Where to watch Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Trivia & production notes

• George Lucas decided to make Star Wars as a prequel trilogy rather than sequels after developing Anakin Skywalker's backstory, with the films intended to be a tragedy examining how he became Darth Vader.
• Lucas reduced young Anakin's age from twelve to nine years old because he felt the younger age would better serve the plot point about Anakin being affected by his mother's absence.
• The film's working title was 'The Beginning' until shortly before completion, when it was changed to 'The Phantom Menace' as a reference to Palpatine concealing his identity as a Sith Lord.
• Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, and Steven Spielberg were all approached to direct the film but each told Lucas he should direct it himself, finding the project too daunting.
• Samuel L. Jackson agreed to appear in Star Wars after casting director Robin Gurland suggested him to Lucas, but his role as Mace Windu was kept secret until his first day on set.
• Ray Park was originally hired as part of the stunt crew but was given the role of Darth Maul after Lucas and producer Rick McCallum were impressed by test footage of him performing lightsaber choreography.
• Darth Maul's voice was dubbed over in post-production by Peter Serafinowicz because Ray Park's voice was considered too squeaky.
• Keira Knightley's parents tried to convince her not to audition, but she pursued the role as a Star Wars fan and was selected partly because of her striking resemblance to Natalie Portman.
• Over 3,000 actors auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker, including Haley Joel Osment, before Jake Lloyd was selected.
• Benicio del Toro was initially cast as Darth Maul but left the project when his character's dialogue was removed from the script.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.