The Phantom Menace became the first Star Wars movie to cross the $1 billion mark at the box office Wednesday, only the 11th film to do so globally.
In the news: Reports of 3-D Blu-ray coming in spring
Rumor! Pocket Lint report that sources at the Panasonic conference in Hamburg are saying that The Phantom Menace 3D will be coming to Blu-ray in the spring.
Being Ackbar. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub catches up with Erik Bauersfeld, the radio dramatist who provided the voice of Admiral Ackbar and Bib Fortuna.
Sports. Sports Illustrated features Amanda Lucas. She claimed an open-weight women’s championship Saturday in Japan.
Honors. George Lucas accepted a Vanguard Award from Samuel L. Jackson at Saturday’s NAACP Image Awards. In his presentation, Jackson talking about lobbying for a role in the prequels: “I’ll be a Storm Trooper and just run across the screen. Nobody even has to know I’m in it.”
The Phantom Menace drops to #6 at the box office, but moves past Star Wars on the all-time list
The Phantom Menace had a 65% drop at the box office this weekend, coming up at #6 with $7.9 million, but it did pass one very big milestone – the first Star Wars. The Phantom Menace is now beating the original in all-time domestic grosses. Will A New Hope earn back top placement when its 3D turn comes around? Stay tuned…
In the meantime, there’s a rumor going around that we may see Attack of the Clones 3D as soon as August. Curious…
Phantom Menace comes in #4 for weekend with $23M
The weekend box office estimates are in, and it looks like the 3D rerelease of Episode I came in with a respectable $23M. Fox isn’t saying anything about further Star Wars 3D rerelease plans yet, but I’d bet that we’ll be seeing Attack of the Clones this time next year.
As predicted, The Vow and the Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds thriller Safe House were the top movies this weekend with $41.7M and $39.3M respectively. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island came in #3 with $27.6M. Overall, theaters took in $190M this weekend, an almost 30% increase over this time last year.
Reflecting on The Phantom Menace 3D
So I’ve been out to the theaters now twice to see The Phantom Menace 3D and what do I think? It had been a while since I had popped in this episode to watch at home, and seeing on the big screen in 3D with my friends and fellow Star Wars fans was the thing to do. I took in both a midnight show and a regular evening show on opening day, and got some popcorn and a great seat and enjoyed. Here’s are my thoughts on seeing The Phantom Menace in 3D.
Roundup: It’s Phantom Menace 3D day
The Phantom Menace is loose! Run for your lives! Or, chill out as we round up some of the press floating around about the movie. (And don’t forget that the new Her Universe stuff is now on sale!) Onward!
Reviews are in! MTV rounds up a couple from the pros. Our pal Bryan Young liked it. On the 3D, he says, “There was never a moment where I thought it was too overwhelming or too underwhelming.” Brian at Roqoo Depot is also favorable, calling it, “the single greatest post-processed 3D film that has graced the silver screen.”
Over at Entertainment Weekly, George Lucas talks about the 3D conversions came out of his efforts to get movie theaters to switch to digital, and why the format is beneficial to movies.
They also have some neat remembrances on Star Wars from Jeff Jensen, Marc Snetiker, Anthony Breznican and Stephan Lee. (Apparently EW has no lady staffers with SW memories.)
There’s also a photo gallery on their best and worst moments of the saga.
In today’s article, Keith Staskiewicz takes a look at how Episode I influenced special effects. Would we have Gollum if not for Jar Jar?
If you’re intrigued by some of the details Lucas mentioned in the EW video, learn more about The Phantom Menace’s 3D conversion from movieScope.
I’ve been looking at a lot of Phantom Menace stuff this week, and my favorite thing so far? Next Movie’s Eight biopics recast with Jar Jar. Yes, it’s total clickbait, but you certainly know by now that I love me some funny.
If you’re looking for something (sort of) serious, they also have an item about why Millennials (you know, those kids people us GenXers and GenCatalanos yell at to ‘get off our lawns’) don’t hate the prequels. But it’s in the form of a one-act play, so it’s not that serious.
CNN has a more straight-faced look at Star Wars, fandom and the reaction to Episode I. You know it’s serious because they enlisted Henry Jenkins.
The Dearborn Press and Guide highlights Steve Mitchell, a Michigan 501ster. The Great Lakes Garrison will appear at a Detroit Pistons game tonight and several Phantom Menace showings throughout the state tomorrow.
What’s TPM going up against at the box office? I don’t think it has much to worry about from The Vow, a romantic drama starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum… But the kid-friendly Journey 2: The Mysterious Island may also be a draw for the action-adventure crowd, not to mention the 3D big bucks.
Coming Soon is projecting The Vow to take the top spot, but has Episode I beating Journey by several million. Entertainment Weekly projects the same, but with a few more million between TPM and Journey.
And finally, for the bitterest kittens, here’s a little piece from my hometown paper: 10 reasons why not to see The Phantom Menace. (I’m rather partial to escaping to a more civilized age.) Or, swing over to see MTV’s Josh Horowitz argue TPM with Simon Pegg. Prequel-lovers, for you I have 10 reasons to love Jar Jar and MTV’s list of six underrated TPM characters.
We’ll be adding links to this post throughout the day, so check back!
Poll: Will you go see The Phantom Menace in 3D this weekend?
So Friday sees the release of The Phantom Menace 3D. Drew McWeeny praises the conversion, and his kid loved it (and he has a funny story about being banned from Skywalker Ranch.) Coming Soon’s Chris and Benjamin Mason were “blown away” by the conversion, though Richard Gray of The Reel Bits is less impressed, calling it “disappointing” and “murky.” But it’s The Phantom Menace, so of course the reviews are mixed.
In any case, our pal Bryan Young really wants you to see it. Others… Not so much. (I’m debating, but… Well.) Of course.
But the real question…
Continue reading “Poll: Will you go see The Phantom Menace in 3D this weekend?”
Surprise! VW’s Star Wars ad is a Super Bowl hit
Volkswagen’s second Star Wars ad officially debuted during the Super Bowl last night, and although reception in the fandom was lukewarm, (‘last year’s was better’) it seems to have done fairly well with the general audience, and the dog (and his fat suit) even got a small spotlight from the Los Angeles Times.
For instance, San Francisco Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub named it his second best, behind only the Clint Eastwood Chrysler spot. The Salt Lake Tribune’s Scott D. Pierce named it his #1. Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams admits that the spot was “shameless” and not as good as last years, but came out in favor because, well, dogs and Star Wars. The A.V. Club were less impressed, calling the dog “fairly cute” but saying the Star Wars endcap was “buzz insurance”.
But, naturally, democracy reigns, and you can vote for your own favorites on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and even the NFL themselves, where the VW spot is currently #3.
Making a surprise showing last night was a spot for The Phantom Menace 3D, which was apparently named the “the most-memorable movie spot” in one poll.
Selected AMC theaters to hold special screenings of The Phantom Menace 3D
Ten AMC theaters in the U.S. will hold the screenings, which will include Podracer 3D glasses and a free toy with each ticket. There will also be face painting, LEGOs, character appearances (aka your friendly neighborhood 501st and Rebel Legion members) and Xbox Kinect demonstrations.
The participating theaters are in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and San Francisco, though it appears the free toy offer may apply to all AMC theaters.
New posters for Phantom Menace 3D
The Daily Blam has five new posters for the rerelease of The Phantom Menace 3D. (See the other two at the link.) There’s something very 80’s about that blue one, no?