The Best Star Wars Movie Flopped the Hardest at the Box Office

The Star Wars franchise, with all its cultural significance, wouldn't exist without The Empire Strikes Back, the iconic sequel that changed the industry forever.

It elevated the franchise to new heights and the scale of the production is still astounding. It's hard to imagine how the battle scenes on a snowy planet and the chase through an asteroid belt were filmed without CGI.

However, there's no other Star Wars movie that grossed less than The Empire Strikes Back – fracnchise's golden standard.

'The Empire Strikes Back' Is the Lowest-Grossing Star Wars Movie

2019's The Rise of Skywalker with 51% on Rotten Tomatoes? Grossed almost twice as much. 2017's The Last Jedi with 41% on Rotten Tomatoes? The second highest-grossing Star Wars film.

Compared to the other movies in the franchise, it seems doubly unfair The Empire Strikes Back grossed less than each one of them. Below is a list of all the full-length Star Wars films, ranked from highest to lowest grossing:

• The Force Awakens (2015) – $936M

• The Last Jedi (2017) – $620M

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) – $532M

• The Rise of Skywalker (2019) – $515M

• The Phantom Menace (1999) – $431M

• Revenge of the Sith (2005) – $380M

• A New Hope (1977) – $307M

• Attack of the Clones (2002) – $302M

• Return of the Jedi (1983) – $252M

• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) – $213M

• The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – $209M

'The Empire Strikes Back' Was Released at the Height of Videotape Distribution

The reason for the low box office receipts lies in the timing of The Empire Strikes Back's release. A New Hope was released five times from 1977 to 1982 because videotapes were just starting to be sold during that time, and people mainly watched films in theaters.

However, The Empire Strikes Back was a film of the video era and was only released once in 1980. When we compare only the box office receipts from the year of the premiere, we find that The Empire Strikes Back, with its $209 million, earned only slightly less than A New Hope.

45 Years Later, 'The Empire Strikes Back' Is Still the Best Star Wars Film

Now, almost all fans believe that The Empire Strikes Back is better than A New Hope and is not only the best Star Wars film, but also one of the best sequels and sci-fi movies in the history of cinema.

And it's hard to argue: The Imperial March by John Williams debuted in this film and the phrase "I Am Your Father" is the most famous plot twist in history.

The Empire Strikes Back has the highest scores from both critics and viewers: 93% and 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively, and 8.7/10 on IMDb. However, the most important thing the sequel has is the unconditional love of fans that has not faded for nearly half a century – a much more significant achievement than box office figures.