Negative-1,

what you are forgetting is that in 1977 a ticket cost $2. In 1999, a ticket cost $10. So when TPM makes $100, that means 10 people saw it. When Star Wars makes $100, that means 50 people saw it.

Also, most people under the age of 30 today never saw it in theaters; they were born too late. Star Wars was a huge film on video--it was the first VHS to make a million dollars in rentals. It was also one of the top rated films when it came to HBO. In 1995, the VHS "faces" set sold nine million units in its first week; many of the people buying them (ie kids under 18 years old) were not alive when the film was theatrically released. And since then, the SE grossed $138 million theatrically, made almost as much on video, and then the SE DVD set was one of the best selling DVDs of all time when it came out.

So, please don't pull numbers out of your ass without keeping them in context. Very few people actually saw the prequels--it was mostly kids and fanboys. Everyone saw Star Wars; it was like when Titanic came out. Grandmas and children were going to the theater. But Star Wars is also the greatest film in terms of historical survival because so many young people from the second generation saw it that when it was released in 1997 it still to this day holds the record for biggest January opening.