Latest Your Nerd Side with Fonseca:
Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace returned to theaters in honor of May the Fourth, as well as the film's 25th anniversary. Its return was a success, as the 25-year-old film landed at No. 2 on the weekend box office chart.
Per THR, The Phantom Menace outperformed all but one new release to get its No. 2 spot. In No. 1 is The Fall Guy, the new film starring Ryan Goshling and Emily Blunt which earned $28.5 million. This was the opening weekend for The Fall Guy, notably a big-budget film that happens to star actors from Barbie and Oppenheimer. This number is short of initial expectations of up to $35 million, and the total for the weekend is overall lower than the same time in 2023 when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 debuted. The film, with a $130 million budget, will need to count on a strong turnout in the coming weeks in order to turn a profit.
Landing at No. 2 is The Phantom Menace, which has earned $8.1 million. That puts it above Challengers, the Zendaya-led film that garnered $7.6 million in its second weekend for a 49 percent drop. The new horror film Tarot made its debut at No. 4 with $6.5 million earned, while Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire fell to No. 5 with its fourth weekend, earning $4.5 million.
The Phantom Menace Makes Millions More
The Phantom Menace initially earned more than $924 million worldwide. There has also been a previous re-release when The Phantom Menace returned to theaters in 3-D in 2012. That added $102 million to the pile, pushing the total haul to more than $1 billion for the movie. The film continuing to make money defies the initial backlash that there had been with many fans against the movie upon its release in 1999.
"I watched the film, and I loved it," franchise star Hayden Christensen said of The Phantom Menace getting some bad reviews at the time, per Empire. "It was everything I wanted and more. And I didn’t understand the disconnect between the movie that I saw, and the negativity in some of the reviews.”
George Lucas wrote and directed the movie. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, Frank Oz, Ray Park, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace is playing in theaters.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter