This year marks the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, and, by extension, the Prequel Trilogy as a whole. There’s been some minor announcements this week regarding the milestone, and I think they’re worth talking about.
Firstly, it was announced earlier today (to no one’s surprise, really) that The Phantom Menace will return to theaters on May 4th weekend to celebrate the film’s anniversary.
With The Bad Batch ending just short of May 4th, there was speculation that something would fill the date, and now we have our answer. This reaffirms Lucasfilm’s commitment to bringing the old films back to theaters. We saw ROTJ get a theatrical run last year for its 40th anniversary, and with TPM getting similar treatment, I think we can expect this trend to continue. Next year would be TESB’s 45th anniversary, and ROTS’ 20th, so maybe one or both of those films hit the big screen in 2025.
But, beyond that, I’d bet on Acolyte marketing to kick into gear alongside TPM’s return to theaters. It would make a ton of sense as the show is essentially a prequel to the prequels.
The other bit of Prequel news this week came from Empire Magazine who announced a special issue to celebrate Lucas’ second trilogy. The issue has some gorgeous cover art, and features interviews with the likes of Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Samuel L. Jackson (who I’m betting will be using the opportunity to once again campaign for Mace Windu’s survival lol). But perhaps most exciting of all, and I genuinely mean this, is the triumphant return of our Lord and Savior Rick McCallum. If you know you know.
The issue releases on Thursday, February 15, and, as your resident Prequel Stan, I’ll be picking up a copy as soon as I can get my hands on one.
And just look at this:
Let me know if any of you will be checking out the Empire issue, or seeing TPM in theaters for Star Wars day!
Have a good day, everyone.