May 9, 2002 7 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Its last installment proved a critical disappointment. Once the trendsetter on visual effects, it lost out in that category to an edgy upstart at the Academy Awards the last time around. Surrounded by fresh-faced film serials, it no longer holds clear claim as the year’s most anticipated movie. “Star Wars” may have rusted a bit in the 25 years since Luke, Han, Leia and Obi-Wan blasted into theaters. Yet as “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” arrives next week, George Lucas’ creation remains the Cadillac of film franchises, the surest sure thing that a blockbuster-minded movie industry can deliver.

Its previous chapters account for four of the top 13 grossing movies of all-time domestically. Fans camp out at theaters a month or more before a “Star Wars” film opens to be first in line to see it.

And consider “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.” After waiting 16 years for the first prequel to the original trilogy, audiences almost universally found something to deride in “Phantom Menace,” a critical dud that sacrificed story to special effects and introduced the loathed buffoon Jar Jar Binks.

What other film franchise could produce a mediocre movie that disappoints the most loyal fans yet still rakes in more than $900 million worldwide and $431 million in the United States and Canada alone?

“Sure, the last movie was not what people hoped it would be,” said Barrie Osborne, a producer on “The Lord of the Rings” franchise and executive producer on “The Matrix,” which beat “Phantom Menace” on visual effects and two other categories at the Oscars for 1999.

“But I think everyone will want to see the new “Star Wars.’ It’s something we all grew up with, and the whole body of work is more powerful than any one of the films. This powerful, mythic story George originated way back still captures the imagination, and people want to see what happens next.”

What happens next sounds more promising than “Phantom Menace,” with early buzz from people who have seen “Attack of the Clones” hinting that it’s a better film. Even the cast is more enthusiastic this time.

“I really love it. I personally like this film a lot better,” said Natalie Portman, who returns as Padme Amidala, reunited with her Jedi pals Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and the now grown Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).

“I get really bored in action movies, but I was at the edge of my seat with my mouth open,” said Portman, who saw the finished film last weekend.

“It’s so gorgeous. It’s got a great story, a real arc. You really care about the characters.”

In the past, “Star Wars” sequels or prequels clearly were the film events of the year. Given the record opening of “Spider-Man” and anticipation for this fall’s “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” sequels, “Star Wars” now has heavy competition for the title of most hotly awaited movie.

Unlike the 3,000-theater-plus launches of today’s Hollywood, with its fixation on huge opening weekends, the original “Star Wars” premiered on just 32 screens on Wednesday, May 25, 1977. The procedure then often was to start slowly, letting positive buzz on a film spread as the release widened to more theaters.

It worked perfectly on “Star Wars,” which distributor 20th Century Fox expanded to 43 screens by that Friday, with the film grossing $1.55 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

As it expanded, its total take during that initial run hit $221.3 million, the equivalent of about $560 million when the 1977 average ticket price of $2.23 is adjusted for inflation. “Star Wars” was such a phenomenon that it took in $101 million more in four reissues within just five years after its debut.

“That was the first movie I ever saw,” said Ben Affleck, whose new film, “The Sum of All Fears,” opens two weeks after “Attack of the Clones.” Affleck, who turned 5 the summer “Star Wars” opened, said he cajoled his way into seeing it 17 times.

“I just kept going, just kept asking to see it again and again. It revolutionized movies. It blew my mind,” Affleck said. “I’ll be right up there in the front of the line for the new one. The only thing now hopefully is I’ll be able to scam some tickets and not have to camp out.”

With the 1997 special-edition releases of the original trilogy, the first film – officially called “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” – has totaled $461 million domestically, second to “Titanic” at $601 million.

Including all reissues, “Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” is No. 13 at $290 million, and “Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” is No. 9 with $309 million.

With the hype on “Phantom Menace” as the first “Star Wars” chapter since 1983, some Hollywood analysts had thought it would do better than its $431 million haul. Many found the story weak and the characters and dialogue flat compared with the first three films.

“The other movies were about defeating the empire and overcoming evil and living for the greater good,” said Tariq Jalil, writer-director of “A Galaxy Far Far Away,” a documentary examining “Star Wars” fandom that hits video stores two days before “Attack of the Clones” opens on May 16.

“As far as I can tell, “Phantom Menace’ was about taxes, which doesn’t lend itself to great emotional attachment,” said Jalil, referring to that installment’s trade-war conflict.

Visually, “Phantom Menace” was a special-effects advance over the original trilogy, using computer animation to create armies of characters and elaborate space battles. The more subtle slow-motion and freeze-frame effects of “The Matrix” resonated more with viewers, though.

“It may have been a victim of its own success,” said Jonathan Kuntz, a film historian at the University of California in Los Angeles. “Star Wars’ set the standard for special effects, and there’s been many, many films since then with special effects in the Lucas vein. So “Phantom Menace’ wasn’t anything radically new.”

Focusing on the boyhood of Anakin, the father of Luke and Leia who eventually transforms into the villain Darth Vader, “Phantom Menace” also was more of a kiddie film than the earlier three.

For all the criticism, “Phantom Menace” obviously offered something that audiences wanted, said Rick McCallum, producer of the current “Star Wars” trilogy.

“When you look at the difference between films that gross $100 million and $200 million, once you’re over that $175-$200 million mark, people have to love your film. That is the only thing that drives it,” McCallum said. “I couldn’t be happier with our $431 million gross. It’s a major achievement.”

Adjusted for inflation, “Phantom Menace” ranks behind the original as the second most successful of the “Star Wars” movies in their first runs.

The $252 million that “Return of the Jedi” grossed in 1983 translates to $404 million in 1999, when “Phantom Menace” came out. The $182 million initial take of “Empire Strikes Back” equates to $341 million in 1999 dollars.

Such comparisons are difficult given studio preoccupation today with immediate returns over the longer-haul approach of 25 years ago. Who knows how much “Return of the Jedi” and “Empire Strikes Back” might have netted with today’s heavier marketing push and wider release?

A better parallel is last year’s top-grossing film, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which opened in a record 3,672 theaters and delivered a faithful adaptation of the book that generally pleased devoted fans of J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard.

Both “Harry Potter” and “Phantom Menace” grossed $105 million in their first five days.

Yet “Phantom Menace” had greater staying power, ultimately taking in $114 million more than “Harry Potter.”

“Star Wars’ is one of the surest bets there is,” said Bill Warren, a science-fiction expert whose books include “Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the ’50s.” “Why do people go see John Wayne movies? They’ve got John Wayne in them. People see “Star Wars’ movies because they’re full of “Star Wars’ stuff. There’s a familiarity and affection for the material.

“All the new movie has to be is a little better than “Phantom Menace’ and people will go bananas.”