The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films. Also in 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of that year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five (the first time since the 1943 awards).
Evaluation of the year Film critic Philip French of The Guardian said that 2009:
Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 2009 by worldwide gross are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 2009 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross 1 Avatar 20th Century Fox $2,743,577,587 2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $933,959,197 3 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox $886,686,817 4 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount $836,303,693 5 2012 Sony $769,679,473 6 Up Disney $735,099,082 7 The Twilight Saga: New Moon Summit $709,827,462 8 Sherlock Holmes Warner Bros. $524,028,679 9 Angels & Demons Sony $485,930,816 10 The Hangover Warner Bros. $469,328,079
Avatar surpassed Titanic as the highest-grossing film of all time on January 25, 2010. Avatar then became the first film to earn more than $2 billion at the box office on January 31, 2010. Avatar was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame as the highest-grossing film of all time on July 21, 2019. Due to a re-release, Avatar retook the title from Endgame on March 13, 2021.
Events Month Day Event January 1 Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Animation sign a licensing agreement to allow DreamWorks Pictures, DWA's former parent company, to use the DreamWorks trademarks, logo and name, after the live-action studio's separation from Paramount Pictures. 22 The 81st Academy Awards nominations are announced with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leading with 13 nominations, followed by Slumdog Millionaire with 10. Both films are nominated for Best Picture. Heath Ledger is posthumously nominated for Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in The Dark Knight, exactly one year after his death. 25 The 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony is held at the Shrine Exposition Center, Los Angeles. Annie Awards ceremony is held in the UCLA's Royce Hall, Los Angeles. 31 The 61st Directors Guild of America Award dinner is held in the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles. February 5 – 15 The 59th Berlin International Film Festival is opened with the world premiere of Tom Tykwer's The International. The Golden Bear prize is awarded to The Milk of Sorrow. The Silver Bears prizes are awarded to Asghar Farhadi, Best Director, Sotigui Kouyaté, Best Actor and Birgit Minichmayr, Best Actress. The festival is closed by the international premiere of George Tillman Jr.'s Notorious 7 The 61st Writers Guild of America Awards is held. The 62nd BAFTA Awards ceremony is held in the Royal Opera House, London. 21 The 29th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony is held in Hollywood, California. 22 The 81st Academy Awards ceremony is held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. March 29 The 14th Empire Awards ceremony is held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, England. May 31 The 2009 MTV Movie Awards ceremony was held at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California July 23 – 2 August The 9th Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wrocław was held December 18 Avatar is released in theaters, breaking many box-office records, including becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Awards Category/Organization 15th Critics' Choice AwardsJanuary 15, 2010 67th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 17, 2010 Producers, Directors, Screen Actors, and Writers Guild Awards 63rd BAFTA AwardsFebruary 21, 2010 82nd Academy AwardsMarch 7, 2010 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film The Hurt Locker Avatar The Hangover The Hurt Locker Best Director Kathryn BigelowThe Hurt Locker James CameronAvatar Kathryn BigelowThe Hurt Locker Best Actor Jeff BridgesCrazy Heart Robert Downey Jr.Sherlock Holmes Jeff BridgesCrazy Heart Colin FirthA Single Man Jeff BridgesCrazy Heart Best Actress Sandra BullockThe Blind SideMeryl StreepJulie & Julia Sandra BullockThe Blind Side Meryl StreepJulie & Julia Sandra BullockThe Blind Side Carey MulliganAn Education Sandra BullockThe Blind Side Best Supporting Actor Christoph WaltzInglourious Basterds Best Supporting Actress Mo'NiquePrecious Best Screenplay, Adapted Jason Reitman and Sheldon TurnerUp in the Air Jason Reitman and Sheldon TurnerUp in the Air Jason Reitman and Sheldon TurnerUp in the Air Geoffrey FletcherPrecious Best Screenplay, Original Quentin TarantinoInglourious Basterds Mark BoalThe Hurt Locker Best Animated Film Up Best Original Score UpMichael Giacchino N/A UpMichael Giacchino Best Original Song "The Weary Kind"Crazy Heart N/AN/A "The Weary Kind"Crazy Heart Best Foreign Language Film Broken Embraces The White Ribbon N/A A Prophet The Secret in Their Eyes Best Documentary The Cove N/A The Cove N/A The Cove
Palme d'Or (62nd Cannes Film Festival): The White Ribbon (Das weiße Band), directed by Michael Haneke, Germany
Golden Lion (66th Venice International Film Festival): Lebanon, directed by Samuel Maoz, Israel
Golden Bear (59th Berlin International Film Festival): The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada), directed by Claudia Llosa, Peru
People's Choice Award (34th Toronto International Film Festival): Precious, directed by Lee Daniels, United States
2009 films By country/region List of American films of 2009 List of Argentine films of 2009 List of Australian films of 2009 List of Bangladeshi films of 2009 List of Bengali films of 2009 List of Bollywood films of 2009 List of Brazilian films of 2009 List of British films of 2009 List of Chinese films of 2009 List of Canadian films of 2009 List of French films of 2009 List of Hindi films of 2009 List of Hong Kong films of 2009 List of Italian films of 2009 List of Japanese films of 2009 List of Kannada films of 2009 List of Mexican films of the 2000s List of Malayalam films of 2009 List of Pakistani films of 2009 List of Russian films of 2009 List of South Korean films of 2009 List of Spanish films of 2009 List of Tamil films of 2009 List of Telugu films of 2009 List of Turkish films of 2009
By genre/medium List of action films of 2009 List of animated feature films of 2009 List of avant-garde films of 2009 List of crime films of 2009 List of comedy films of 2009 List of drama films of 2009 List of horror films of 2006 List of science fiction films of 2009 List of thriller films of 2009 List of western films of 2009
Births January 5 - Walker Scobell, American actor January 23 - Winslow Fegley, American actor January 26 - YaYa Gosselin, American actress February 22 - Archie Yates, English actor March 12 - Woody Norman, English actor March 17 - Lenny Rush, English actor April 15 Isaac Ordonez, American actor Julia Butters, American actress April 20 - Calah Lane, American actress and singer May 18 - Hala Finley, American actress May 25 - Elle Graham, American actress June 7 - Diaana Babnicova, British actress June 23 - Xia Vigor, British-Filipino actress July 2 - Alexa Swinton, American actress September 25 - Leah Jeffries, American actress September 26 – Alisha Weir, Irish actress and singer October 9 - Gordon Cormier, Canadian actor November 5 - Trinity Bliss, American actress and singer November 10 - Christian Convery, American-Canadian actor December 5 - Owen Cooper, English actor December 9 - Sōya Kurokawa, Japanese actor
Deaths