9 Worst Billion Dollar Movies
5. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Ranking: #31
Worldwide Earnings: $1,027,044,677
This was more or less the most anticipated movie in the history of cinema. It was a staggering success and was the second highest-grossing film ever for a little while (after Titanic). A 3D re-release in 2012 brought the worldwide gross over a billion.
The Phantom Menace did leave many viewers heart-broken and disappointed and it's still regarded as the poster-child for disappointing movies. Now that it's nearly 20 years old, we can look upon it fairly and... yes, it's still underwhelming.
It is not without its moments, but even if it's not as bad as Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Solo: A Star Wars Story, it's still the worst of the main series. The dialogue is atrocious, emotional drama or humor is non-existent, it's full of irritating characters, it's positively drowning in dated CGI and worst of all it's just a dull story about trade routes which, aside from Anakin Skywalker being found, barely affects the saga at all.
It remains a major disappointment and this misjudged, often wooden and occasionally racist prequel is full of awful moments; the first half prior to the pod-race is often unwatchable.