2001 in film

The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first installments of the Harry Potter, Fast & Furious, Spy Kids, Monsters, Inc. and Shrek franchises, and The Lord of the Rings and Ocean's trilogies. Significant non-English language films released included Monsoon Wedding, Amélie and Spirited Away. There was one film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, that passed over $1 billlion in a re-release of 2020.

The inaugural entries of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings film franchises prompted a shift in both the film and literary communities by propelling fantasy into mainstream culture, popularizing young adult novels, and reforming the blockbuster to promote film franchises and cater to fandom communities.

Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 2001 by worldwide gross are as follows:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone grossed $974 million, and became the second highest-grossing film of all time. It was also the highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter film franchise before the finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, surpassed it in 2011.

2001 was the first time that two films released in the same year grossed more than $800 million at the box office, with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring surpassing the milestone.

The highest-grossing non-English film was Studio Ghibli's anime Spirited Away, which was the 15th highest-grossing film of the year.

Events

 * May 18 – Shrek was released to critical acclaim and went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature the following year beating out Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Monsters, Inc.
 * June 22 – The Fast and the Furious is released, launching one of the highest-grossing franchises in film history.
 * August 8 – actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorce.
 * November 2 – Monsters, Inc. opens with the best ticket sales ever for an animated film and the 6th-best of all time.
 * November 16 and December 19 – The beginning of two acclaimed fantasy film series based on best-selling novels: Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, respectively.

Award ceremonies

 * 6th Empire Awards

By country/region

 * List of American films of 2001
 * List of Argentine films of 2001
 * List of Australian films of 2001
 * List of Bangladeshi films of 2001
 * List of British films of 2001
 * List of Canadian films of 2001
 * List of French films of 2001
 * List of Hong Kong films of 2001
 * List of Indian films of 2001
 * List of Bengali films of 2001
 * List of Hindi films of 2001
 * List of Kannada films of 2001
 * List of Malayalam films of 2001
 * List of Marathi films of 2001
 * List of Punjabi films of 2001
 * List of Tamil films of 2001
 * List of Telugu films of 2001
 * List of Japanese films of 2001
 * List of Mexican films of 2001
 * List of Pakistani films of 2001
 * List of Russian films of 2001
 * List of South Korean films of 2001
 * List of Spanish films of 2001

By genre/medium

 * List of action films of 2001
 * List of animated feature films of 2001
 * List of avant-garde films of 2001
 * List of crime films of 2001
 * List of comedy films of 2001
 * List of drama films of 2001
 * List of horror films of 2001
 * List of science fiction films of 2001
 * List of thriller films of 2001
 * List of western films of 2001

Births

 * January 1 – Angourie Rice, Australian actress
 * February 15 – Haley Tju, American actress
 * February 16 - Chloe East, American actress
 * February 19 – David Mazouz, American actor
 * February 24 – Ramona Marquez, English actress
 * March 6 – Milo Manheim, American actor
 * March 25 – Daisy Tahan, American actress
 * April 14 – Nikita Uggla, Swedish actress
 * April 20 – Ian Alexander, American actor
 * April 28 – Madeleine Harris, British actress
 * May 3 – Rachel Zegler, American actress
 * May 23 – Matt Lintz, American actor
 * May 27 – Izabela Vidovic, American actress
 * June 1 – Ed Oxenbould, Australian actor
 * June 3 – Rhea Norwood, English actress
 * June 5 - Lilly Krug, German actress
 * June 9 – Xolo Maridueña, American actor
 * June 14 – Samuel Bottomley, English actor
 * June 16 – William Sorenson, Canadian Representative
 * June 21 – Eleanor Worthington Cox, English actress
 * July 1 – Chosen Jacobs, American actor
 * July 2 – Abraham Attah, Ghanaian actor
 * July 10 – Isabela Merced, American actress
 * July 11 – Sophia Anne Caruso, American actress
 * July 22 – Alisha Newton, Canadian actress
 * July 31 – Sean Michael Kyer, Canadian actor
 * August 5 – Josie Totah, American actress
 * August 6 – Ty Simpkins, American actor
 * August 21
 * Dallas Liu, American actor
 * Harry Gilby, English actor
 * August 31
 * Garrett Wareing, American actor
 * Corey Maison Transgender actress activist
 * September 3 – Kaia Gerber, American actress and model
 * September 6 – Freya Allan, English actress
 * September 14 – Matías Recalt, Argentine actor
 * September 15 – Emma Fuhrmann, American actress
 * September 17 – India Amarteifio, English actress
 * September 19 – D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Canadian actor
 * September 29 – William Healy, Canadian actor
 * October 1 – Luna Blaise, American actress
 * October 5 – Dalila Bela, Canadian actress
 * October 8 – Percy Hynes White, Canadian actor
 * October 9 – Louis Hynes, English actor
 * October 10 – Blake Cooper, American actor
 * October 12 – Raymond Ochoa, American actor and musician
 * October 13 – Caleb McLaughlin, American actor
 * October 14 – Rowan Blanchard, American actress
 * October 21 – Ashley Liao, American actress
 * October 23 – Mina Sundwall, American actress
 * October 27 – Lukita Maxwell, Indonesian-American actress
 * November 7 – Amybeth McNulty, Irish-Canadian actress
 * November 12 – Raffey Cassidy, English actress
 * November 15 – Sadie Stanley, American actress
 * November 27 – Morgan Davies, Australian actor
 * November 30 – Toby Nichols, American actor
 * December 13 – Harley Bird, English actress
 * December 14 – Joshua Rush, American actor
 * December 16 – Sebastian Croft, English actor
 * December 28 – Maitreyi Ramakrishnan – Canadian actress
 * Joel Oulette, Canadian actor