2000s in film

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The decade of the 2000s in film involved many significant developments in the filmmaking industries around the world, especially in the technologies used. Building on advancements from the 1990s, computers were widely utilized to create effects that would have previously been more expensive and time-consuming, from the subtle erasing of surrounding islands in Cast Away to the vast battle scenes in The Matrix sequels.

Trends

• The 2000s saw the resurgence of several genres. Fantasy film franchises dominated the box office with The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Star Wars prequel trilogy (beginning in 1999), The Chronicles of Narnia, etc. Comic book superhero films became a blockbuster subgenre following the releases of X-Men, Unbreakable, and Spider-Man; culminating in the unprecedented achievements of The Dark Knight both in terms of revenue and acclaim. Gladiator sparked the revival of historical epics set in ancient times (e.g., 300), and the Bollywood-inspired Moulin Rouge! did the same for live action musical films in the Western world (e.g., Chicago). Hong Kong fight choreographers like Yuen Woo-ping continued their influence in Hollywood with such martial arts films as Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2, even leading to the spread of wire fu into other subgenres alongside filmmaker John Woo's gun fu from the likes of Mission: Impossible 2.
• Certain film categories that were generally not popular in North America became more attractive to western moviegoers. Subtitled non-English language films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, The Passion of the Christ, Pan's Labyrinth, and Apocalypto; as well as feature-length documentaries like Fahrenheit 9/11, March of the Penguins, Earth, and Michael Jackson's This Is It; ended up being very successful.
• Computer animation replaced traditional animation as the dominant technique for animated pictures in American cinema, especially after the release of Shrek, which is the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Further extending to the exploration of motion capture technology in such films as Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol. However, hand-drawn anime films also gained more exposure outside of Japan with the releases of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo; while stop-motion films earned significant audience interest thanks to Chicken Run, Corpse Bride, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Coraline. DreamWorks Animation was the top animation studio of the decade, with Pixar and 20th Century Fox Animation following close behind (the latter after Fox Animation Studios was shut down on October 31, 2000).
• Major film studios started to focus their budgets on established titles with built-in fandoms to lower the risk of commercial failures and maximize financial profits. Increasing the productions of sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, adaptations, spin-offs, crossovers, and so on; often as attempts to create or revive franchises. Capitalizing especially on nostalgia induced by the likes of Charlie's Angels, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Freddy vs. Jason, Starsky & Hutch, Alien vs. Predator, The Dukes of Hazzard, Superman Returns, Miami Vice, Rocky Balboa, TMNT, Live Free or Die Hard, Transformers, Rambo, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and many others. Out of the 50 highest-grossing films of the decade worldwide, only nine (of which six are animated) are not based on another property, though one of these became the top-grosser of all time: late 2009's Avatar.

Highest-grossing films

See also: Lists of highest-grossing films

The list has more 2008 and 2007 films in the top 50 than any other year, each with eight. They are followed by 2009, 2005 and 2004, each with six. Figures are given in United States dollars (USD).

