2021 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of country-specific lists of films released, and movie programming.
Evaluation of the year In his article highlighting the best movies of 2021, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, "From an artistic perspective, 2021 has been an excellent cinematic vintage, yet the bounty is shadowed by an air of doom. The reopening of theatres has brought many great movies—some of which were postponed from last year—to the big screen, but fewer people to see them. The biggest successes, as usual, have been superhero and franchise films. The French Dispatch has done respectably in wide release, and Licorice Pizza is doing superbly on four screens in New York and Los Angeles, but few, if any, of the year's best films are likely to reach high on the box-office charts. The shift toward streaming was already under way when the pandemic struck, and as the trend has accelerated it's had a paradoxical effect on movies. On the one hand, a streaming release is a wide release, happily accessible to all (or to all subscribers). On the other, an online release usually registers as a nonevent, and many of the great movies hardly make a blip on the mediascape despite being more accessible than ever."
Highest-grossing films
+ Highest-grossing films of 2021 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross 1 Spider-Man: No Way Home Sony $1,921,426,073 2 The Battle at Lake Changjin Bona $909,596,236 3 Hi, Mom Lian Ray $841,674,419 4 No Time to Die MGM / Universal $774,253,007 5 F9 Universal $726,229,501 6 Detective Chinatown 3 Warner Bros. / Wanda $686,257,563 7 Venom: Let There Be Carnage Sony $506,863,592 8 Godzilla vs. Kong Warner Bros. / Toho $470,116,094 9 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Disney $432,243,292 10 Sing 2 Universal $408,668,500
2021 box office records Worldwide, the global box office ended the year at $21.4 billion, a figure 78% higher than 2020. China was the highest-grossing country of 2021 with $7.3 billion. In the United States and Canada, theaters earned an estimated $4.55 billion throughout 2021, a statistic 100% higher than 2020's $2.28 billion and 60% lower than 2019's $11.4 billion.
Film records The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) became the first film franchise to gross $23 billion, $24 billion, and $25 billion with the releases of Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Additionally, the MCU became the first film franchise to have ten films gross over $1 billion with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Spider-Man: No Way Home became the 48th film to gross $1 billion worldwide (the first film to do so since 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), surpassed Spider-Man: Far From Home as Sony's highest-grossing film of all time, and attained the distinction of being the highest-grossing film not to be released in China (one of the world's biggest box office markets). Also, it is the third film to surpass the $800 million mark in North America. In Latin America, No Way Home became the all-time highest-grossing film in Mexico (), and the second all-time highest in Brazil (), Central America () and Ecuador (). The Battle at Lake Changjin became the highest-grossing non-English film of all time as well as highest-grossing Chinese film of all time. The Battle at Lake Changjin also became the second highest-grossing film in a single market, after Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) in the United States. Hi, Mom became the highest-grossing film by a solo female director, surpassing the record set by Wonder Woman (2017). Detective Chinatown 3 set the record for the biggest opening weekend in a single territory, surpassing the record set by Avengers: Endgame in 2019, and had the tenth highest-grossing opening weekend on release. Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all time again after a re-release in China increased its gross past $2.8 billion. The anime film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020) released in North America in April 2021, with its opening weekend gross of setting the record as the biggest opening for any foreign-language film released in North America.
