What was the number one movie of 2001?
What were you doing in 2001? Or rather, what were you watching in 2001? I’m not the best person to ask because I’d only just been born, but if you were of movie-watching age, you had a lot of big films to choose from, many of which have gone on to become classics of their genre.
Over in the romantic comedy category, we had the likes of Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Princess Diaries (seems like people were really into writing down their every thought back then), and Legally Blonde emerging to great popularity. These were tightly-written entries to the genre, which was booming during the early 2000s, reflecting an era of comedic optimism and romanticism. Everyone had survived Y2K after all.
Those with a taste for action and crime movies were in luck during 2001, because every fucking flick, from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to Ocean’s Eleven, Training Day, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Rush Hour 2, The Fast and the Furious, to The Mummy Returns, were released. Sure, some of these were definitely shittier than others, but there was no shortage of movies jam-packed with heists, impressive stunts, and special effects to be found at the turn of the millennium.
Following the success of goddamn phenomenons like The Matrix in 1999, action cinema really had its moment at the box office over the next few years, so it’s no surprise that all of these movies rank high on the list of the top-grossing movies of the year.
However, an overwhelming amount of the top-grossing movies of 2001 were actually family-friendly movies, which is hardly surprising when you consider what was being released in cinemas. Everyone’s favourite swamp-dwelling ogre debuted in the form of Shrek, while adults and children alike found themselves tearing up over Monsters, Inc.
Dr Doolittle 2 performed surprisingly well for a sequel with mixed critical reviews, and it even ranked higher than Spy Kids, helmed by Tarantino collaborator Robert Rodriguez. But what movie topped the highest-grossing chart?
What was the number one movie of 2001?
Think about the family-friendly franchise nobody could stop blathering about that emerged during the early 2000s. Of course, it’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the record-breaking fantasy cinematic shitstorm based on JK Rowling’s successful book series. Starring Daniel Radcliffe as the young wizard, fans just gobbled up all the escapist slop like pigs at the trough about his journey into the world of wizardry and magic at Hogwarts.
The film made a staggering amount of money, setting records for the number of tickets sold during its opening weekend (£16.3million in the United Kingdom alone). As more and more people around the world attended their local cinema to catch the first instalment of the franchise, the movie ended up temporarily becoming the second-highest-grossing movie of all time. People couldn’t get enough of Rowling’s creation, which had been brought to life by Home Alone director Chris Columbus.
Now, the movie sits at a total gross of $1.026billion, which is certainly an achievement. Packed with British acting royalty and full of the beloved characters who had graced the pages of Rowling’s hugely successful books, it’s no surprise that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone triumphed at the box office.
