2000s in film
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The decade of the 2000s in film involved many significant developments in the film industries around the world, especially in the technology used. Building on advancements from the 1990s, computers were used to create effects that would have previously been more expensive, from the subtle erasing of surrounding islands in Cast Away to the vast battle scenes such as those in The Matrix sequels and 300.
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 genre 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 epic films. The Bollywood-inspired Moulin Rouge! did the same for live action musical films in the Western world, where Indian musicals such as Lagaan and Devdas also began gaining mainstream exposure. 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 techniques into other subgenres alongside filmmaker John Woo's gun fu from the likes of Mission: Impossible 2. The battle royale genre also began with the release of the Japanese film Battle Royale.
- Film categories that were generally not popular in North America became increasingly attractive to western moviegoers. Non-English language films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, The Passion of the Christ, and Pan's Labyrinth; as well as documentary films like An Inconvenient Truth, March of the Penguins, Super Size Me, and Fahrenheit 9/11; ended up being very successful.
- Computer animation replaced traditional animation as the dominant technique for animated feature films in American cinema (especially after the release of Shrek): DreamWorks Animation was the top animation studio in that decade, with Pixar and 20th Century Fox Animation following close behind (the latter after Fox Animation Studios was closed down on October 31, 2000). 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 regained popularity thanks to Chicken Run, Corpse Bride, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Coraline.
- 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 profit. 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
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).
| Rank | Title | Studios | Worldwide gross | Year | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avatar | 20th Century Fox | $2,713,395,000 | 2009 | |
| 2 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | New Line Cinema | $1,119,110,941 | 2003 | |
| 3 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Walt Disney Studios | $1,066,179,725 | 2006 | |
| 4 | The Dark Knight | Warner Bros. Pictures | $1,001,921,825 | 2008 | |
| 5 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Warner Bros. Pictures | $974,733,550 | 2001 | |
| 6 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Walt Disney Studios | $960,996,492 | 2007 | |
| 7 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Warner Bros. Pictures | $938,212,738 | 2007 | |
| 8 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Warner Bros. Pictures | $929,359,401 | 2009 | |
| 9 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | New Line Cinema | $925,282,504 | 2002 | |
| 10 | Shrek 2 | DreamWorks Animation | $919,838,758 | 2004 | |
| 11 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Warner Bros. Pictures | $895,921,036 | 2005 | |
| 12 | Spider-Man 3 | Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $890,871,626 | 2007 | |
| 13 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky | $887,566,024 | 2009 | |
| 14 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Warner Bros. Pictures | $878,643,482 | 2002 | |
| 15 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | New Line Cinema | $870,761,744 | 2001 | |
| 16 | Finding Nemo | Walt Disney Studios/Pixar | $864,625,978 | 2003 | |
| 17 | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | 20th Century Fox | $848,754,768 | 2005 | |
| 18 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures | $834,969,807 | 2009 | |
| 19 | Spider-Man | Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $821,708,551 | 2002 | |
| 20 | Shrek the Third | Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Animation | $798,958,162 | 2007 | |
| 21 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Warner Bros. Pictures | $795,634,069 | 2004 | |
| 22 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Paramount Pictures/Lucasfilm | $786,636,033 | 2008 | |
| 23 | Spider-Man 2 | Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $783,766,341 | 2004 | |
| 24 | The Da Vinci Code | Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $758,239,851 | 2006 | |
| 25 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Buena Vista Pictures/Walden Media | $745,011,272 | 2005 | |
| 26 | The Matrix Reloaded | Warner Bros. Pictures | $742,128,461 | 2003 | |
| 27 | 2012 | Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $736,257,842 | 2009 | |
| 28 | Transformers | Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Pictures | $709,709,780 | 2007 | |
| 29 | Up | Walt Disney Studios/Pixar | $683,004,164 | 2009 | |
| 30 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Summit Entertainment | $669,259,961 | 2009 | |
| 31 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky | $655,388,158 | 2006 | |
| 32 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Walt Disney Studios | $654,264,015 | 2003 | |
| 33 | Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones | 20th Century Fox | $649,398,328 | 2002 | |
| 34 | Kung Fu Panda | Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Animation | $631,744,560 | 2008 | |
| 35 | The Incredibles | Walt Disney Studios/Pixar | $631,442,092 | 2004 | |
| 36 | Hancock | Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $624,386,746 | 2008 | |
| 37 | Ratatouille | Walt Disney Studios/Pixar | $623,707,397 | 2007 | |
| 38 | The Passion of the Christ | Icon Productions | $611,899,420 | 2004 | |
| 39 | Mamma Mia! | Universal Pictures | $609,841,637 | 2008 | |
| 40 | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa | Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Animation | $603,900,344 | 2008 | |
| 41 | Casino Royale | Sony Pictures/MGM/Columbia Pictures | $594,239,066 | 2006 | |
| 42 | War of the Worlds | Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks Pictures | $591,745,540 | 2005 | |
| 43 | Quantum of Solace | Sony Pictures/MGM/Columbia Pictures | $586,090,727 | 2008 | |
| 44 | I Am Legend | Warner Bros. Pictures | $585,349,010 | 2007 | |
| 45 | Iron Man | Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios | $585,133,287 | 2008 | |
