2002 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of country- and genre- specific lists of films released, notable deaths and film debuts. Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures celebrated their 90th anniversaries in 2002.
Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 2002 by worldwide gross are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 2002 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross 1 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line $936,689,735 2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $878,979,634 3 Spider-Man Sony $821,708,551 4 Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $653,741,940 5 Men in Black II Sony $441,818,803 6 Die Another Day MGM / 20th Century Fox $431,971,116 7 Signs Touchstone $408,247,917 8 Ice Age 20th Century Fox $383,257,136 9 My Big Fat Greek Wedding IFC $368,744,044 10 Minority Report 20th Century Fox / DreamWorks $358,372,926
2002 was the first year to see three films cross the eight-hundred-million-dollar milestone, surpassing the previous year's record of two eight-hundred-million-dollar films. It also surpasses the previous year's record of having the most ticket sales in a single year (fueled by the success of various sequels and the first Spider-Man movie).
Events March 1 — Paramount Pictures reveals a new-on screen logo that was used until December 2011 to celebrate its 90th anniversary. March 15 - Blue Sky Studios releases their first feature film, Ice Age, starring the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary. The film was a massive box office success, thus launching one of the highest-grossing franchises in film history. May – The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski wins the "Palme d'Or" at the Cannes Film Festival. May 3–5 – Spider-Man becomes the first film to earn $100 million in one weekend. This surpassed the previous all-time opening weekend record held by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, as well as the previous May opening weekend record held by The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The film went on to earn over $800 million worldwide, surpassing Batman to become the highest-grossing superhero film of all time and Men in Black to become Sony's most successful film. May 16 – Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones opens in theaters. Although a huge success, it was the first Star Wars film not to be the highest-grossing of the year. Amélie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet wins the 2002 César Award for Best Film, Best Director, Best Music, and Best Art Direction. Amélie also became the highest-grossing French-language film in the United States ever. Another French-language film Brotherhood of the Wolf also became the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades.
Awards Category/Organization 8th Critics' Choice AwardsJanuary 17, 2003 60th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 19, 2003 56th BAFTA AwardsFebruary 23, 2003 Producers, Directors, Screen Actors, and Writers Guild Awards 75th Academy AwardsMarch 23, 2003 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film Chicago The Hours Chicago The Pianist Chicago Best Director Steven SpielbergCatch Me If You Can and Minority Report Martin ScorseseGangs of New York Roman PolanskiThe Pianist Rob MarshallChicago Roman PolanskiThe Pianist Best Actor Jack NicholsonAbout SchmidtDaniel Day-LewisGangs of New York Jack NicholsonAbout Schmidt Richard GereChicago Daniel Day-LewisGangs of New York Adrien BrodyThe Pianist Best Actress Julianne MooreFar from Heaven Nicole KidmanThe Hours Renée ZellwegerChicago Nicole KidmanThe Hours Renée ZellwegerChicago Nicole KidmanThe Hours Best Supporting Actor Chris CooperAdaptation. Christopher WalkenCatch Me If You Can Chris CooperAdaptation. Best Supporting Actress Catherine Zeta-JonesChicago Meryl StreepAdaptation. Catherine Zeta-JonesChicago Best Screenplay, Adapted Adaptation. and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Charlie Kaufman About SchmidtAlexander Payne and Jim Taylor Adaptation.Charlie and Donald Kaufman The HoursDavid HareThe PianistRonald Harwood Best Screenplay, Original Talk to HerPedro Almodóvar Bowling for ColumbineMichael Moore Talk to HerPedro Almodóvar Best Animated Film Spirited Away Spirited Away Best Original Song Lose Yourself 8 Mile The Hands That Built America Gangs of New York Lose Yourself 8 Mile Best Original Score Catch Me If You CanJohn Williams FridaElliot Goldenthal The HoursPhilip Glass FridaElliot Goldenthal Best Foreign Language Film Y Tu Mamá También Talk to Her Nowhere in Africa
