It was not the summer box office start that many (myself included) were hoping for. Universal’s “The Fall Guy” debuted with just $27.7 million domestically despite earning very good reviews, making for the worst start to the summer movie season in decades. But hope emerged in the form of one of cinema’s most cherished franchises as “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” returned to theaters in honor of its 25th anniversary. An old hope, if you will. This once-maligned prequel to George Lucas’ beloved sci-fi series helped make up the difference and made its way into the history books. Again.
“The Phantom Menace” re-release brought in $8.7 million domestically over the weekend, which was good enough to land at number two on the charts behind “Fall Guy” and ahead of the previous week’s champion “Challengers” ($7.5 million). Internationally, “Episode I” added an additional $6.4 million for a global re-opening of $15.1 million. That’s quite a bit less than the 2012 3D re-release of “Phantom Menace,” which opened to $22.4 million domestically on its way to $102.7 million worldwide. Even so, it was enough to help cement the film’s place in box office history.
Through its various releases, Lucas’ first entry in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy now has a running, global total of $1,042,206,656. That puts it firmly in the top 50 all-time, now sitting at number 45 just behind “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” ($1,046,721,266), one of the most expensive movies ever made. It should pass that figure in the coming days. Unadjusted for inflation, “Phantom Menace” now, once again, sits comfortably above “Despicable Me 3” ($1,034,800,131), “Finding Dory” (‘$1,029,266,989), “Zootopia” ($1,025,521,689), Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” ($1,025,468,216), and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” ($1,024,466,594″).