2015 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, and a list of films released and notable deaths.

Fox Film (now 20th Century Fox), Universal City, California and Universal Studios Lot celebrated their 100th anniversaries; The Sound of Music and Dolby celebrated their 50th anniversaries.

Evaluation of the year Richard Brody of The New Yorker described 2015 as, "one of Hollywood's worst years" but also stated that it was also "a terrific year for movies over all". He emphasized that,

Highest-grossing films

The top 10 films released in 2015 by worldwide gross are as follows:

+ Highest-grossing films of 2015 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross 1 Star Wars: The Force AwakensDisney $2,068,223,624 2 Jurassic World Universal$1,671,537,444 3 Furious 7 $1,515,341,399 4 Avengers: Age of Ultron Disney $1,402,809,540 5 Minions Universal $1,159,398,397 6 Spectre Sony $880,674,609 7 Inside Out Disney $858,811,174 8 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Paramount $682,714,267 9 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Lionsgate $653,428,261 10 The Martian 20th Century Fox $630,161,890

Star Wars: The Force Awakens grossed over $2 billion, becoming the third film to surpass that milestone, and the third highest-grossing film of all time. Jurassic World, Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Minions have each grossed over $1 billion, making them among the highest-grossing films of all time. Spectre and Inside Out grossed more than $850 million.

Minions became the first non-Disney animated film and the third animated film overall after Toy Story 3 (2010) and Frozen (2013) to gross over $1 billion, and is currently the sixth highest-grossing animated film of all time.

2015 notable box office records

Studio records 2015 is the first year that a single studio (Universal Pictures) released three films that each grossed over $1 billion, the first year that a single studio released two films that both grossed over $1.5 billion, and the first year that a single studio released two films that both grossed over $1 billion outside of North America. Universal also generated $2 billion and $3 billion in a single year at the international box office faster than any studio before, doing so on June 10, June 14, and July 17, 2015, respectively. The previous records was held by 20th Century Fox when it reached $2 and $3 billion on June 15 and July 30, 2010, respectively. Universal previously grossed $2 billion in 2013, reaching the milestone on September 17 of that year. Furthermore, the studio also broke the record for fastest studio to generate $1 billion in the United States and Canada (on June 14, 2015), beating the previous record ascendance achieved by Paramount Pictures on June 22, 2008, and $2 billion (on August 16, 2015), beating the previous speed record of December 25, 2009, held by Warner Bros., and the fastest to $3, $4, and $5 billion worldwide (It achieved the $5 billion milestone on July 17, 2015, breaking the record previously held by Fox near the end of November 2014). Universal is also the first studio to achieve $6 billion at the global box office in one year. Walt Disney Studios became the first studio to release three films within a single franchise – the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – that each grossed over $1 billion, with Avengers: Age of Ultron joining 2012's The Avengers and 2013's Iron Man 3. The MCU also became the highest-grossing film franchise with the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, surpassing the Harry Potter film franchise ($7.723 billion, 2001–2011), and becoming the first franchise to gross over $8 billion. With the subsequent release of Ant-Man, the MCU also became the first franchise to gross over $9 billion. Furious 7 became the highest-grossing film ever distributed by Universal, surpassing the 22-year-old record set by Jurassic Park in 1993. However it shortly lost the record to Jurassic World in June, just two months later. It was also the first film distributed by Universal to gross $1 billion in its initial release, since Jurassic Park did so after it was re-released in 2013.

