2011 in film

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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 28 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]

2011 is widely considered to be a poor year for film and some suggest the beginning of what has been viewed as an overall decline of quality for years that followed.

Highest-grossing films[]

The top 10 films released in 2011 by worldwide gross are as follows:^[3]

Highest-grossing films of 2011
Rank	Title	Distributor	Worldwide gross
1	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2	Warner Bros.	$1,341,511,219
2	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	Paramount	$1,123,794,079
3	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	Disney	$1,045,713,802
4	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1	Summit	$712,205,856
5	Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol	Paramount	$694,713,380
6	Kung Fu Panda 2	Paramount	$665,692,281
7	Fast Five	Universal	$626,137,675
8	The Hangover Part II	Warner Bros.	$586,764,305
9	The Smurfs	Sony Pictures	$563,749,323
10	Cars 2	Disney	$559,852,396

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides grossed $1,045,713,802, becoming the second film in the series 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 as a whole. 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. Transformers: Dark of the Moon grossed $1,123,794,079 and is currently the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time and the highest-grossing in the series.

2011 was the first year when three films grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, surpassing the previous year's record of two billion-dollar films, 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 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows also earned over $500 million making it twelve films to do so).

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 (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 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 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel as the highest-grossing live-action/animated film of all time with $563.7 million.

Events[]

Awards[]

Category/Organization	17th Critics' Choice Awards January 12, 2012	69th Golden Globe Awards January 15, 2012		Producers, Directors, Screen Actors, and Writers Guild Awards	65th BAFTA Awards February 12, 2012	84th Academy Awards February 26, 2012
Category/Organization	17th Critics' Choice Awards January 12, 2012	Drama	Musical or Comedy		65th BAFTA Awards February 12, 2012	84th Academy Awards February 26, 2012
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		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			N/A	The Artist Ludovic Bource
Best Original Song	"Life's a Happy Song" The Muppets	"Masterpiece" W.E.		N/A	N/A	"Man or Muppet" The Muppets
Best Foreign Language Film	A Separation			N/A	The Skin I Live In	A Separation
Best Documentary	George Harrison: Living in the Material World	N/A	N/A	Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest	Senna	Undefeated

2011 films[]

The list of films released in 2011, arranged by country, are as follows:

Deaths[]

Month	Date	Name	Age	Nationality	Profession	Notable films
January	2	Anne Francis	80	American	Actress	Forbidden Planet Blackboard Jungle
	2	Pete Postlethwaite	64	British	Actor	In the Name of the Father Dragonheart
	2	Miriam Seegar	103	American	Actress	The Valley of Ghosts What a Man
	2	Patricia Smith	80	American	Actress	The Spirit of St. Louis Mad City
	2	Margot Stevenson	98	American	Actress	Smashing the Money Ring Calling Philo Vance
	3	Jill Haworth	65	British	Actress	Exodus In Harm's Way
	9	Peter Yates	81	British	Director	Bullitt The Hot Rock
	11	David Nelson	74	American	Actor, Producer	The Big Circus Peyton Place
	15	Susannah York	72	British	Actress	Tom Jones A Man for All Seasons
	16	Paul Picerni	88	American	Actor	House of Wax Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
	16	Juan Piquer Simón	75	Spanish	Director	The Pod People Pieces
	20	Bruce Gordon	94	American	Actor	Love Happy Piranha
	21	Theoni V. Aldredge	82	Greek	Costume Designer	Ghostbusters The Great Gatsby
	24	Bernd Eichinger	61	German	Producer	The NeverEnding Story Resident Evil
	26	María Mercader	92	Spanish	Actress	Heart and Soul Giovannino
	26	Mario Scaccia	91	Italian	Actor	Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen Between Miracles
	27	Charlie Callas	83	American	Actor	Silent Movie Pete's Dragon
	30	John Barry	77	British	Composer	From Russia with Love The Lion in Winter
	31	Michael Tolan	86	American	Actor	All That Jazz The Greatest Story Ever Told
February	2	Margaret John	84	British	Actress	Run Fatboy Run How Green Was My Valley
	3	Maria Schneider	58	French	Actress	Last Tango in Paris The Passenger
	4	Tura Satana	72	Japanese	Actress	Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Irma la Douce
	5	Donald Peterman	79	American	Cinematographer	Men in Black Cocoon
	10	Bill Justice	97	American	Animator	Fantasia Bambi
	11	Myrna Dell	86	American	Actress	Rose of the Yukon Fighting Father Dunne
	12	Betty Garrett	91	American	Actress, Dancer, Singer	On the Town Words and Music
	12	Kenneth Mars	75	American	Actor, Voice Actor	The Producers Young Frankenstein
	13	Larry Holden	49	Irish	Actor	Batman Begins Memento
	13	T. P. McKenna	81	British	Actor	The Libertine Shake Hands with the Devil
	14	David F. Friedman	87	American	Producer	Blood Feast Love Camp 7
	16	Alfred Burke	92	British	Actor	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Interpol
	16	Len Lesser	88	American	Actor	Kelly's Heroes The Outlaw Josey Wales
	17	Perry Moore	39	American	Producer	The Chronicles of Narnia Lake City
	18	Walter Seltzer	96	American	Producer	Soylent Green The Omega Man
	22	Nicholas Courtney	81	British	Actor	Bullseye!
	26	Greg Goossen	65	American	Actor	Unforgiven The Royal Tenenbaums
	27	Gary Winick	49	American	Director, Producer	13 Going on 30 Charlotte's Web
	28	Annie Girardot	79	French	Actress	The Piano Teacher Dillinger Is Dead
	28	Nick LaTour	84	American	Actor	Jingle All the Way Deep Cover
	28	Jane Russell	89	American	Actress	The Outlaw Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
March	4	Charles Jarrott	83	British	Director	Anne of the Thousand Days Lost Horizon
	11	Hugh Martin	96	American	Composer	Meet Me in St. Louis Athena
	17	Michael Gough	94	British	Actor	Batman Horrors of the Black Museum
	18	Enzo Cannavale	82	Italian	Actor	Cinema Paradiso The House of Smiles
	21	Joe Wizan	76	Mexican	Producer	Along Came a Spider Jeremiah Johnson
	22	Helen Stenborg	86	American	Actress	Enchanted The Bonfire of the Vanities
	23	Elizabeth Taylor	79	British-American	Actress	Giant Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
	27	Farley Granger	85	American	Actor	Rope Strangers on a Train
April	2	Bill Varney	77	American	Sound Mixer	Raiders of the Lost Ark The Empire Strikes Back
	3	Kevin Jarre	56	American	Screenwriter	Tombstone Glory
	4	Wayne Robson	64	Canadian	Actor	Affliction The Incredible Hulk
	6	Skip O'Brien	60	American	Actor	Liar Liar Prizzi's Honor
	9	Sidney Lumet	86	American	Director, Producer, Screenwriter	12 Angry Men Dog Day Afternoon
	11	Angela Scoular	65	British	Actress	On Her Majesty's Secret Service Casino Royale
	14	Trevor Bannister	76	British	Actor	Are You Being Served? Captain Jack
	17	Michael Sarrazin	70	Canadian	Actor	They Shoot Horses, Don't They? The Gumball Rally
	24	Marie-France Pisier	66	French	Actress	L'Amour a vingt ans/Love at Twenty Cousin Cousine
	28	William Campbell	87	American	Actor	The High and the Mighty Man Without a Star
May	3	Jackie Cooper	88	American	Actor	Superman Skippy
	4	Mary Murphy	80	American	Actress	The Wild One The Desperate Hours
	5	Arthur Laurents	93	American	Playwright, Screenwriter	West Side Story Gypsy
	5	Dana Wynter	79	British	Actress	Invasion of the Body Snatchers Airport
	8	Hilton Rosemarin	58	Canadian	Set Decorator	Three Men and a Baby Jumper
	9	Dolores Fuller	88	American	Actress	Glen or Glenda Jail Bait
	15	Barbara Stuart	76	American	Actress	Airplane! Bachelor Party
	16	Edward Hardwicke	78	British	Actor	Elizabeth Oliver Twist
	20	Randy Savage	58	American	Actor	Spider-Man Bolt
	21	Bill Hunter	71	Australian	Actor	Gallipoli Finding Nemo
	22	Joseph Brooks	73	American	Director, Songwriter	If Ever I See You Again You Light Up My Life
	27	Jeff Conaway	60	American	Actor	Grease The Eagle Has Landed
	30	Clarice Taylor	93	American	Actress	Play Misty for Me Sommersby
June	3	James Arness	88	American	Actor	The Farmer's Daughter Big Jim McLain
	3	Pat Jackson	95	British	Director	Shadow on the Wall Encore!
	3	Miriam Karlin	85	British	Actress	A Clockwork Orange Children of Men
	6	John Boswall	91	British	Actor	Nineteen Eighty-Four Three Men and a Little Lady
	7	Leonard B. Stern	87	American	Screenwriter, Director	Africa Screams Just You and Me, Kid
	8	John Mackenzie	83	Scottish	Director	The Long Good Friday Ruby
	11	Gunnar Fischer	100	Swedish	Cinematographer	Port of Call Thirst
	12	Laura Ziskin	61	American	Producer	Pretty Woman Spider-Man
	14	Badi Uzzaman	72	Indian	Actor	Eastern Promises Another Year
	20	Ryan Dunn	34	American	Actor	Jackass: The Movie Blonde Ambition
	22	David Rayfiel	87	American	Screenwriter	Three Days of the Condor Death Watch
	23	Peter Falk	83	American	Actor	The Princess Bride Murder, Inc.
	25	Alice Playten	63	American	Actress	I.Q. Heavy Metal
	26	Edith Fellows	88	American	Actress	Pennies from Heaven
	27	Elaine Stewart	81	American	Actress	The Bad and the Beautiful Brigadoon
July	1	Leslie Brooks	88	American	Actress	Tonight and Every Night Blonde Ice
	3	Anna Massey	73	British	Actress	Peeping Tom The Importance of Being Earnest
	5	Gordon Tootoosis	69	Canadian	Actor	Pocahontas Legends of the Fall
	8	Roberts Blossom	87	American	Actor	Home Alone Close Encounters of the Third Kind
	15	Googie Withers	94	British	Actress	It Always Rains on Sunday Shine
	17	David Ngoombujarra	44	Australian	Actor	Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles Ned Kelly
	19	Sheila Burrell	89	British	Actress	Paranoiac Cold Comfort Farm
	22	Tom Aldredge	83	American	Actor	Cold Mountain Intolerable Cruelty
	22	Linda Christian	87	Mexican-American	Actress	Tarzan and the Mermaids The V.I.P.s
	24	Tresa Hughes	81	American	Actress	Fame Don Juan DeMarco
	24	G. D. Spradlin	90	American	Actor	The Godfather Part II Apocalypse Now
	25	Michael Cacoyannis	89	Greek	Director, Producer, Screenwriter	Zorba the Greek Windfall in Athens
	27	Polly Platt	72	American	Producer, Art Director, Screenwriter	The Last Picture Show What's Up, Doc?
August	2	Richard Pearson	93	British	Actor	Scrooge One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing
	3	Bubba Smith	66	American	Actor	Police Academy The Naked Truth
	5	Francesco Quinn	48	Italian	Actor	Platoon Transformers: Dark of the Moon
	6	John Wood	81	British	Actor	Chocolat Sabrina
	14	Shammi Kapoor	79	Indian	Actor, Director	Junglee Tumsa Nahin Dekha
	19	Raúl Ruiz	70	Chilean	Director	A Closed Book The Golden Boat
	23	Sybil Jason	83	American	Actress	The Little Princess The Blue Bird
	23	Michael Showers	45	American	Actor	Traffic Mad Money
	24	Frank DiLeo	63	American	Actor	Goodfellas Wayne's World
	24	Jack Hayes	93	American	Composer, Orchestrator	The Color Purple Star Trek
	27	Eve Brent	82	American	Actress	The Green Mile Garfield
September	10	Cliff Robertson	88	American	Actor	Charly Spider-Man
	11	Andy Whitfield	39	Welsh/Australian	Actor	Gabriel The Clinic
	13	John Calley	81	American	Producer	Postcards from the Edge The Da Vinci Code
	13	Jack Garner	84	American	Actor	My Fellow Americans Sunset
	15	Frances Bay	92	Canadian	Actress	Happy Gilmore Blue Velvet
	16	Norma Eberhardt	82	American	Actress	Live Fast, Die Young The Return of Dracula
	21	Paulette Dubost	100	French	Actress	The Rules of the Game Adrien
