Star Wars prequel

trilogy

The Star Wars prequel trilogy is a series of

epic space-opera films written and
directed by George Lucas. It was produced
by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by 20th
Century Fox. The trilogy was released from
1999 to 2005 and is a prequel to the
original Star Wars trilogy (1977–83). It
consists of Star Wars: Episode I – The
Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II –
Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III
– Revenge of the Sith (2005). It is the
second of the three trilogies in the
Skywalker saga in terms of release order,
but chronologically, it is the first act.
 Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Sw-ep1-logo.png      Sw-ep2-logo.png
Sw-ep3-logo.png
The Star Wars prequel trilogy logos

Directed by George Lucas

Produced by Rick McCallum

Screenplay by George Lucas

Jonathan Hales (II)

Starring Liam Neeson (I)

Ewan McGregor
Natalie Portman
Jake Lloyd (I)
Ian McDiarmid
Anthony Daniels
 Kenny Baker
Pernilla August (I, II)
Frank Oz
Hayden Christensen
(II, III)
Samuel L. Jackson

Music by Christopher Lee (II, III)

John Williams

Cinematography David Tattersall

Edited by Ben Burtt

Paul Martin Smith (I)
Roger Barton (III)

Production Lucasfilm Ltd.

companies
Distributed by 1999–2019:
20th Century Fox
 since 2019:
Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures[a]
Release date May 19, 1999
(The Phantom
Menace)
May 16, 2002
(Attack of the Clones)
May 19, 2005
(Revenge of the Sith)

Country United States

Language English

Budget $343 million (total for

I, II, III)

Box office $2.526 billion (total

for I, II, III)
The trilogy follows the training of the
powerful youth Anakin Skywalker (the
father of the original trilogy protagonists
Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa) as a Jedi
with the help of the young Obi-Wan Kenobi,
his fall to the dark side of the Force and
birth as Darth Vader as well as the
corruption of the Galactic Republic, the
annihilation of the Jedi Order and rise of
the Empire under Sith Lord Darth Sidious.
The first two films received mixed reviews,
while the third received positive reviews.

Background
According to original trilogy producer Gary
Kurtz, loose plans for a prequel trilogy
were developed during the outlining of the
original two films.[1] In 1980, Lucas
confirmed that he had the nine-film series
plotted,[2] but due to the stress of
producing the original trilogy and pressure
from his wife to settle down, he had
decided to cancel further sequels by
1981.[3] However, technical advances in
the late 1980s and early 1990s, including
the ability to create computer-generated
imagery, inspired Lucas to consider that it
might be possible to revisit his saga. In
1989, Lucas stated that the prequel trilogy
would be "unbelievably expensive."[4] After
viewing an early CGI test created by
Industrial Light & Magic for Jurassic Park,
Lucas said:

We did a test for Steven

Spielberg; and when we put
them up on the screen I had
tears in my eyes. It was like one
of those moments in history, like
the invention of the lightbulb or
the first telephone call. A major
gap had been crossed and things
were never going to be the
same.[5]
In 1992, Lucas acknowledged that he had
plans to create the prequel trilogy in the
Lucasfilm Fan Club magazine, and
announced this to Variety in late 1993.[6]
Producer Rick McCallum reached out to
Frank Darabont, who had had previously
written The Young Indiana Jones
Chronicles and The Shawshank
Redemption, for possible future writing
duties.[7] He was considered until at least
1995, but as time went on, Lucas
continued writing the screenplays
himself.[8] The popularity of the franchise
had been prolonged by the Star Wars
Expanded Universe, so that it still had a
large audience. A theatrical rerelease of
the original trilogy in 1997 'updated' the
20-year-old films with the style of CGI
envisioned for the new episodes.

Films
Having been significantly anticipated by
fans, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom
Menace was released on May 19, 1999. It
sees the Jedi coming into contact with the
young Anakin Skywalker and the
corruption of the Galactic Senate by
Palpatine (Darth Sidious). Episode II –
Attack of the Clones was released on May
16, 2002. The story jumps ahead 10 years
and finds Anakin, a Jedi Padawan of Obi-
Wan Kenobi pursuing a forbidden
romance, as well as the outbreak of the
Clone Wars. Episode III – Revenge of the
Sith, the first PG-13 film in the franchise,
was released on May 19, 2005.[9] It brings
the six-episode saga full circle by revealing
Darth Vader's origin as the fallen Jedi
Knight Anakin Skywalker, having been
manipulated by Palpatine and the dark
side of the Force.