Film records Furious 7 became the fastest film to reach $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide, doing so in 17 days; this record was later surpassed by Universal's own Jurassic World two months later, accruing the same amount in 13 days; this record was in turn surpassed six months later by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which accrued $1 billion in 12 days. Furious 7 also became the first American film ever to gross over ¥2 billion (amassing ¥2.426 billion) at the Chinese box office. Jurassic World grossed $524.4 million worldwide in its opening weekend, making it the highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time, surpassing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($483.2 million in 2011). Jurassic World also grossed $208.8 million in North America in its opening weekend, beating the previous record held by The Avengers ($207.4 million in 2012). Both records were later surpassed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the same year. It also became the highest-grossing film that was not the highest-grossing film of its year, surpassing Iron Man 3. Terminator Genisys became the first American film to earn $400 million worldwide without also grossing $100 million in North America. The only other production to hit that threshold before was the French film The Intouchables (2012). Minions became the fastest animated film to $1 billion in 49 days, surpassing Toy Story 3 (75 days). It also becomes the first Non-Disney animated film to gross over $1 billion, and is the highest-grossing spinoff film, as well as the highest-grossing prequel. Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke all pre-sale ticket records and grossed $529 million in its opening weekend, making it the highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time, surpassing Jurassic World ($524.4 million on 12–14 June 2015). The Force Awakens also grossed $248 million in North America in its opening weekend, beating the previous record held by Jurassic World ($208.8 million). The film subsequently became the first to exceed $800 million in the domestic box office on January 9 and $900 million on February 5. It also became Disney's first film to gross over $1 billion at the foreign box office, as well as the third film to ever gross over $2 billion worldwide. This makes it the third highest-grossing film of all time. 2015 is tied with 2018 and 2026 for the greatest number of films to gross more than $1 billion with five, surpassing 2012's record of four, but later was surpassed in 2019 to have nine films with that milestone. It has also set the record for the greatest number of films crossing the $1.5 billion mark with three.

Events January 22, 2015 – Pacific Data Images shuts down as part of DreamWorks Animation's restructuring plans following the box-office underperformance of Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Penguins of Madagascar the year prior, cutting off 500 jobs. December 16, 2015 – Steven Spielberg, Reliance Entertainment, Entertainment One and Participant Media launch new production company Amblin Partners, which would produce films using the DreamWorks Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Participant Media banners. On the same day, they also announced a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures, where the films will be distributed and marketed under either the main Universal label, or its specialty label, Focus Features.

Award ceremonies Date Event Host Location Source January 11 72nd Golden Globe Awards Hollywood Foreign Press Association Beverly Hills, California January 15 20th Critics' Choice Awards Broadcast Film Critics Association Santa Monica, California January 24 Producers Guild of America Awards 2014 Producers Guild of America Beverly Hills, California January 25 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Los Angeles, California January 26 50th Guldbagge Awards Swedish Film Institute Djurgården, Sweden January 31 4th AACTA International Awards Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Los Angeles, California 60th Filmfare Awards Filmfare Mumbai, India February 2 20th Lumière Awards Académie des Lumières Paris, France February 4 African-American Film Critics Association Awards 2014 African-American Film Critics Association Hollywood, California February 7 29th Goya Awards Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain Madrid, Spain 5th Magritte Awards Académie André Delvaux Brussels, Belgium 67th Directors Guild of America Awards Directors Guild of America Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 8 68th British Academy Film Awards British Academy of Film and Television Arts London, England February 14 67th Writers Guild of America Awards Writers Guild of America Manhattan, New York, U.S. & Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 15 19th Satellite Awards International Press Academy Los Angeles, California February 20 40th César Awards Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques Paris, France February 21 30th Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards 35th Golden Raspberry Awards Golden Raspberry Awards Hollywood, California February 22 87th Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Hollywood, California April 12 2015 MTV Movie Awards MTV Los Angeles, California May 3 62nd National Film Awards Directorate of Film Festivals India June 25 41st Saturn Awards Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Burbank, California September 20 2015 FAMAS Awards Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards Newport City, Metro Manila December 12 28th European Film Awards European Film Academy Berlin, Germany

Festivals Date Event Host Location Source January 22 – February 1 2015 Sundance Film Festival Sundance Institute Park City, Utah February 5–15 65th Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival Berlin, Germany May 13–24 2015 Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival Cannes, France July 3–11 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Karlovy Vary, Czechia September 2–12 72nd Venice International Film Festival Venice Film Festival Venice, Italy September 4–13 2015 Deauville American Film Festival Deauville American Film Festival Deauville, France September 10–20 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival Toronto, Ontario September 25 – October 11 53rd New York Film Festival New York Film Festival New York, New York November 13–29 19th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn, Estonia November 21–28 26th Carthage Film Festival Carthage Film Festival Tunis, Tunisia December 25 – January 7, 2016 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival Metro Manila Film Festival Manila, Philippines

Awards