In honor of its 20th anniversary, starting in late April, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith was released to theaters for the first time since May 19th, 2005. Revenge of the Sith is the third and final prequel movie to the Star Wars franchise, and follows Anakin Skywalker’s battle against the dark side. Anakin, a Jedi knight, seeks to save Chancellor Palpatine from the clutches of the Separatists, with the guidance of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Once rescued, Anakin begins growing closer to the Chancellor, too close in the eyes of the Jedi. However, Anakin starts to have visions of Padme Amidala’s death during the childbirth of her and Anakin’s twin children, and looks for any way to save her. Palpatine reveals his true identity, Darth Sidious, a Sith lord, and shows the powers of the dark side, specifically the ability to save loved ones from death. Anakin turns on Obi-Wan and the Jedi, becoming Darth Vader, and setting up the storyline of A New Hope, the first of the original trilogy.
Fans crowded the theaters, showing their love for the 20-year-old movie, though at one point in time, this movie received a very different response. Upon their release in the late ’90s and 2000s, the fanbase was very critical of the prequel movies. Some said that they didn’t live up to the original movies, a few critiqued Hayden Christensen’s acting as Anakin, and others simply hated the movies just because of Jar Jar Binks. No matter the reason, there was a consensus at the time that prequels were no match for the cinematic masterpieces of the original trilogy.
As time went on, however, and those who were just kids during the release of the prequels grew up, public opinion about the movies began to change. A new wave of Star Wars fans emerged, a group that valued the prequels as much as the original trilogy. Hayden Christensen, who was once despised for “embarrassing the Star Wars franchise,” was suddenly seeing admiration and support for movies released many years previously. This rerelease is now one of the most successful in history, earning $42.2 million in the box office in its first weekend. It is on pace to pass Titanic, to officially claim the title of most successful rerelease, compared to its $22.3 million made in the first weekend. Though it took two decades, the Star Wars fanbase has finally come to appreciate the prequels for the valuable films that they are, showing love to Hayden Christensen and the films as a whole upon the incredibly successful rerelease of Revenge of the Sith.