Film Release date Director Screenwriter(s) Story P

by

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace May 19, 1999 George Lucas

George Lucas
George George
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones May 16, 2002 and Jonathan
Lucas Lucas M
Hales

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith May 19, 2005 George Lucas
Episode I – The Phantom Menace …

32 years before the events of the original

film, two Jedi, acting as negotiators of the
Republic, discover that the corrupt Trade
Federation has formed a blockade around
the planet Naboo. Sith Lord Darth Sidious
has secretly caused the blockade to give
his alter ego, Senator Palpatine, a pretext
to overthrow and replace the Supreme
Chancellor of the Republic. Jedi Master
Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan
(apprentice), the young Obi-Wan Kenobi,
encounter Jar Jar Binks, a native of Naboo
who helps them find the Queen of Naboo.
With Queen Padmé Amidala, they escape
the blockade, but not before their starship
has been damaged. Landing on Tatooine
for repairs, they meet a nine-year-old slave
named Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon helps
liberate the boy by betting with his master
in a podrace, believing him to be the
"Chosen One" prophesied by the Jedi to
bring balance to the Force due to the boy's
unusually strong connection to it. Sidious
dispatches his Sith apprentice, Darth Maul,
to attack the queen's Jedi protectors.
Arriving on Coruscant so the queen can
plead Naboo's crisis before the Republic
Senate, Anakin is brought before the Jedi
Council, where Yoda senses that he
possesses too much fear to be trained.
The Jedi are ordered to accompany the
queen back to Naboo, where she pleads
with the natives for their help in the battle
against the droid army. Anakin manages to
destroy the control center and disable the
droid army while Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan
fight Maul; Maul kills Qui-Gon, but is in turn
slain by Obi-Wan. With the council
acknowledging the Sith's coming return,
Obi-Wan is promoted to Jedi Knight and
takes Anakin under his wing with reluctant
approval from the Council.[10]

The prequels were originally planned to fill

in history tangential to the original trilogy,
but Lucas realized that they could form the
first half of one long story focusing on
Anakin.[11] This would shape the film
series into a self-contained saga. In 1994,
Lucas began writing the screenplay for the
first prequel, initially titled Episode I: The
Beginning. Following the film's release,
Lucas announced that he would be
directing the next two.[12]

     

The central trio of the prequel trilogy was played by

Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker, Episodes II &
III), Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), and Natalie
Portman (Padmé Amidala), respectively.
Episode II – Attack of the Clones …

10 years after the Battle of Naboo, an

assassination attempt is made on former
Queen Padmé Amidala, who is serving as
the Senator of Naboo. Obi-Wan and his
apprentice Anakin are assigned to protect
her; Obi-Wan tracks the killer, while Anakin
and Padmé retreat to Naboo. They soon
fall in love with each other, albeit secretly
due to the Jedi Order's rule against
attachment. Meanwhile, Chancellor
Palpatine schemes to draw the entire
galaxy into the "Clone War" between the
Republic army of clone troopers led by the
Jedi, and the Confederacy of Independent
Systems led by Count Dooku (the former
master of Obi-Wan's deceased master Qui-
Gon, and Palpatine's new Sith
apprentice).[13]

The first draft of Episode II was completed

just weeks before principal photography,
and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer
from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,
to polish it.[14] Unsure of a title, Lucas had
jokingly called the film "Jar Jar's Great
Adventure".[15] In writing The Empire
Strikes Back, Lucas initially considered that
Lando Calrissian was a clone from a
planet of clones which caused the Clone
Wars mentioned in A New Hope.[16][17] He
later came up with the concept of an army
of clone shock troopers from a remote
planet which attacked the Republic and
were resisted by the Jedi.[18]

Episode III – Revenge of the Sith …

Three years into the Clone Wars, Anakin

and Obi-Wan lead a counter-strike to save
Chancellor Palpatine from Count Dooku
and the droid commander General
Grievous. Anakin begins to have prophetic
visions of his secret wife Padmé dying in
childbirth. Palpatine, who had been
secretly engineering the Clone Wars to
destroy the Jedi Order, convinces Anakin
that the dark side of the Force holds the
power to save Padmé's life. Desperate,
Anakin submits to Palpatine and is
renamed Darth Vader. Palpatine orders the
clone army to fire on their Jedi generals,
and declares the former Republic an
Empire. Vader participates in the
extermination of the Jedi, culminating in a
lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan on the
volcanic planet Mustafar.[19]