	22	Peter E. Berger	67	American	Film Editor	Fatal Attraction Alvin and the Chipmunks
	22	Jonathan Cecil	72	British	Actor	Barry Lyndon Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
	26	David Zelag Goodman	81	American	Screenwriter	Straw Dogs Logan's Run
	26	Jerry Haynes	84	American	Actor	RoboCop Boys Don't Cry
October	2	Peter Przygodda	69	German	Editor	Paris, Texas Wings of Desire
	4	Doris Belack	85	American	Actress	Tootsie What About Bob?
	5	Steve Jobs	56	American	Producer, Studio Executive	Toy Story A Bug's Life
	5	Charles Napier	75	American	Actor	The Silence of the Lambs The Blues Brothers
	6	Diane Cilento	78	Australian	Actress	The Wicker Man Hombre
	7	George Baker	80	British	Actor	Goodbye, Mr. Chips On Her Majesty's Secret Service
	8	David Hess	75	American	Actor	The Last House on the Left Swamp Thing
	10	Alan Fudge	67	American	Actor	Edward Scissorhands The Natural
	13	Sheila Allen	78	British	Actress	Love Actually Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
	13	Barbara Kent	103	Canadian	Actress	Flesh and the Devil Oliver Twist
	20	Sue Lloyd	72	British	Actress	The Ipcress File Revenge of the Pink Panther
	31	Gilbert Cates	77	American	Director, Producer	Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams Oh, God! Book II
November	2	Sid Melton	94	American	Actor	Knock on Any Door Lost Continent
	2	Leonard Stone	87	American	Actor	Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory American Pop
	3	Rosángela Balbó	70	Italian-Mexican	Actress	The Incredible Invasion
	3	Bruno Rubeo	65	Italian	Production Designer	Driving Miss Daisy The Thomas Crown Affair
	6	Margaret Field	89	American	Actress	The Man from Planet X Captive Women
	8	Gene Cantamessa	80	American	Sound Mixer	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Space Jam
	8	Heavy D	44	American	Rapper, Actor	The Cider House Rules Step Up
	15	Dulcie Gray	95	British	Actress	The Glass Mountain Wanted for Murder
	15	Karl Slover	93	American	Actor	The Wizard of Oz The Terror of Tiny Town
	16	Maureen Swanson	78	British	Actress	Knights of the Round Table Up in the World
	19	John Neville	86	British	Actor	The Adventures of Baron Munchausen The X-Files
	20	Dorothy Morris	89	American	Actress	Cry "Havoc" The Human Comedy
	27	Ken Russell	84	British	Director, Actor	Tommy Women in Love
	28	Vittorio De Seta	88	Italian	Director, Screenwriter	Bandits of Orgosolo Half a Man
	28	Patrice O'Neal	41	American	Comedian, Actor	25th Hour Furry Vengeance
December	1	Bill McKinney	80	American	Actor	Deliverance Every Which Way But Loose
	3	Dev Anand	88	Indian	Actor, Director, Producer	Guide Hare Rama Hare Krishna
	6	Giancarlo Badessi	83	Italian	Actor	Salon Kitty Squadra antitruffa
	7	Harry Morgan	96	American	Actor	Inherit the Wind Dragnet
	11	Harold Hopkins	67	Australian	Actor	Don's Party Gallipoli
	14	Don Sharp	67	Australian	Director	The Thirty Nine Steps Psychomania
	16	Nicol Williamson	73	British	Actor	The Wilby Conspiracy The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
	18	Doe Avedon	86	American	Actress	The High and the Mighty The Boss
	20	Yoshimitsu Morita	61	Japanese	Director	The Family Game Sorekara
	22	William Duell	88	American	Actor	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest In & Out
	23	Denise Darcel	87	American	Actress	Tarzan and the Slave Girl Westward the Women
	26	Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.	71	Mexican	Actor	Licence to Kill Amistad
	27	Betty Jane Rhodes	90	American	Actress, Singer	Sweater Girl The Fleet's In

References[]

^ "2011 Preview: Sequels – Now, More Than Ever". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
^ Adams, Ryan (7 December 2011). "Richard Brody names "The 26 Best Films of 2011"". Awards Daily. Sasha Stone. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
^ "2011 Worldwide Box Office". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 7, 2020.

[1] "2011 Preview: Sequels – Now, More Than Ever". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 20, 2011.

[2] Adams, Ryan (7 December 2011). "Richard Brody names "The 26 Best Films of 2011"". Awards Daily. Sasha Stone. Retrieved 18 September 2016.

[3] "2011 Worldwide Box Office". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 7, 2020.

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