2000
The success of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator revives the long-defunct swords ‘n’ sandals genre in Hollywood. It wins five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
20th Century Fox release X-Men, directed by Bryan Singer, which spawns a wave of superhero films that continues to this day.
Tom Cruise receives $75 million for Mission: Impossible 2, the highest star salary to that date.
2001
Digital cinema projection becomes commercially available.
The 74th Academy Awards sees two African-Americans, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, win the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress. Berry is the first African-American actress to win the award.
2002
Spider-Man, directed by Sam Raimi, is the first film to gross over $100 million in its opening weekend.
Two French films, Amélie and Brotherwood of the Wolf, became the highest-grossing French-language films released in the US.
2003
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy comes to a close with The Return of the King. The film later wins all its 11 Oscar nominations and becomes the first sequel to win Best Picture since 1974.
2004
Mel Gibson’s controversial The Passion of the Christ is the first biblical film from Hollywood to be a major sucess since the 1960’s, grossing $622.3 million.
Dreamworks’ Shrek 2 becomes the highest-grossing animated film ever at the time of its release.
2005
The success and acclaim of Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain opens the door for LGBT film and television projects in Hollywood.
2006
Paul Haggis’ Crash is a controversial Best Picture winner at the Oscars. Many feel that better films were overlooked and that Crash was a “safer” Academy choice than Brokeback Mountain.
Disney announce plans to accquire Pixar.
2007
The American Film Institute keep Citizen Kane in first place in their revised Top 100 list.
12,000 writers of the Writers Guild of America go on strike, affecting both film and television production.
2008
The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan, is a major critical and commercial success, reaching $400 million in record time in 18 days.
A massive fire destroys facilities at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.
The 80th Academy Awards is held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
2009
James Cameron’s Avatar becomes the highest-grossing film of all time. The film uses groundbreaking cinematic technology and revives popularity in 3D films.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announches that their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, the first time since 1943.
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