A Reel 25: The Year in Film 2000

Twenty-five years ago at about this time, the cinematic year of 2000 was just getting warmed up. Looking back, it could be considered the final year before the modern era. Here’s how it unspooled: 

 

The worldwide box office winner for the year 2000 A.D. would be the John Woo-directed MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2. The action film would be the only movie in the top 10 that was a sequel. Also at the box office, CHICKEN RUN became the highest-grossing film done in stop-motion style, and HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey, had the highest debut for a Christmas-themed film. 

 

On the awards circuit, Ridley Scott’s GLADIATOR was the big winner at the Oscars, taking home Best Picture and Best Actor (Russell Crowe). The historical epic had good competition from Ang Lee’s CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, Lasse Hollstrom’s CHOCOLAT, and two films from Steven Soderbergh: TRAFFIC and ERIN BROCKOVICH. 

 

The cold winter months of 2000 got off to a hot start, with THE BOONDOCK SAINTS blasting into theatres and becoming a cult favorite. SCREAM 3 was rightfully dumped in February, and it was joined by the sci-fi thriller PITCH BLACK, the Bruce Willis-led THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, Disney’s AN EXTREMELY GOOFY MOVIE, and REINDEER GAMES…which would be the final film from director John Frankenheimer. 

 

The spring months would deliver the Brian De Palma-helmed MISSION TO MARS, Roman Polanski’s supernatural THE NINTH GATE, the first of the FINAL DESTINATION series, and the rom-com HIGH FIDELITY.

 

Later in the spring Sandra Bullock and future King Viggo Mortensen would appear in 28 DAYS, future Batman Christian Bale would thrill in AMERICAN PSYCHO, and an ensemble cast would travel the depths in the submarine thriller U-571. 

 

GLADIATOR would arrive in May, and it was joined later by the big stinker that was BATTLEFIELD EARTH. Disney’s DINOSAUR would also stomp in, and the rest of the early summer would include GONE IN 60 SECONDS, SHAFT, TITAN A.E., THE PATRIOT, and THE PERFECT STORM. 

 

In July, the superhero genre would re-ignite for good with Bryan Singer’s X-MEN. And the rest of the summer brought us the Bruce Willis-led Disney flick THE KID, the horror-comedy SCARY MOVIE, and the Harrison Ford-led WHAT LIES BENEATH. Also arriving would be COYOTE UGLY, HOLLOW MAN, SPACE COWBOYS, THE TAO OF STEVE, THE REPLACEMENTS, THE CELL, and BRING IT ON. 

 

In the early fall months, Cameron Crowe would deliver the acclaimed ALMOST FAMOUS, Denzel Washington would hit the gridiron in REMEMBER THE TITANS, Sylvester Stallone would appear in the big flop GET CARTER, Gary Oldman would thrill in THE CONTENDER, and the sweet little film PAY IT FORWARD would release. 

 

As the fall grew cooler, Darren Aronofsky would spin heads with REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, and CHARLIE’S ANGELS would turn up the heat. Robert Redford would direct THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE, Adam Sandler would bomb with LITTLE NICKY, and the second of two Mars-related films, THE RED PLANET, would also bomb. Also arriving would be the military drama MEN OF HONOR, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led THE 6^TH DAY, along with QUILLS and M. Night Shyamalan’s best film, UNBREAKABLE. 

 

December would deliver the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS bomb, the hit SNATCH, the comedy DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR?, and the Disney animated flick THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE. Ed Harris would earn an Oscar nomination for his lead role in POLLOCK, and Tom Hanks would be his competitor for his role in CAST AWAY. The year would close out with FINDING FORRESTER, DRACULA 2000, THE GIFT, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?, THIRTEEN DAYS, and SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE. 

 

The year 2000 would see the film debuts of Jamie Bell, Martin Freeman, Topher Grace, John Krasinski, Aaron Paul, Zoe Saldana, Bill Skarsgard, Kristen Stewart, Sam Worthington, Juno Temple, and Anton Yelchin. The year would also say farewell and adieu to Jim Varney, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Walter Matthau, Jason Robards, and Alec Guinness. 

 

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In 2000, the industry was on the verge of a major change. Three years before, James Cameron’s TITANIC showed that a big-budget epic could earn back its money and be acclaimed. This would show with GLADIATOR…and in just one year’s time Peter Jackson’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS would begin and take things a step further. Sci-fi and fantasy franchises suddenly became coveted, and that would lead us to long-form storytelling with HARRY POTTER, and THE HUNGER GAMES. The success of X-MEN would get the capes and masks going for real, sparking SPIDER-MAN in 2002 and eventually the mighty and endless Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

 

Since then, Hollywood has gone heavy on the franchises. In 2000, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 was the only sequel in the top 10 worldwide box office. In 2024, all of the top 10 were sequels, remakes, or part of a franchise. Audiences have shown their appetite for the familiar, and studios have responded. And while it may the tail wagging the dog, the numbers do speak volumes. Despite this, the most acclaimed films are still the smaller ones. Of the ten Best Picture nominees for 2024, only two earned more than $100 million, with eight of them original. Hollywood is top heavy right now, and wherever it goes next can be traced back to what we were seeing in the year 2000.