Like most of the 2000s, 2002 was a year of much change and much uncertainty. People were adjusting to the new normal that was started on September 11, 2001. We were a country at war, a country trying to piece itself back together and a country that was trying to not jump at every shadow, get into unnecessary wars or turn our neighbors into our enemies.
I’m sorry to report that we failed at all that.
At least things weren’t so dour at the box office. The top ten domestic releases of 2002 brought in a lot of money. They broke records, they won awards, they were blockbusters with a capital B. And they’re blockbusters that, for my money, stand the test of time. There are multiple films on this list that still hold up all these years later, movies I would gladly watch again. In fact, the top three of 2002 is one of the most talked-about and memorable (for better or worse) top threes I can remember. Man, 2002 was quite a year. Let’s jump in.
The Top Grossing Films of 2002 (Domestic)
Well, this goes without saying: the big news out of 2002 is Spider-Man. It is big news because of the money it made and the impact it had on the world of film. The film debuted in early May 2002 with an eye-popping $114 million. Though it happens often now, a film bringing in more than $100 million in its opening weekend is unheard of and Spider-Man’s gross blew peoples’ hair back. The movie obviously went on to become the biggest hit of 2002 and was a real crowd-pleaser, wowing sold-out crowds night after night. I vividly remember Spider-Man being one of those movies that was more than a film, it was an event. Everyone was talking about Spider-Man and everyone was loving it.
So the movie made a crap ton of money, to put it elegantly. It was breaking records left and right. But the biggest impact Spider-Man had would be felt in the years ahead. I don’t have to tell you that superhero films are now popular. And not just kinda popular. These movies are absolutely massive. This trend all started with Spider-Man. Well, as I have said before, it really started a couple years before with X-Men, the first comic book movie to take its source material seriously and to give it a proper budget and cast and tone. But it was Spider-Man that proved these types of films could be gigantic. The ripple effect is obvious: it would take a few years and a few other big hits to hammer the point home but superhero films would soon be the biggest grossers on the planet and you can’t deny Spider-Man’s responsibility for that. The genre would soon eclipse Spider-Man in terms of scope and budget and success but it was this film that proved to other studios that comic book movies could be the biggest hits of the year. After years of being dormant, the superhero genre was a volcano fit to explode. There would be no going back from this.
Spider-Man prevented two other films from taking the top spot, two films that would probably would have been number one had it not been for Peter Parker and his web-slinging ways. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was the hotly-anticipated sequel to The Fellowship Of The Ring, which had only come out a year before. America had Hobbit fever upon the release of The Two Towers, audiences were all-in on the newest Tolkien tale, so it was no surprise when the film debuted with a terrific $62 million in December and would go on to gross $339,789,881. It would also rack up a bunch of Oscar nominations and would be considered the best film in the trilogy (I’ll sign off on that). It was a big deal. And if it were any other year, I would bet that The Two Towers would be the top film of the year. But Spider-Man had other plans in 2002. You just can’t compete with Spidey’s massive $400 million haul. You don’t see a total gross number like that often, especially back in 2002. Yes, The Phantom Menace had done it a few years before and obviously Titanic did a few years before that but $400 million is just a ridiculous number, securing Spider-Man’s dominance. So The Two Towers did wonderfully but it just wasn’t enough to take the top spot.
Speaking of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, let’s discuss its sequel. Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones came in at number three in 2002. That’s somewhat shocking because Star Wars is always number one. Always. In fact, Attack of the Clones was the first Star Wars film that didn’t sit atop the domestic box office at the end of the year. And not only did it miss the number one slot, it missed number two as well. Seeing Star Wars end the year at number three was surprising but, at the same time, we should have seen it coming. For one, the cinematic landscape was rapidly changing. Star Wars used to be the biggest dog in the fight but it was now competing with movies like Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter and newcomers like Spider-Man. It had to fight for its success more than ever before.
Then there is the fact that Attack Of The Clones is a pretty shitty movie. It’s not good. In fact, it’s quite bad. And most people expected it to be bad from the get-go. The Phantom Menace was poorly-received and people didn’t have a lot of faith in George Lucas going into Episode II. People were suspicious and preparing for the worst. Even the title was laughably bad. Don’t take my word for it, see what star Ewan McGregor said when he was informed of the film’s name. I love this clip.
So Attack Of The Clones had an uphill battle to fight and it just couldn’t pull it off. Don’t get me wrong, it made a lot of money but it would be the lowest-grossing Star Wars prequel and would be torn apart by critics and fans alike. Hell, in retrospect it is a bit surprising it even achieved number three.
Harry Potter continued to show his dominance with The Chamber Of Secrets. The second film in the series, Secrets proved that the new franchise was here to stay and the success of the first film film wasn’t a fluke. The gross was strong and, most importantly, it was only the second film in what would end up being a lengthy series. Warner Bros was very happy with the numbers it was seeing.
Though they weren’t as happy as the folks at IFC Films who were downright giddy about My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The movie was made on a shoe string budget and was never expected to be a big hit. And it wasn’t a big hit. It was a monster hit. It was made with just $5,000,000 and ending up bringing in $241 million. It was the talk of the town and a true Cinderella story. Success like that is rare in Hollywood and it was cause for a true celebration.
Austin Powers, Men In Black, Ice Age — 2002 was full of recognizable titles. They are movies people are well aware of to this day, not just flashes in the pan. There was also a new film from M. Night Shyamalan who was something of a brand back then, another well-known name. Yes indeed, there were some heavy hitters on the 2002 chart. The same would be true for 2003, which included a slew of sequels as well as eagerly-anticipated debuts. It would continue a decade of record-breaking hits and new classics. 2003 would contain one of the best sequels ever made, one of the worst sequels ever made, an Oscar-winning fantasy classic and a little forgetful fish.