Work on Episode III began before Episode

II was released, with one scene shot
during the earlier film's production. Lucas
originally told concept artists that the film
would open with a montage of the Clone
Wars,[20] and included a scene of Palpatine
revealing to Anakin that he had willed his
conception through the Force.[21] Lucas
reviewed and radically reorganized the
plot,[22] having Anakin execute Dooku in
the first act to foreshadow his fall to the
dark side.[23] After principal photography
was completed in 2003, Lucas made more
changes, rewriting Anakin's arc. He would
now primarily turn to the dark side in a
quest to save Padmé, rather than just
believing that the Jedi are plotting to take
over the Republic. The rewrite was
accomplished both through editing
principal footage, and filming new and
revised scenes during pick-ups in 2004.[24]
Themes
Lucas made a conscious effort to parallel
scenes and dialogue between the prequel
and original trilogy, especially concerning
the journey of Anakin Skywalker in the
prequels and that of his son Luke in the
older films. Together with the original
trilogy, Lucas has collectively referred to
the first six episodic films of the franchise
as "the tragedy of Darth Vader".[25] In 2019,
Lucasfilm labelled the prequel trilogy part
of the "Age of Republic" on a timeline of
the saga.[26]
There are many references to Christianity
in the prequel trilogy, such as the
appearance of Darth Maul, whose design
draws heavily from traditional depictions
of the devil, complete with red skin and
horns.[27] The Star Wars film cycle features
a similar Christian narrative involving
Anakin Skywalker; he is the "Chosen
One"—the individual prophesied to bring
balance to the Force—who was conceived
of a virgin birth. However, unlike Jesus,
Anakin falls from grace and seemingly
fails to fulfill his destiny (until the prophecy
comes true in Return of the Jedi). The saga
draws heavily from the hero's journey, an
archetypical template developed by
comparative mythologist Joseph
Campbell.[27]

Political science has been an important

element of Star Wars since the franchise
launched in 1977, focusing on a struggle
between democracy and dictatorship.
Palpatine being a chancellor before
becoming the Emperor in the prequel
trilogy alludes to Adolf Hitler's role as
chancellor before appointing himself
Führer.[28] Lucas has also drawn parallels
between Palpatine and historical dictators
such as Julius Caesar and Napoleon
Bonaparte, well as former president of the
United States Richard Nixon.[29][30][b] The
Great Jedi Purge depicted in Revenge of
the Sith mirrors the events of the Night of
the Long Knives.[33] The corruption of the
Galactic Republic is modeled after the fall
of the democratic Roman Republic and the
formation of an empire.[34][35]

Re-releases
In 2011, box sets of the original and
prequel trilogy were released on Blu-Ray,
all including alterations. 3D releases were
planned for the then-six-film franchise, but
after the financially unsuccessful 2012 3D
release of The Phantom Menace, the rest
were cancelled to focus on the sequels.[36]
On April 11, 2019, it was announced that
the prequel trilogy would be available upon
the launch of Disney+.[37]

Reception
The prequel trilogy received mixed reviews,
generally transitioning from negative to
positive with each installment. Common
criticisms surrounded the comic relief
character of Jar Jar Binks,[c] over-reliance
on CGI and green screens, melodramatic
and wooden dialogue including scenes of
romance between Anakin and Padmé, and
slow-paced political scenes.[39]
Conversely, some argue the handling of
political issues, especially involving the
rise of fascism, was a positive element of
the prequels.[40] George Lucas has
responded to the negative criticism by
saying that, like the original films, they
were intended "for 12-year-olds"—while
acknowledging that fans who saw the
originals when they were young had
different expectations as adults.[41] The
prequels have been noted as retaining a
dedicated fanbase, primarily composed of
millennials who were children at the time
of their release.[42]

Many expressed their disappointment with

the trilogy's portrayal of Anakin Skywalker,
particularly calling the writing weak and
the dialogue wooden, although Hayden
Christensen's performance in the third film
was more well-received.[43] Contrarily,
Ewan McGregor's portrayal of Obi-Wan
Kenobi, following in the footsteps of Sir
Alec Guinness, has been generally
praised.[44] Natalie Portman has expressed
her disappointment with the trilogy's
negative reception, saying that "When
something has that much anticipation it
can almost only disappoint." She also
acknowledged that "With the perspective
of time, it's been re-evaluated by a lot of
people who actually really love them
now."[45]
    