Palme d'Or (55th Cannes Film Festival): The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski, Poland
Golden Lion (59th Venice International Film Festival): The Magdalene Sisters, directed by Peter Mullan, U.K. / Ireland
Golden Bear (52nd Berlin International Film Festival): Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi), directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Japan Bloody Sunday, directed by Paul Greengrass, U.K. / Ireland
2002 films By country/region List of American films of 2002 List of Argentine films of 2002 List of Australian films of 2002 List of Bangladeshi films of 2002 List of British films of 2002 List of Canadian films of 2002 List of Chinese films of 2002 List of French films of 2002 List of Hong Kong films of 2002 List of Indian films of 2002 List of Bengali films of 2002 List of Hindi films of 2002 List of Kannada films of 2002 List of Malayalam films of 2002 List of Marathi films of 2002 List of Punjabi films of 2002 List of Tamil films of 2002 List of Telugu films of 2002 List of Japanese films of 2002 List of Mexican films of 2002 List of Nepalese films of 2002 List of Pakistani films of 2002 List of Russian films of 2002 List of South Korean films of 2002 List of Spanish films of 2002
By genre/medium List of action films of 2002 List of animated feature films of 2002 List of avant-garde films of 2002 List of crime films of 2002 List of comedy films of 2002 List of drama films of 2002 List of horror films of 2002 List of science fiction films of 2002 List of thriller films of 2002 List of western films of 2002
Births January 4 – Tunisha Sharma, Indian actress (died 2022) January 15 - Levon Hawke, American actor January 18 – Samuel Joslin, British actor January 20 – Michael Barbieri, American actor January 30 - Joshua Colley, American actor February 2 – Madina Nalwanga, Ugandan actress February 13 – Sophia Lillis, American actress February 18 – Mark Eydelshteyn, Russian actor February 23 – Emilia Jones, English actress, singer and songwriter March 4 – Jacob Hopkins, American actor March 10 – Júlia Gomes, Brazilian actress March 15 – Sam McCarthy, American actor March 27 – Ty Tennant, English actor April 2 – Emma Myers, American actress April 4 – Damian Hurley, English actor and model April 8 – Skai Jackson, American actress April 12 - Filip Geljo, Canadian actor April 15 – Clara Galle, Spanish actress April 16 – Sadie Sink, American actress May 6 – Emily Alyn Lind, American actress May 7 Andrew Barth Feldman, American actor Jake Bongiovi, American actor May 16 – Isaac Kragten, Canadian actor May 22 – Maisa Silva, Brazilian actress and television host May 26 – Georgie Farmer, English actor June 2 – Madison Hu, American actress June 3 – Eva Bella, American actress June 4 - Taylor Ann Thompson, American actress June 5 – Lewis MacDougall, Scottish actor July 18 – Tyler Lawrence Gray, American actor July 2 – Abraham Attah, Ghanaian actor July 16 – Milly Shapiro, American actress and singer July 24 – Benjamin Flores Jr., American actor and rapper July 25 – Shunsuke Michieda, Japanese actor and singer August 1 – Oona Laurence, American actress August 12 – Iman Vellani, Pakistani-Canadian actress August 16 – Talia Ryder, American actress August 19 – Francesco Gheghi, Italian actor August 23 – Indiana Massara, Australian actress and singer September 6 – Asher Angel, American actor September 8 – Gaten Matarazzo, American actor September 13 – Chiara Aurelia, American actress September 20 - Gabriel LaBelle, Canadian actor September 27 – Jenna Ortega, American actress September 28 – Kyline Alcantara, Filipino actress, singer and television host September 30 Levi Miller, Australian actor Maddie Ziegler, American actress October 9 – Choi Min-young, South Korean actor October 12 – Iris Apatow, American actress October 16 - Madison Wolfe, American actress October 26 Julian Dennison, New Zealand actor Emma Schweiger, American actress October 28 – Lola Tung, American actress December 13 – AC Bonifacio, Canadian actress, dancer, singer, vlogger December 17 – Guilherme Seta, Brazilian actor December 23 – Finn Wolfhard, Canadian actor
Deaths