Star Wars: The Phantom Menace returned to theaters this weekend to celebrate both May The Fourth and the 1999 movie's 25th anniversary.
Despite receiving largely negative reviews from longtime Star Wars fans when it originally hit the big screen, the movie has already made upwards of $1 billion worldwide (thanks to a boost from previous re-releases, including a 3D conversion).
Despite often being dubbed the "worst" Star Wars movie - Attack of the Clones and The Rise of Skywalker would like a word - The Phantom Menace opened at #2 this weekend with an impressive $8.1 million at the North American box office.
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt's The Fall Guy topped it, but George Lucas' Episode I beat the likes of Challengers, Civil War, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Tarot to earn that second place.
While this is a relatively quiet weekend at the box office, numbers like these put The Phantom Menace among the biggest re-releases ever (the second biggest, to be precise). For context, while the Star Wars prequel earned $2.3 million on Friday, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy didn't come close to even cracking $1 million during their respective re-releases last month.
Why has The Phantom Menace exceeded expectations? The nostalgia factor is a big part of it, as many Star Wars fans grew up on the prequel trilogy and love them as much as those who were lucky enough to see the original movies in theaters.
Social media is full of reports and footage of fans cheering and quoting The Phantom Menace as it plays, seemingly proving it's not as reviled as some would have you believe. We'll share international figures over at SFFGazette.com when they drop.
The movie is set approximately 32 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope and follows the story of young Anakin Skywalker, a slave on the desert planet of Tatooine who is discovered to be strong in the Force. Anakin's journey intertwines with the political machinations of the Galactic Republic and the emergence of the Sith, dark wielders of the Force who seek to manipulate events from the shadows.
Jake Lloyd played Anakin in the movie and has since suffered various mental health issues, including schizophrenia. He was admitted to hospital last year following a psychotic break and is 11 months into an 18-month stay in a mental health rehabilitation facility.
His mother recently revealed that her son is doing well and is still a Star Wars fan. Revealing that Jake enjoyed the new Ahsoka series and that she gifted him an action figure of the character for his birthday, she said, "He loves all the new 'Star Wars' stuff. People think Jake hates 'Star Wars.' He loves it."
Did you watch Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in theaters this weekend?