The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first installments of the Harry Potter, Fast & Furious, Spy Kids, Monsters, Inc. and Shrek franchises, and The Lord of the Rings and Ocean's trilogies. Significant non-English language films released included Monsoon Wedding, Amélie and Spirited Away. There was one film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, that passed over $1 billion in a re-release of 2020.
The inaugural entries of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings film franchises prompted a shift in both the film and literary communities by propelling fantasy into mainstream culture, popularising young adult novels, and reforming the blockbuster to promote film franchises and cater to fandom communities.
Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 2001 by worldwide gross are listed as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 2001 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross 1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Warner Bros. $974,755,371 2 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line $883,726,270 3 Monsters, Inc. Walt Disney Pictures $528,773,250 4 Shrek DreamWorks $484,944,448 5 Ocean's Eleven Warner Bros. $450,717,150 6 Pearl Harbor Touchstone $449,220,945 7 The Mummy Returns Universal $433,013,274 8 Jurassic Park III $368,780,809 9 Planet of the Apes 20th Century Fox $362,211,740 10 Hannibal MGM / Universal $351,692,268
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone grossed $974 million, and became the second highest-grossing film of all time. It was also the highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter film franchise before the finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, surpassed it in 2011.
2001 was the first time that two films released in the same year grossed more than $800 million at the box office, with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring surpassing the milestone.
The highest-grossing non-English film was Studio Ghibli's anime Spirited Away, which was the 15th highest-grossing film of the year.
Events May 18 – Shrek was released to critical acclaim and went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature the following year beating out Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Monsters, Inc. June 22 – The Fast and the Furious is released, launching one of the highest-grossing franchises in film history. August 8 – actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorce. November 2 – Monsters, Inc. opens with the best ticket sales ever for an animated film and the 6th-best of all time. November 16 and December 19 – The beginning of two acclaimed fantasy film series based on best-selling novels: Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, respectively.
Award ceremonies 6th Empire Awards
Awards Category/Organisation 7th Critics' Choice Awards January 11, 2002 59th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 20, 2002 55th BAFTA AwardsFebruary 24, 2002 Producers, Directors, Screen Actors, and Writers Guild Awards 74th Academy Awards March 24, 2002 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film A Beautiful Mind Moulin Rouge! The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Moulin Rouge! A Beautiful Mind Best Director Ron HowardA Beautiful MindBaz LuhrmannMoulin Rouge! Robert AltmanGosford Park Peter JacksonThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Ron HowardA Beautiful Mind Best Actor Russell CroweA Beautiful Mind Gene HackmanThe Royal Tenenbaums Russell CroweA Beautiful Mind Denzel WashingtonTraining Day Best Actress Sissy SpacekIn the Bedroom Nicole KidmanMoulin Rouge! Judi DenchIris Halle BerryMonster's Ball Best Supporting Actor Ben KingsleySexy Beast Jim BroadbentIris Jim BroadbentMoulin Rouge! Ian McKellenThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Jim BroadbentIris Best Supporting Actress Jennifer ConnellyA Beautiful Mind Helen MirrenGosford Park Jennifer ConnellyA Beautiful Mind Best Screenplay, Adapted Christopher NolanMemento Akiva GoldsmanA Beautiful Mind Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman and Roger S. H. SchulmanShrek Akiva GoldsmanA Beautiful Mind Best Screenplay, Original Guillaume Laurant and Jean-Pierre JeunetAmélie Julian FellowesGosford Park Best Animated Film Shrek N/AN/AN/AN/A Shrek Best Original Score The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingHoward Shore Moulin Rouge!Craig Armstrong N/A The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingHoward Shore Best Original Song "May It Be"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring "Until..."Kate & Leopold N/AN/A "If I Didn't Have You"Monsters, Inc. Best Foreign Language Film Amélie No Man's Land Love's a Bitch N/A No Man's Land
