2004 in film

Renowned American film critic and professor Emanuel Levy described 2004 as "a banner year for actors, particularly men." He went on to emphasize, "I can't think of another year in which there were so many good performances, in every genre. It was a year in which we saw the entire spectrum of demographics displayed on the big screen, from vet actors such as Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, to seniors such as Pacino, De Niro, and Hoffman, to newcomers such as Topher Grace. As always, though, the center of the male acting pyramid is occupied by actors in their forties and fifties, such as Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Liam Neeson, Kevin Kline, Don Cheadle, Jim Carrey. In terms of film genres, Levy stated, "The year's most prominent genre was the biopicture, a genre that in the past has suffered from lack of prestige and abundance of clichs. There were a dozen worthy biopictures, including Alexander, The Aviator, Beyond the Sea, Finding Neverland, Hotel Rwanda, Kinsey, Motorcycle Diaries, and Ray. Celebrating entrepreneurs, playwrights, singers, sex researchers, composers, and politicians, they continued to show one alarming bias: They were all about men. You don't have to be a feminist critic or a sociologist to deduct that, as far as real or reel heroes are concerned, women matter less in Hollywood and American society at large. Can't anyone come up with a strong part for a femme-driven bio a la British film Vera Drake, without relegating women to showbiz personae." Levy also stated, "Classic Hollywood cinema, which reached its height during the golden age of studio system and has been in decline, is kept alive by one major force: Clint Eastwood. The "Man With No Name" has become the "Man With the Best Name", a director who's experiencing an unparallel artistic height with “Million Dollar Baby,” a follow-up to the equally sublime Mystic River."[1]

The top 10 films released in 2004 by worldwide gross are as follows:[2]

Shrek 2 set a new record for total gross by an animated film making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The record was later surpassed by Toy Story 3 in 2010. On July 7, Spider-Man 2 reached a $200 million domestic gross in a record time of eight days. On July 18, after 19 days in release, Spider-Man 2 reached $300 million domestically in another record time. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has the highest international revenue of $546 million compared to Shrek 2's $487.5 million.

The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson, became the first blockbuster motion picture of 2004 and also the highest grossing R-rated film domestically. Meet the Fockers beat 2003's Bruce Almighty record for the highest-grossing comedy film; both released by Universal.

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival)

Fahrenheit 9/11, directed by Michael Moore, United States

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)

Vera Drake, directed by Mike Leigh, United Kingdom

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival)

Head-On, directed by Fatih Akın, Germany & Turkey

The list of films released in 2004, arranged by country, are as follows:

• List of American films of 2004
• List of Argentine films of 2004
• List of Australian films of 2004
• List of Brazilian films of 2004
• List of British films of 2004
• List of Chinese films of 2004
  • List of Hong Kong films of 2004
• List of French films of 2004
• List of Indian films of 2004
  • List of Bengali films of 2004
  • List of Bollywood films of 2004
  • List of Tamil films of 2004
  • List of Telugu films of 2004
• List of Italian films of 2004
• List of Japanese films of 2004
• List of Mexican films of 2004
• List of Pakistani films of 2004
• List of Russian films of 2004
• List of South Korean films of 2004
• List of Spanish films of 2004

• Emily Blunt – My Summer of Love
• Eddie Cahill – Miracle
• Josh Duhamel – The Picture of Dorian Gray
• Megan Fox – Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
• Nick Frost – Shaun of the Dead
• Amber Heard – Friday Night Lights
• Jon Heder – Napoleon Dynamite
• Ed Helms – Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story
• Jonah Hill – I Heart Huckabees
• Toby Kebbell – Dead Man's Shoes
• Brie Larson – 13 Going on 30
• Jason Momoa – Johnson Family Vacation
• Chris Pine – The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
• Amanda Seyfried – Mean Girls