2000s in film

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 in both 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, Amélie, Hero, The Passion of the Christ, Pan's Labyrinth, and Apocalypto (plus the majorities of Babel and Inglourious Basterds); 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, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Corpse Bride, 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 Shaft, Charlie's Angels, Planet of the Apes, Scooby-Doo, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Freddy vs. Jason, Starsky & Hutch, Alien vs. Predator, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Dukes of Hazzard, King Kong, Superman Returns, Miami Vice, Rocky Balboa, TMNT, Transformers, Live Free or Die Hard, 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). +List of worldwide highest-grossing films Rank Title Studios Worldwide gross Year Ref.1Avatar 20th Century Fox $2,743,577,587 20092The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,140,682,011 20033Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Walt Disney Studios $1,066,179,725 20064The Dark Knight Warner Bros. Pictures $1,003,845,358 20085Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Warner Bros. Pictures $974,755,371 20016 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Walt Disney Studios $960,996,492 20077Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. Pictures $941,676,843 20078 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $936,689,735 20029 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. Pictures $933,959,197 200910 Shrek 2 DreamWorks Animation $929,098,316 200411 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. Pictures $895,921,036 200512 Spider-Man 3 Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures $895,871,626 200713 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky $886,686,817 200914 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $883,726,270 200115 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. Pictures $878,979,634 200216 Finding Nemo Walt Disney Studios/Pixar $871,014,978 200317 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $849,997,605 200518 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures $836,303,693 200919Spider-Man Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures $821,708,551 200220 Shrek the Third Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Animation $813,367,380 200721 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. Pictures $808,481,128 200422 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount Pictures/Lucasfilm $786,636,033 200823 Spider-Man 2 Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures $783,766,341 200424 2012 Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures $769,679,473 200925 The Da Vinci Code Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures $760,006,945 200626 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Buena Vista Pictures/Walden Media $745,011,272 200527 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. Pictures $742,128,461 200328 Up Walt Disney Studios/Pixar $735,099,082 2009 29 The Twilight Saga: New Moon Summit Entertainment $709,827,462 200930 Transformers Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures $709,709,780 200731Ice Age: The Meltdown20th Century Fox/Blue Sky $660,998,756 200632 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Walt Disney Studios $654,264,015 200333Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $653,741,940 200234Kung Fu Panda Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Animation $632,037,515 200835 The Incredibles Walt Disney Studios/Pixar $631,442,092 200436 Hancock Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures $629,443,428 200837 Ratatouille Walt Disney Studios/Pixar $623,726,085 200738 The Passion of the Christ Icon Productions $611,486,736 200439 Mamma Mia! Universal Pictures $610,002,542 200840 Casino Royale Sony Pictures/MGM/Columbia Pictures $606,099,584 200641 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Animation $603,900,344 200842 War of the Worlds Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures $603,873,119 200543 Quantum of Solace Sony Pictures/MGM/Columbia Pictures $589,580,939 200844 I Am Legend Warner Bros. Pictures $585,410,052 200745 Iron Man Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios $585,133,287 200846 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $574,480,450 200647 King Kong Universal Pictures $556,906,378 200548 The Day After Tomorrow 20th Century Fox/Lionsgate Films $552,639,571 200449 Mission: Impossible 2 Paramount Pictures $546,388,105 200050 Madagascar DreamWorks Animation $542,063,846 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. $974,755,371 2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $936,689,735 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,140,682,011 2004 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $929,098,316 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. $1,003,845,358 2009Avatar 20th Century Fox $2,743,577,587

Most acclaimed films of the decade

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

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:

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: There Will Be Blood Spirited Away Million Dollar Baby The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Yi Yi

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

Kill Bill City of God Battle Royale No Country for Old Men The Dark Knight Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino selected the following as the best and most influential films of the decade:

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

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

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2000s in film

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