The worst Star Wars movie suddenly has the best poster

Those who experienced it will never forget the crushing disappointment that was Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. After a frankly obscene amount of marketing and hype, the first Star Wars film in 16 years finally arrived in 1999, and it was... not great. From irritating CGI amphibians to an inexplicable focus on international trading laws, Episode I was not without its many, many flaws. But hey, at least now, 25 years later, it has an incredible new poster!

To celebrate the film's 25th birthday, Disney is re-releasing it in cinemas (on the weekend of May the 4th, no less). And accompanying the release is an incredible new anniversary poster by Matt Ferguson. (For more design inspiration, check out the best print ads of all time.)

Ferguson has already created several anniversary movie posters for the Star Wars saga, and shared his process for this one on Instagram. "It had to fall in line with my other Star Wars anniversary posters while simultaneously feeling like a prequel movie design," he explains. "To that end I used a more refined serif font & a warm, regal colour palette. A more elegant poster, for a more civilised age. The layout of the poster has Maul as the looming presence, which he is in that movie. In between the Sith and little Ani, almost guarding him, is Padmé, Qui Gon and Obi Wan… foreshadowing the struggles the character is going to face." 

And as many commenters have pointed out, the brilliant poster somehow manages makes the film look much more appealing. "Such an awesome poster that makes Ep1 look incredible…despite it being what it was," one writes, while another adds, "This goes to show what a great poster can do for a movie. Makes me want to watch the movie again ASAP."

Indeed, it might only be February, but 2024 is already looking like an incredible year for movie posters – we've seen some awesome designs in the last few weeks alone.