Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the first installment in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy and stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, and Frank Oz. The film is set 32 years before the original film, and follows Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they protect Queen Amidala in hopes of securing
Changes in Star Wars re-releases of the theatrical version. Lucasfilm offered the altered 1997 Special Edition release, but the Registry refused it as the first published version must be accepted. The Library of Congress, however, received a 35mm print of the film, without the "A New Hope" subtitle and subsequent alterations, in 1978 as part of the film's copyright deposit. The first film was released in 1977 under the title "Star Wars". The subtitles "Episode IV" and "A New Hope" were retroactively added to the opening crawl in a subsequent release. Accounts differ as to when this change occurred. Some, including Lucasfilm, date the addition