| 46 | Night at the Museum | 20th Century Fox | $574,480,450 | 2006 | |
| 47 | King Kong | Universal Pictures | $550,517,357 | 2005 | |
| 48 | Mission: Impossible 2 | Paramount Pictures | $546,388,105 | 2000 | |
| 49 | The Day After Tomorrow | 20th Century Fox | $544,272,402 | 2004 | |
| 50 | Madagascar | DreamWorks Animation | $532,680,671 | 2005 |
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 | |
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Warner Bros. | $974,733,550 | |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | New Line Cinema | $925,282,504 | |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | New Line Cinema | $1,119,110,941 | |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | DreamWorks SKG | $919,838,758 | |
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Warner Bros. | $895,921,036 | |
| 2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Disney | $1,066,179,725 | |
| 2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Disney | $960,996,492 | |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Warner Bros. | $1,001,842,429 | |
| 2009 | Avatar | 20th Century Fox | $2,713,395,000 |
Most acclaimed films of the decade
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]
- In the Mood for Love
- Mulholland Drive
- Yi Yi
- There Will Be Blood
- Spirited Away
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Caché/Hidden
- Tropical Malady
- Lost in Translation
- City of God
- Brokeback Mountain
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- WALL-E
- Talk to Her
- Dogville
- Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks
- Russian Ark
- The White Ribbon
- The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
- 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:
- There Will Be Blood
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Mulholland Drive
- No Country for Old Men
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- Spirited Away
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Dark Knight
- Amélie
- Children of Men
- Memento
- Pan's Labyrinth
- United 93
- Wall-E
- Almost Famous
- Brokeback Mountain
- Far from Heaven
- 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:
- Pan's Labyrinth
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
- Ratatouille
- Spirited Away
- The Hurt Locker
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Sideways
- Wall-E
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 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]
- Mulholland Drive
- In the Mood for Love
- There Will Be Blood
- Spirited Away
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Yi Yi
- No Country for Old Men
- Zodiac
- Children of Men
- 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]
Moviefone's list of "50 Best Movies of the Decade" included the following films in the top five:[4]
Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino selected the following as the best and most influential films of the decade:[5]
- Battle Royale
- Anything Else
- Dogville
- The Host
- Joint Security Area
- Lost in Translation
- Memories of Murder
- Shaun of the Dead
- Team America: World Police
- Unbreakable
List of films
See also
- Film
- History of film
- Lists of films
- Popular culture: 2000s in music, 2000s in sports, 2000s in television
References
- Highest-grossing films
- ^ "Avatar (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
- ^ a b "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
- ^ a b "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ a b "The Dark Knight (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
- ^ a b "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ a b "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2793007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
- ^ a b "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ a b "Shrek 2 (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ a b "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Spider-Man 3 (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
- ^ "Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Finding Nemo (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
- ^ "Spider-Man (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Shrek the Third (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Spider-Man 2 (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "The Da Vinci Code (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "The Matrix Reloaded (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "2012 (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
- ^ "Transformers (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Up (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
- ^ "Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Kung Fu Panda (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ "The Incredibles (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
- ^ "Hancock (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
- ^ "Ratatouille (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
- ^ "The Passion of the Christ (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Mamma Mia! (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 19 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
- ^ "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
- ^ "Casino Royale (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
- ^ "War of the Worlds (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ "Quantum of Solace (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
- ^ "I Am Legend (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ "Iron Man (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
- ^ "Night at the Museum (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
- ^ "King Kong (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ a b "Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ "The Day After Tomorrow (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ "Madagascar (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ "Avatar (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
External links
- ^ Georgaris, Bill (February 2020). "The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films,". They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? (13th ed.). Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- ^ "The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films". BBC. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Quentin Tarantino's Favorite 20 Films Since 1992". Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-20.