet. Some of it has, but not all. I’m tempted to revisit ‘Phantom Menace’ tonight to see if anything’s changed.
Here’s what I wrote on 02.09.24:
Back in the summer of 1999, watching “The Phantom Menace” in a theater for the first time, listening to that iconic opening score, and the scroll going down the screen, it was great. What wasn’t great was the rest of the movie.
We all wanted to love it, but the end result was, quite frankly, although visually stunning, narratively inert. Lucas tried to expand and build up a new world of characters, but we ended up getting Jar Jar Binks, and Jake Lloyd as young Anakin Skywalker, both cardboard characters.
Here’s what I believe is actually happening with the sudden reappraisal of Lucas’ prequels. There are so many fans out there who are genuinely upset with how the last Star Wars Disney trilogy turned out, putting a major dent on the entire franchise, that they would much rather rewatch Lucas’ original prequels on repeat. It’s pure nostalgia.