2011 in film explained

The following is an overview of the events of 2011 in film, including the highest-grossing films, film festivals, award ceremonies and a list of films released and notable deaths. More film sequels were released in 2011 than any other year before it, with 27 sequels released.^[1]

Evaluation of the year

Richard Brody of The New Yorker observed that the best films of 2011 "exalt the metaphysical, the fantastical, the transformative, the fourth-wall-breaking, or simply the impossible, and—remarkably—do so ... These films depart from 'reality' ... not in order to forget the irrefutable but in order to face it, to think about it, to act on it more freely".^[2] Film critic and filmmaker Scout Tafoya of RogerEbert.com considers the year of 2011 as the best year for cinema, countering the notion of 1939 being film's best year overall, citing examples such as Drive, The Tree of Life, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Keyhole, Contagion, The Adventures of Tintin, and . He stated that "2011 housed not just some of the greatest art films of our age, but a revolution in the language of blockbuster filmmaking. One big-budget action film after another used digital cameras to show the world behind explosions in starker, stranger light, while constructing a backbone of classical ideas and images."^[3]

Highest-grossing films

The top 10 films released in 2011 by worldwide gross are as follows:^[4]

Highest-grossing films of 2011

Rank	Title	Distributor	Worldwide gross
1	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2		$1,341,511,219
2		Paramount	$1,123,794,079
3			$1,045,713,802
4		Summit	$712,205,856
5			$694,713,380
6	Kung Fu Panda 2		$665,692,281
7	Fast Five	Universal	$626,137,675
8	The Hangover Part II	Warner Bros.	$586,764,305
9	The Smurfs	Sony	$563,749,323
10	Cars 2	Disney	$559,852,396

Box office records

2011 was the first year to have three films cross the billion-dollar milestone,^[5] surpassing the previous year's record of two films^[6] and also the first time when at least 10 films grossed more than $500 million worldwide (in 11th and 12th place, Puss in Boots and also earned over $500 million making it twelve films to do so)

• grossed $1,045,713,802, becoming the second film in the franchise to have grossed over $1 billion, and the 37th-highest-grossing film of all time.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 grossed $1,342,511,219, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run, the highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter franchise, the highest grossing Warner Bros film and the highest grossing book adaptation and the highest of 2011 worldwide.
  • In the US and Canada, it set single-day and opening-weekend records, with $91,071,119 and $169,189,427, respectively. In addition, the film set a worldwide opening-weekend record with $483,189,427.
• grossed $1,123,794,079 and is currently the highest-grossing in the franchise. It also held the record as the highest-grossing film worldwide ever distributed only by Paramount for 11 years until it was surpassed by in 2022.
• Pirates of the Caribbean became the first franchise to have more than one film gross over $1 billion, with On Stranger Tides joining 2006's Dead Man's Chest.
  • On Stranger Tides also became the fifth film of the decade to surpass the billion-dollar milestone, breaking the previous record of four films ( in 2003, in 2006, The Dark Knight in 2008, and Avatar in 2009) during the 2000s.
• The Shrek franchise became the first animated film series to gross more than $3 billion with the release of Puss in Boots.
• The Smurfs surpassed as the highest-grossing live-action/animated film of all time with $563.7 million.

Events

• 16th Empire Awards
• 17th Screen Actors Guild Awards
• 24th European Film Awards
• 31st Golden Raspberry Awards
• 68th Golden Globe Awards
• 64th British Academy Film Awards
• 68th Venice International Film Festival
• 83rd Academy Awards
• 57th Filmfare Awards
• 2011 MTV Movie Awards
• 2011 Sundance Film Festival

Awards

Category/Organization	17th Critics' Choice Awards January 12, 2012	69th Golden Globe Awards January 15, 2012			65th BAFTA Awards February 12, 2012	84th Academy Awards February 26, 2012
		width=200	Drama !				Musical or Comedy
Best Film	The Artist	The Descendants	The Artist
Best Director	Michel Hazanavicius The Artist	Martin Scorsese Hugo		Michel Hazanavicius The Artist
Best Actor	George Clooney The Descendants		Jean Dujardin The Artist
Best Actress	Viola Davis The Help	Meryl Streep The Iron Lady	Michelle Williams My Week with Marilyn	Viola Davis The Help	Meryl Streep The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor	Christopher Plummer Beginners
Best Supporting Actress	Octavia Spencer The Help
Best Screenplay, Adapted	Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Moneyball	Woody Allen Midnight in Paris		Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash The Descendants	Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash The Descendants
Best Screenplay, Original	Woody Allen Midnight in Paris			Woody Allen Midnight in Paris	Michel Hazanavicius The Artist	Woody Allen Midnight in Paris
Best Animated Film	Rango	The Adventures of Tintin			Rango
Best Original Score					The Artist Ludovic Bource
Best Original Song	"Life's a Happy Song" The Muppets	"Masterpiece" W.E.				"Man or Muppet" The Muppets
Best Foreign Language Film	A Separation				The Skin I Live In	A Separation
Best Documentary					Senna	Undefeated