List of worldwide highest-grossing films

Rank	Title	Studios	Worldwide gross	Year	Ref.
1	Avatar	20th Century Fox	$2,713,395,000	2009	[# 1]
2	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	New Line Cinema	$1,119,110,941	2003	[# 2]
3	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	Walt Disney Studios	$1,066,179,725	2006	[# 3]
4	The Dark Knight	Warner Bros. Pictures	$1,001,921,825	2008	[# 4]
5	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Warner Bros. Pictures	$974,733,550	2001	[# 5]
6	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	Walt Disney Studios	$960,996,492	2007	[# 6]
7	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Warner Bros. Pictures	$938,212,738	2007	[# 7]
8	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Warner Bros. Pictures	$929,359,401	2009	[# 8]
9	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	New Line Cinema	$925,282,504	2002	[# 9]
10	Shrek 2	DreamWorks Animation	$919,838,758	2004	[# 10]
11	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Warner Bros. Pictures	$895,921,036	2005	[# 11]
12	Spider-Man 3	Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures	$890,871,626	2007	[# 12]
13	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	20th Century Fox/Blue Sky	$887,566,024	2009	[# 13]
14	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Warner Bros. Pictures	$878,643,482	2002	[# 14]
15	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	New Line Cinema	$870,761,744	2001	[# 15]
16	Finding Nemo	Walt Disney Studios/Pixar	$864,625,978	2003	[# 16]
17	Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith	20th Century Fox	$848,754,768	2005	[# 17]
18	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures	$834,969,807	2009	[# 18]
19	Spider-Man	Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures	$821,708,551	2002	[# 19]
20	Shrek the Third	Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Animation	$798,958,162	2007	[# 20]
21	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Warner Bros. Pictures	$795,634,069	2004	[# 21]
22	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	Paramount Pictures/Lucasfilm	$786,636,033	2008	[# 22]
23	Spider-Man 2	Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures	$783,766,341	2004	[# 23]
24	The Da Vinci Code	Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures	$758,239,851	2006	[# 24]
25	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	Buena Vista Pictures/Walden Media	$745,011,272	2005	[# 25]
26	The Matrix Reloaded	Warner Bros. Pictures	$742,128,461	2003	[# 26]
27	2012	Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures	$736,257,842	2009	[# 27]
28	Transformers	Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Pictures	$709,709,780	2007	[# 28]
29	Up	Walt Disney Studios/Pixar	$683,004,164	2009	[# 29]
30	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	Summit Entertainment	$669,259,961	2009	[# 30]
31	Ice Age: The Meltdown	20th Century Fox/Blue Sky	$655,388,158	2006	[# 31]
32	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	Walt Disney Studios	$654,264,015	2003	[# 32]
33	Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones	20th Century Fox	$649,398,328	2002	[# 33]
34	Kung Fu Panda	Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Animation	$631,744,560	2008	[# 34]
35	The Incredibles	Walt Disney Studios/Pixar	$631,442,092	2004	[# 35]
36	Hancock	Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures	$624,386,746	2008	[# 36]
37	Ratatouille	Walt Disney Studios/Pixar	$623,707,397	2007	[# 37]
38	The Passion of the Christ	Icon Productions	$611,899,420	2004	[# 38]
39	Mamma Mia!	Universal Pictures	$609,841,637	2008	[# 39]
40	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Animation	$603,900,344	2008	[# 40]
41	Casino Royale	Sony Pictures/MGM/Columbia Pictures	$594,239,066	2006	[# 41]
42	War of the Worlds	Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Pictures	$591,745,540	2005	[# 42]
43	Quantum of Solace	Sony Pictures/MGM/Columbia Pictures	$586,090,727	2008	[# 43]
44	I Am Legend	Warner Bros. Pictures	$585,349,010	2007	[# 44]
45	Iron Man	Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios	$585,133,287	2008	[# 45]
46	Night at the Museum	20th Century Fox	$574,480,450	2006	[# 46]
47	King Kong	Universal Pictures	$550,517,357	2005	[# 47]
48	Mission: Impossible 2	Paramount Pictures	$546,388,105	2000	[# 48]
49	The Day After Tomorrow	20th Century Fox	$544,272,402	2004	[# 49]
50	Madagascar	DreamWorks Animation	$532,680,671	2005	[# 50]

Highest-grossing film per year

The fantasy genre became the annual top-grosser seven times in a row from four different franchises.

Year	Title	Studio(s)	Worldwide Gross	Ref.
2000	Mission: Impossible 2	Paramount	$546,288,105	[# 48]
2001	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Warner Bros.	$974,733,550	[# 5]
2002	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	New Line Cinema	$925,282,504	[# 9]
2003	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	New Line Cinema	$1,119,110,941	[# 2]
2004	Shrek 2	DreamWorks SKG	$919,838,758	[# 10]
2005	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Warner Bros.	$895,921,036	[# 11]
2006	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	Disney	$1,066,179,725	[# 3]
2007	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	Disney	$960,996,492	[# 6]
2008	The Dark Knight	Warner Bros.	$1,001,842,429	[# 4]
2009	Avatar	20th Century Fox	$2,713,395,000	[# 51]

Most acclaimed films of the decade

See also: List of films considered the best

According to They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?, a site which numerically calculates reception among critics, the most acclaimed films of the 2000s are:^[1]

1. In the Mood for Love
2. Mulholland Drive
3. Yi Yi
4. There Will Be Blood
5. Spirited Away
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Caché/Hidden
8. Tropical Malady
9. Lost in Translation
10. City of God
11. Brokeback Mountain
12. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
13. WALL-E
14. Talk to Her
15. Dogville
16. Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks
17. Russian Ark
18. The White Ribbon
19. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
20. No Country for Old Men

According to Metacritic, which analysed many of the notable 'best films of the decade' lists to compile the results, the top twenty films most often and most notably included in these lists are:

