How were you feeling in 2009?
Had you grown tired of the first decade of the 21st century? Were you anxious? Were you hopeful because of some promising progressive political gains? Were you fearful those gains would be erased? Were you ready for the 2010s and the (hopefully) better days ahead? Was all the uncertainty and high stakes getting to you? Were you were dying for more stability and normalcy?
If you were tired of the ups and downs of the 2000s then 2009 was a good year for you because it was a year that reminded many that some things never really change, at least when it comes to movies. The only thing truly surprising about the top ten films of 2009 was just how unsurprising they were. Looking back, it is not a bit shocking that these were the movies that topped the chart as the decade came to a close. It almost feels like they were destined to be huge.
The Top Ten Films of 2009 (Domestic)
James Cameron is a master.
I’m not saying that as a comment on the quality of his films (although he has made some incredible films. Fight me) but I am saying that as a comment on his ability to give the people what they want. Time and time again, Cameron has perfectly delivered major hits to the masses: Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies (which honestly might be his best movie behind Terminator) and then the late 90s smash Titanic. I think some folks may have forgotten just how damn big Titanic was. The movie was an absolute smash and seemed to be the only thing people were talking about when it debuted back in late 1997. It was more than a movie, it was a cultural earthquake.
It’s not like people were clamoring for a movie about the cursed voyage of the Titanic before the movie came out. The actual event happened in 1912 and wasn’t water-cooler chat fodder in the 1990s. People weren’t crying out for Titanic. But James Cameron tapped into something and people decided they definitely wanted the movie once it debuted. He created a masterwork of spectacle and emotion and expert filmmaking. That is just what he does.
And that is exactly what he did in 2009 with Avatar. Avatar was easily the biggest film of the year with a domestic haul of $749,766,139. That’s astronomical. The movie would go on to become the highest-grossing film of all time (a distinction it held until last year’s Avengers: Endgame). Even adjusted for inflation, Avatar is still the second-highest grossing movie ever, behind some little-known picture called Gone With The Wind. Like Titanic before it, Avatar was a cultural moment that became bigger than its medium.
The funny thing is that people were thinking Avatar was going to bomb. This was true for Titanic but it was doubly true for Avatar. The movie was uber-expensive and seemed ridiculous on its face (it kind of is) and completely out of touch with what audiences were enjoying at the time. It wasn’t Batman, it wasn’t Pixar and it wasn’t Harry Potter so it couldn’t compete, many thought. James Cameron would return with a CGI mess that people would laugh at, critics cried. Lightning wasn’t going to strike again, they promised. This would be no Titanic.
Well guess what? Lightning struck again and it struck even harder. The movie opened with a commendable-but-not-astonishing $77 million but it consistently brought in lots of money week after week. Its second weekend gross was only two million less than its opening weekend gross. That’s crazy. And it just kept going, staying at number one for seven weeks, a feat not achieved since…Titanic.
Is Avatar a good movie? Eh. I think it’s okay. I definitely have little desire to see it again but I enjoy it for what it is. But is James Cameron a talented filmmaker who understands movie-making and audiences? There should be no debate about that. Of course Avatar was the biggest movie of 2009. We should have seen it coming.
2009 had some other stand-outs too. Avatar didn’t break onto the scene until December and the months leading up to that were filled with some usual suspects and some impressive newcomers. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was the second-biggest movie of 2009. Michael Bay’s sequel to Transformers also gave the people what they wanted: chaotic robotic destruction. While Fallen was a bigger movie than its predecessor, it was certainly not as celebrated and started to show the weaknesses in the series. It was convoluted and too jam-packed. Even Bay’s action, typically great, was a bit of mess. But people came out in droves for Revenge of the Fallen and it would be several years before Michael Bay would take the hint and step away from the franchise.
Speaking of franchises, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince did exceptionally well in 2009. The movie was the last one before the two-part finale, The Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2. Director David Yates was firing on all cylinders with Half-Blood Prince and audiences and critics alike loved the movie, giving it a final total of $301,959,197. The movie made no doubt how important the Harry Potter series was for the 2000s.
There were some other strong debuts on the chart in 2009. Star Trek came out of the gate swinging, Pixar’s Up made audiences cry and empty their wallets, The Hangover was an ultra-big smash for an R-rated comedy. And who can forget the magic of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel? Yes, a lot was happening at the box office as the decade came to a close. But there was a new horizon arriving with the 2010s. An Avatar sequel wasn’t immediate (still isn’t…), Harry Potter was coming to a close and new franchises like Transformers or Twilight were either just getting started or inconsistent. People could tell that some new energy was needed. And, sure enough, the 2010s would prove to be full of some shake-ups. Star Wars would return, Batman and Superman would come (and go…) and Marvel would continue to alter the box office forever. Big things would emerge, things that were bigger than anything before them. A new decade was coming.
Looking back on the box office returns of the 2000s has been an exercise in studying a country in upheaval and an industry changing but also remaining the same. I truly believe that the first decade of the 21st century will be looked back at as a time when Hollywood set course ahead for a robust era of blockbusters at a level never before seen. And you know what? The last few weeks has reminded me that there were a lot of good movies released from 2000 to 20009. Sure, there were some real stinkers but the decade contained many films that we as movie fans should be proud of.
Yes, the 2000s were a rough time for the world. But for those who love cinema, there was also much to be happy about too. Harry Potter, Batman, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Pixar, Spider-Man, Fast and the Furious, War of the Worlds — the 2000s gave us a lot.
I’ll take the movies and leave the rest.