2011 films

By country/region

• List of American films of 2011
• List of Argentine films of 2011
• List of Australian films of 2011
• List of Bangladeshi films of 2011
• List of Brazilian films of 2011
• List of British films of 2011
• List of French films of 2011
• List of Hong Kong films of 2011
• List of Italian films of 2011
• List of Indian films of 2011
  • List of Assamese films
  • List of Bengali films of 2011
  • List of Bollywood films of 2011
  • List of Gujarati films
  • List of Kannada films of 2011
  • List of Malayalam films of 2011
  • List of Marathi films of 2011
  • List of Odia films of 2011
  • List of Punjabi films of 2011
  • List of Tamil films of 2011
  • List of Telugu films of 2011
  • List of Tulu films
• List of Japanese films of 2011
• List of Mexican films of the 2010s
• List of Pakistani films of 2011
• List of Russian films of 2011
• List of South Korean films of 2011
• List of Spanish films of 2011

By genre/medium

• List of action films of 2011
• List of animated feature films of 2011
• List of avant-garde films of 2011
• List of comedy films of 2011
• List of drama films of 2011
• List of horror films of 2011
• List of science fiction films of 2011
• List of thriller films of 2011
• List of western films of 2011

Births

• February 5 - Luna Fulgencio, Spanish actress
• April 22 - Violet McGraw, American actress
• August 10 - Jeremy Maguire, American actor
• November 2 - Nell Fisher, American actress

