‘The Phantom Menace’ Re-Release Among the Biggest Openings of All-Time

The first canonical entry in the Skywalker Saga timeline is making waves at the box office more than 20 years after its initial release. In honor of the film’s 25th anniversary, which also coincides with May the 4th, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace re-released in theaters and opened to an impressive $2.3 million domestically. This is quite a haul, especially when juxtaposed to the Spider-Man films, which are in the midst of a re-release celebrating Columbia Pictures’ 100th anniversary. Each of Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man movies failed to earn even half of the Phantom Menace numbers during their domestic box office opening days with films 1-3 totaling $681 thousand, $805 thousand, and $760 thousand respectively.

As far as total box office numbers for the Star Wars franchise, The Phantom Menace lands roughly in the middle, having grossed $431 million domestically and $493 million in foreign markets for a total of $924 million. This is not the first re-release for the film either — it returned to theaters for roughly three months in February 2012 for an official 3D release, and earned an impressive $43 million in the U.S. and $59 million internationally for a total of just over $100 million. The 2024 re-release ranks among the highest opening days ever, standing with the likes of Avatar, Jaws, and Grease.

What Are the Highest Grossing Movie Re-Releases of All-Time?

Box office re-releases can be hit or miss, but there have been some films over the years that found more success in later theatrical runs. A classic example of this is The Wizard of Oz, which first released in 1993 and failed to make a profit. It wasn’t until the film began airing on television years later that it became a cult classic, and upon re-releasing in theaters in 2019, brought in more than $2 million domestically during its opening weekend. The Godfather also flourished in a 2022 theatrical run, earning more than $4.2 million worldwide, including $427 thousand domestic opening day, compared to $2.3 million for The Phantom Menace.

Other re-releases which have found success over the years include James Cameron‘s Titanic returning to theaters in 2012 in 3D, grossing $350 million worldwide from April to June, including an opening day total of $4.3 million and an opening weekend high of more than $19 million. Another Cameron special, Avatar, which is currently the highest grossing movie of all time, returned to theaters ahead of the 2022 sequel and raked in $76 million worldwide in under a month with a domestic opening weekend of more than $10 million. Other re-releases worth mentioning are Grease (1998), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2022), and Steven Spielberg‘s Jaws (2022), which earned $12.7 million, $6.5 million, and $3.3 million during their opening weekends at the domestic box office.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is back in theaters for a limited time only.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

Two Jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their original glory.

Release Date

May 19, 1999

Director

George Lucas

Runtime

136 minutes

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

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