Palme d'Or (54th Cannes Film Festival): The Son's Room (La stanza del figlio), directed by Nanni Moretti, Italy
Golden Lion (58th Venice International Film Festival): Monsoon Wedding, directed by Mira Nair, India
Golden Bear (51st Berlin International Film Festival): Intimacy, directed by Patrice Chéreau, France
2001 films By country/region List of American films of 2001 List of Argentine films of 2001 List of Australian films of 2001 List of Bangladeshi films of 2001 List of British films of 2001 List of Canadian films of 2001 List of Chinese films of 2001 List of French films of 2001 List of Hong Kong films of 2001 List of Indian films of 2001 List of Bengali films of 2001 List of Hindi films of 2001 List of Kannada films of 2001 List of Malayalam films of 2001 List of Marathi films of 2001 List of Punjabi films of 2001 List of Tamil films of 2001 List of Telugu films of 2001 List of Japanese films of 2001 List of Mexican films of 2001 List of Nepalese films of 2001 List of Pakistani films of 2001 List of Russian films of 2001 List of South Korean films of 2001 List of Spanish films of 2001
By genre/medium List of action films of 2001 List of animated feature films of 2001 List of avant-garde films of 2001 List of crime films of 2001 List of comedy films of 2001 List of drama films of 2001 List of horror films of 2001 List of science fiction films of 2001 List of thriller films of 2001 List of western films of 2001
Births January 1 Angourie Rice, Australian actress Carla Tous, Spanish actress January 15 - Ethan Josh Lee, American actor February 6 – Gabriel G. Mourreau, Spanish actor February 15 – Haley Tju, American actress February 16 - Chloe East, American actress February 19 – David Mazouz, American actor February 24 Matthew Broome, English actor Ramona Marquez, English actress March 3 – Inde Navarrette, American actress March 6 – Milo Manheim, American actor March 25 – Daisy Tahan, American actress March 31 - Maeve Courtier-Lilley, Welsh actress April 10 – Noa Kirel, Israeli actress April 20 – Ian Alexander, American actor April 28 – Madeleine Harris, British actress May 3 – Rachel Zegler, American actress May 5 – Jang Da-ah, South Korean actress May 23 – Matt Lintz, American actor May 27 – Izabela Vidovic, American actress June 1 – Ed Oxenbould, Australian actor June 3 – Rhea Norwood, English actress June 5 - Lilly Krug, German actress June 9 – Xolo Maridueña, American actor June 14 – Samuel Bottomley, English actor June 16 – William Sorenson, Canadian Representative June 21 – Eleanor Worthington Cox, English actress July 1 – Chosen Jacobs, American actor July 2 – Abraham Attah, Ghanaian actor July 10 – Isabela Merced, American actress July 11 – Sophia Anne Caruso, American actress July 16 – Tom Taylor, English actor July 22 – Alisha Newton, Canadian actress July 31 – Sean Michael Kyer, Canadian actor August 5 – Josie Totah, American actress August 6 – Ty Simpkins, American actor August 21 Dallas Liu, American actor Harry Gilby, English actor August 31 – Garrett Wareing, American actor August 31 Corey Maison Transgender activist OF Model September 3 – Kaia Gerber, American actress and model September 6 Freya Allan, English actress Nuno Gallego, Spanish actor September 11 - Mackenzie Aladjem, American actress September 14 – Matías Recalt, Argentine actor September 15 – Emma Fuhrmann, American actress September 17 – India Amarteifio, English actress September 19 Jack Downham, British actor D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Canadian actor September 29 – William Healy, Canadian actor October 1 – Luna Blaise, American actress October 5 – Dalila Bela, Canadian actress October 8 – Percy Hynes White, Canadian actor October 9 – Louis Hynes, English actor October 10 – Blake Cooper, American actor October 12 – Raymond Ochoa, American actor and musician October 13 – Caleb McLaughlin, American actor October 14 – Rowan Blanchard, American actress October 19 - Art Parkinson, Irish actor October 21 – Ashley Liao, American actress October 23 – Mina Sundwall, American actress October 27 – Lukita Maxwell, Indonesian-American actress November 7 Noah Lomax, American actor Amybeth McNulty, Irish-Canadian actress November 12 – Raffey Cassidy, English actress November 15 – Sadie Stanley, American actress November 25 - Alex Bain, British actor November 27 – Morgan Davies, Australian actor December 12 - Britain Dalton, American actor December 13 – Harley Bird, English actress December 14 – Joshua Rush, American actor December 16 – Sebastian Croft, English actor December 22 - Lily Laight, English actress and singer December 28 – Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Canadian actress
Deaths