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Mulholland Drive
4. No Country for Old Men
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
7. Spirited Away
8. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
10. The Dark Knight
11. Amélie
12. Children of Men
13. Memento
14. Pan's Labyrinth
15. United 93
16. Wall-E
17. Almost Famous
18. Brokeback Mountain
19. Far from Heaven
20. Lost in Translation

As well as this, the ten films released in the 2000s which got the highest average critic scores according to Metacritic are:

1. Pan's Labyrinth
2. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
3. Ratatouille
4. Spirited Away
5. The Hurt Locker
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
7. Sideways
8. Wall-E
9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
10. 35 Shots of Rum

BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century poll of film critics listed the following as the top ten best films of the 2000s:^[2]

1. Mulholland Drive
2. In the Mood for Love
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Spirited Away
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Yi Yi
7. No Country for Old Men
8. Zodiac
9. Children of Men
10. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

The New York Times' list of "The 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far" selected the following as the top five best films of the 2000s:^[3]

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Spirited Away
3. Million Dollar Baby
4. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
5. Yi Yi

Moviefone's list of "50 Best Movies of the Decade" included the following films in the top five:^[4]

1. Kill Bill
2. City of God
3. Battle Royale
4. No Country for Old Men
5. The Dark Knight

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino selected the following as the best and most influential films of the decade:^[5]

1. Battle Royale
2. Anything Else
3. Dogville
4. The Host
5. Joint Security Area
6. Lost in Translation
7. Memories of Murder
8. Shaun of the Dead
9. Team America: World Police
10. Unbreakable

Awards

The following films received the most acclaim at the Academy Awards during the 2000s.

Year	Ceremony	Most nominations	Most awards	Best Picture
2000	73rd	Gladiator (12)	Gladiator (5)	Gladiator
2001	74th	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (13)	A Beautiful Mind and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (4)	A Beautiful Mind
2002	75th	Chicago (13)	Chicago (6)	Chicago
2003	76th	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11)	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11)	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004	77th	The Aviator (11)	The Aviator (5)	Million Dollar Baby
2005	78th	Brokeback Mountain (8)	Brokeback Mountain, Crash, King Kong and Memoirs of a Geisha (3)	Crash
2006	79th	Dreamgirls (8)	The Departed (4)	The Departed
2007	80th	No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood (8)	No Country for Old Men (4)	No Country for Old Men
2008	81st	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (13)	Slumdog Millionaire (8)	Slumdog Millionaire
2009	82nd	Avatar and The Hurt Locker (9)	The Hurt Locker (6)	The Hurt Locker

List of films

• 2000 in film
• 2001 in film
• 2002 in film
• 2003 in film
• 2004 in film
• 2005 in film
• 2006 in film
• 2007 in film
• 2008 in film
• 2009 in film

See also

• Film
• History of film
• Lists of films
• Popular culture: 2000s in music, 2000s in sports, 2000s in television

References

Highest-grossing films

1. "Avatar (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
2. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
3. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
4. "The Dark Knight (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
5. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
6. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
7. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2793007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
8. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
9. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
10. "Shrek 2 (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
11. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
12. "Spider-Man 3 (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
13. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
14. "Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
15. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
16. "Finding Nemo (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
17. "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
18. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
19. "Spider-Man (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
20. "Shrek the Third (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
21. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
22. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
23. "Spider-Man 2 (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
24. "The Da Vinci Code (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
25. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
26. "The Matrix Reloaded (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
27. "2012 (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
28. "Transformers (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
29. "Up (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
30. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
31. "Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
32. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Peal (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
33. "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
34. "Kung Fu Panda (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
35. "The Incredibles (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
36. "Hancock (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
37. "Ratatouille (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
38. "The Passion of the Christ (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
39. "Mamma Mia! (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 19 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
40. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
41. "Casino Royale (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
42. "War of the Worlds (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
43. "Quantum of Solace (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
44. "I Am Legend (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
45. "Iron Man (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
46. "Night at the Museum (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
47. "King Kong (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
48. "Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
49. "The Day After Tomorrow (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
50. "Madagascar (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
51. "Avatar (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-18.

External links

• List of 2000s films at IMDb
• List of 2000s deaths at IMDb
• List of 2000s births at IMDb

1. Georgaris, Bill (February 2020). "The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films,". They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? (13th ed.). Retrieved 2020-07-03.
2. "The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films". BBC. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
3. "The 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far". The New York Times. 9 June 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
4. Barnes, Jessica (25 September 2009). "Now It's the 50 Best Movies of the Decade!". Cinematical. Moviefone. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
5. "Quentin Tarantino's Favorite 20 Films Since 1992". Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-20.