Top Movies
Movies are one of America’s number one sources for entertainment. The entertainment industry rakes in billions of dollars in revenue each year due to our need for amusement. Every movie can either “make it or break it” on the box office charts. In 2001 there was a great array of films which came out but a few stood supreme. These were the top three movies in 2001 based on the Box Office Report. (http://www.boxofficereport.com/ybon/2001gross.shtml)


The first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, made its debut on November 16. This movie brought in an astounding 90.29 million dollars. (http://www.boxofficereport.com/ybon/2001gross.shtml) After a few months the film had returned a total of 317.58 million dollars in revenue and as a result earned the number one spot on the Box Office for 2001. (http://www.boxofficereport.com/ybon/2001gross.shtml) The release of this film was highly anticipated following its novel’s success. The novel was written by a British author J.K. Rowling. The first Harry Potter novel was released in 1997. Once discovered, this book became a worldwide sensation. With the success of the first book, J.K. Rowling released her second book in the U.S., called Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in 1999. Still a huge phenomenon, Rowling released the third book of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban later that year. After three books hitting huge success, Rowling didn’t stop there. In 2000 the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released. By this time, Harry Potter had gained immense entertainment popularity. This popularity made the books a prime plot for movies and at the end of 1999 Rowling sold the film rights of her first four books to Warner Brothers. In just two short years Warner Brothers finished the first film of the now six film series.
(Information based off Wikipedia)


The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie, the first of the Lord of the Rings series, made its first appearance on December 19. Coming in second on the Box Office report, this movie brought in 47.21 million dollars on opening weekend, a small profit compared to that of Harry Potter. Overall this film totaled 314.78 million dollars. (http://www.boxofficereport.com/ybon/2001gross.shtml) Like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings is a novel series. Lord of the Rings is a known specifically as a trilogy because it consists of three books. Written by J. R. R. Tolkien, this epic novel was originally released in 1955. J. R.R. Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings as a sequel to his previous book The Hobbit which was published in 1937. The Hobbit’s release during World War II sparked a popular vote with readers and publishers quickly decided a sequel was to be written. J.R.R. Tolkien was 45 when he started the trilogy of Lord of the Rings. Twelve years later, in 1949, he finished writing and in 1955, at the age of 63 it was finally published. In 1969 Tolkien sold the merchandising rights to his stories and four years later, at the age of 81, the author passed away. Since this time there have been many attempts to make the Lord of the Rings trilogy into television series and movie films. However, none were as successful as the twentieth century release done by Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema.
(Information based off Wikipedia)


Opening on May 18, the movie Shrek opened up a whole playing field. Shrek, based off a children’s fairy tale picture book written by William Steig, this movie was one of the first successful films of its time. This computer animated comedy film racked in 42.35 million dollars its opening weekend and totaled around 267.67 million dollars overall. (http://www.boxofficereport.com/ybon/2001gross.shtml) Of the four Shrek films now released, the first Shrek has made the least amount of money. This evidence shows the successfulness of these films. Shrek was one of the first productions by Dreamworks and because of its popularity Dreamworks became a big name company. Around its release, other computer animated films such as Monster Inc. were also coming out. This new era of films created a whole new genre and Shrek won the first academy in 2001 for “Best Animated Feature”. Recently in 2008, Shrek’s popularity won it a spot on the “Ten Top Ten” list and the number two spot on “100 Greatest Family Films” losing only to E.T.
(Information based off Wikipedia)