A Naboo Model of an X-
starfighter wing fighter
from the from the
prequel trilogy original trilogy[d]

The trilogy has also received some

criticism for clashing aesthetically with the
original trilogy. While the older films
feature rough and aged technology, the
prequels depict relatively sleek and new
industrial designs.[46] Some have criticized
this design choice by saying that it makes
the earlier time period appear to depict a
more advanced civilization, although
Revenge of the Sith brings the design
closer to that of the original trilogy.[47]
Lucas has called the choice clever, as it
illustrates the halt of technological
innovation in a time period of civil war.[48]

Critical response …

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore

The Phantom 53% (6/10 average rating) (223 51 (36

[49] [50]
A−[51]
Menace reviews) reviews)

Attack of the 66% (6.62/10 average rating) (250 54 (39

[52] [53]
A−[51]
Clones reviews) reviews)

80% (7.29/10 average rating) (296 68 (40

Revenge of the Sith A−[51]
reviews)[54] reviews)[55]

Academy Awards …
 Film

The Phantom Attack of the Revenge of the

Academy Awards Menace Clones Sith

Best Makeup Nominated

Best Sound Editing Nominated

Best Sound Mixing Nominated

Best Visual Effects Nominated Nominated

Box office performance …

Box office revenue B

Adjusted for
Release A
Film Budget inflation Other
date North America Worldwide
(North territories
A
America)[n 1]

The
May 19, $115
Phantom $474,544,677 $815,518,000 $552,500,000 $1,027,044,677
1999 million
Menace

Attack of
May 16, $115
the $310,676,740 $482,820,000 $338,721,588 $649,398,328
2002 million
Clones

Revenge
May 19, $113
of the $380,270,577 $535,701,000 $469,765,058 $850,035,635
2005 million
Sith

$343
Total $1,165,491,994 1,834,039,000 $1,360,986,646 $2,526,478,640
million

1. Adjusting for inflation is complicated

by the fact that the first four films
have had multiple releases in different
years, so their earnings cannot be
simply adjusted by the initial year of
release. Inflation adjusted figures for
2005 can be found in Block, Alex Ben;
Wilson, Lucy Autrey, eds. (2010).
George Lucas's Blockbusting: A
Decade-By-Decade Survey of Timeless
Movies Including Untold Secrets of
Their Financial and Cultural Success .
HarperCollins. p. 519. ISBN 978-
0061778896. Adjustment to constant
dollars is undertaken in conjunction
with the United States Consumer Price
Index provided by the Federal Reserve
 Bank of Minneapolis, using 2005 as
the base year.[56]

References
Footnotes

a. Physical distribution rights were set to

move to Disney in 2020 according to
the 2012 deal, but eventually moved to
Disney in 2019 as a result of the
acquisition of Fox.
b. In his early drafts, Lucas used the plot
point of a dictator staying in power
with the support of the military. In his
comment (made in the prequel trilogy
era) Lucas attributed this to Nixon's
 supposed intention to defy the 22nd
Amendment,[31] but the president was
actually impeached and never ran for
a third term. Fellow Republican
President Ronald Reagan sought to
repeal the amendment after leaving
the office.[32]
c. The character was so disliked, even by
fans, that actor Ahmed Best
considered suicide.[38]
d. The model's chassis is depicted bare,
but the fighters are covered by panels
in the films—being exposed only
temporarily due to battle damage.

Citations
1. "Gary Kurtz Reveals Original Plans for
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3. Kaminski 2008, p. 494.
4. Kaminski 2008, p. 303.
5. Kaminski 2008, p. 311.
6. Kaminski 2008, p. 312.
7. Kaminski 2008, p. 315.
8. Kaminski 2008, pp. 338-39.
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15. Kaminski 2008, p. 374.
16. Bouzereau 1997, p. 196.
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38. Newbold, Mark (January 5, 2019).
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Sources …

Bouzereau, Laurent (1997). The Annotated

Screenplays. Del Rey. ISBN 978-0-345-40981-
2.
Kaminski, Michael (2008) [2007]. The Secret
History of Star Wars. Legacy Books Press.
ISBN 978-0-9784652-3-0.
Rinzler, Jonathan W. (2005). The Making of
Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith .
Del Rey. ISBN 978-0-345-43139-4.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Star_Wars_prequel_trilogy&oldid=934588881"

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