Deaths

Month	Date	Name	Age	Country	Profession	Notable films
January	2		80	US	Actress
2		64	UK	Actor
2		103	US	Actress
2		80	US	Actress
2		98	US	Actress
3		65	UK	Actress
3		69	Iran	Actor
9		81	UK	Director
11		74	US	Actor
15		72	UK	Actress
16		88	US	Actor
16		75	Spain	Director
20		94	US	Actor
21		82	Greece	Costume Designer
24		61	Germany	Producer, Screenwriter
26		92	Spain	Actress
26		91	Italy	Actor
27		83	US	Actor
30		77	UK	Composer
31		86	US	Actor
February	2		84	UK	Actress
3		58	France	Actress
4		75	UK	Art Director
4		72	Japan	Actress
5		79	US	Cinematographer
10		97	US	Animator
11		86	US	Actress
12		91	US	Actress, Dancer, Singer
12		75	US	Actor
13	Larry Holden	49	US	Actor
13		81	Ireland	Actor
14		87	US	Producer
16		92	UK	Actor
16		88	US	Actor
17		39	US	Producer, Director
18		96	US	Producer
20		91	France	Set Decorator
26		65	US	Actor
27		49	US	Director, Producer
28		79	France	Actress
28		84	US	Actor
28		89	US	Actress
March	4		83	UK	Director
11		96	US	Composer
17		94	UK	Actor
18		82	Italy	Actor
21		76	US	Producer
22		86	US	Actress
23		79	UK	Actress
27		85	US	Actor
April	2		77	US	Sound Engineer
3		56	US	Screenwriter
4		64	Canada	Actor
6		60	US	Actor
9		86	US	Director, Producer, Screenwriter
11		65	UK	Actress
14		76	UK	Actor
17		70	Canada	Actor
23		88	UK	Actor
24		66	France	Actress
28		87	US	Actor
May	3		88	US	Actor, Director
4		80	US	Actress
5		93	US	Screenwriter
5		79	Germany	Actress
8		58	Canada	Set Decorator
9		88	US	Actress
15		76	US	Actress
16		78	UK	Actor
20		58	US	Actor
21		67	US	Sound Engineer
21		71	Australia	Actor
22		73	US	Director, Screenwriter, Songwriter
22		60	US	Producer, Screenwriter
27		60	US	Actor
30		93	US	Actress
June	3		88	US	Actor
3		95	UK	Director
3		85	UK	Actress
6		91	UK	Actor
7		87	Spain	Screenwriter
7		87	US	Screenwriter, Director
8		83	UK	Director
11		100	Sweden	Cinematographer
12		61	US	Producer
14		72	India	Actor
19	Joel Simon	60	US	Producer
20		34	US	Actor
22		87	US	Screenwriter
23		83	US	Actor
25		63	US	Actress
25		79	UK	Actress
26		88	US	Actress
27		81	US	Actress
July	1		88	US	Actress
3		73	UK	Actress
5		69	Canada	Actor
8		87	US	Actor
15		94	UK	Actress
17		44	Australia	Actor
19		89	UK	Actress
22		83	US	Actor
22		87	Mexico	Actress
24		81	US	Actress
24		90	US	Actor
25		89	Greece	Director, Producer, Screenwriter
26		84	Canada	Director
27		72	US	Producer, Screenwriter, Production Designer
August	2		93	UK	Actor
3		66	US	Actor
5		48	Italy	Actor
6		81	UK	Actor
14		79	India	Actor, Director
19		70	Chile	Director
19		83	UK	Screenwriter
23		83	US	Actress
23		45	US	Actor
24		63	US	Actor
24		93	US	Composer, Orchestrator
27		82	US	Actress
September	10		88	US	Actor
11		39	UK	Actor
13		81	US	Producer, Executive
13		84	US	Actor
15		92	Canada	Actress
16		82	US	Actress
19		84	Canada	Producer
21		100	France	Actress
22		67	US	Film Editor
22		72	UK	Actor
26		81	US	Screenwriter
26		84	US	Actor
27	Fritz Manes	79	US	Producer
October	2		69	Germany	Film Editor
4		85	US	Actress
5		56	US	Studio Executive
5		75	US	Actor
6		78	Australia	Actress
7		80	UK	Actor
8		75	US	Actor
10		83	US	Costume Designer
10		67	US	Actor
13		78	UK	Actress
13		103	Canada	Actress
18		101	US	Screenwriter
20		72	UK	Actress
31		77	US	Director, Producer
November	2		94	US	Actor
2		87	US	Actor
3		70	Italy	Actress
3		65	Italy	Production Designer
4		83	US	Costume Designer
6		89	US	Actress
6		92	US	Screenwriter, Director
8		80	US	Sound Engineer
8		44	US	Rapper, Actor
15		95	UK	Actress
15		93	US	Actor
16		78	UK	Actress
19		95	US	Composer
19		86	UK	Actor
20		89	US	Actress
21		93	UK	Production Designer
27		84	UK	Director, Screenwriter
28		88	Italy	Director, Screenwriter
28		41	US	Comedian, Actor
December	1		80	US	Actor
3		88	India	Actor, Director, Producer
4		88	US	Casting Director
6		83	Italy	Actor
7		96	US	Actor
8		54	Vietnam	Actor
11		67	Australia	Actor
12		78	US	Producer
14		67	Australia	Director
16		81	US	Actor, Dialogue Coach
16		73	UK	Actor
18		86	US	Actress
20		61	Japan	Director
22		88	US	Actor
23		87	US	Actress
26		71	Mexico	Actor
27		90	US	Actress, Singer

External links

• List of 2011 films at IMDb
• 2011 Domestic Grosses at Box Office Mojo
• List of 2011 deaths at IMDb
• List of 2011 births at IMDb

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2011 Preview: Sequels – Now, More Than Ever . . April 20, 2011.
2. Web site: Adams . Ryan . Richard Brody names "The 26 Best Films of 2011" . . Sasha Stone . 18 September 2016 . 7 December 2011.
3. Web site: Tafoya . Scout . The Unloved, Part 24: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" . RogerEbert.com . Ebert Digital LLC . 18 September 2016 . 1 December 2015.
4. Web site: 2011 Worldwide Box Office . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200716184857/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/2011/ . July 16, 2020 . March 7, 2020 . Box Office Mojo.
5. Web site: Stewart . Andrew . December 28, 2011 . Domestic B.O. falls 3% in 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210121222002/https://variety.com/2011/film/news/domestic-b-o-falls-3-in-2011-1118047962/ . January 21, 2021 . January 21, 2024 . Variety.
6. Web site: Finke . Nikki . Nikki Finke . August 27, 2010 . Disney Smashes Box Office Records: Toy Story 3 Crossing $1B, Studio First To Release 2 Billion-Dollar Pics In Single Year . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160313130639/https://deadline.com/2010/08/disney-smashes-box-office-records-toy-story-3-crossing-1b-studio-first-to-release-2-billion-dollar-pics-in-single-year-63322/ . March 13, 2016 . January 21, 2024 . Deadline Hollywood.