Events Award ceremonies +2021 film award ceremoniesDateEventHostLocation(s) January 16 26th Forqué AwardsEntidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores AudiovisualesMadrid, SpainFebruary 2878th Golden Globe AwardsHollywood Foreign Press AssociationBeverly Hills, California, USManhattan, New York, US March 2 8th Feroz Awards Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España Madrid, Spain March 6 35th Goya Awards Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences Málaga, Spain March 726th Critics' Choice AwardsBroadcast Film Critics AssociationSanta Monica, California, US March 12 46th César Awards Paris, France March 21 13th Gaudí Awards Catalan Film Academy Barcelona, Catalonia, SpainMarch 2173rd Writers Guild of America AwardsWriters Guild of America, EastWriters Guild of America WestCeremony held virtuallyMarch 2432nd Producers Guild of America AwardsProducers Guild of AmericaCeremony held virtuallyApril 427th Screen Actors Guild AwardsSAG-AFTRALos Angeles, California, USApril 1073rd Directors Guild of America AwardsDirectors Guild of AmericaCeremony held virtuallyApril 1174th British Academy Film AwardsBritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsLondon, England, UKApril 1648th Annie AwardsASIFA-HollywoodLos Angeles, California, USApril 2236th Independent Spirit AwardsIndependent Spirit AwardsSanta Monica, California, USApril 2441st Golden Raspberry AwardsGolden Raspberry Awards FoundationLos Angeles, California, USApril 2593rd Academy AwardsAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesLos Angeles, California, USMay 367th National Film AwardsDirectorate of Film FestivalsNew Delhi, India May 11 66th David di Donatello Accademia del Cinema Italiano Rome, ItalyMay 1357th Baeksang Arts AwardsIlgan SportsGyeonggi Province, South KoreaSeptember 18–199th South Indian International Movie Awards Vibri Media GroupHyderabad, Telangana, IndiaOctober 38th Platino AwardsEntidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores AudiovisualesMadrid, Spain October 7 30th Buil Film Awards Busan Ilbo Busan, South Korea October 8 15th Asian Film Awards The Asian Film Awards Academy Busan, South Korea October 26 46th Saturn Awards Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Los Angeles, California, USNovember 1420th Santosham Film AwardsSantosham MagazineHyderabad, Telangana, India November 26 42nd Blue Dragon Film Awards Sports Chosun Seoul November 27 58th Golden Horse Awards Motion Picture Development Foundation R.O.C. Taipei, Taiwan December 11 34th European Film Awards European Film Academy Berlin, Germany December 11 27th Forqué Awards Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales Madrid, Spain
Film festivals List of some of the film festivals for 2021 that have been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).
+2021 film festivals Date Event Host Location January 28 – February 3 2021 Sundance Film Festival Sundance Film Festival Park City, Utah, United States March 1–5 71st Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival Berlin, Germany July 6–17 2021 Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival Cannes, France August 4–14 74th Locarno Film Festival Locarno Film Festival Locarno, Switzerland September 1–11 78th Venice International Film Festival Venice Film Festival Venice, Italy September 9–18 2021 Toronto International Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 17–25 69th San Sebastián International Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival San Sebastián, Spain October 6–15 26th Busan International Film Festival Busan International Film Festival Busan, South Korea November 20–28 52nd International Film Festival of India Directorate of Film Festivals Goa, India
Awards Category/Organization 79th Golden Globe Awards Producers, Directors, Screen Actorsand Writers Guild Awards 75th BAFTA Awards 27th Critics' Choice Awards 94th Academy Awards Best Picture The Power of the Dog West Side Story CODA The Power of the Dog CODA Best Director Jane CampionThe Power of the Dog Best Actor Will SmithKing Richard Andrew GarfieldTick, Tick... Boom! Will SmithKing Richard Best Actress Nicole KidmanBeing the Ricardos Rachel ZeglerWest Side Story Jessica ChastainThe Eyes of Tammy Faye Joanna ScanlanAfter Love Jessica ChastainThe Eyes of Tammy Faye Best Supporting Actor Kodi Smit-McPheeThe Power of the Dog Troy KotsurCODA Best Supporting Actress Ariana DeBoseWest Side Story Best Screenplay, Adapted Kenneth BranaghBelfast Sian HederCODA Jane CampionThe Power of the Dog Sian HederCODA Best Screenplay, Original Adam McKay & David SirotaDon't Look Up Paul Thomas AndersonLicorice Pizza Kenneth BranaghBelfast Best Animated Film Encanto The Mitchells vs. the Machines Encanto Best Original Score Hans ZimmerDune Hans ZimmerDune Best Original Song "No Time to Die"No Time to Die "No Time to Die"No Time to Die Best Foreign Language Film Drive My Car Drive My Car Best Documentary colspan=2 Summer of Soul
Palme d'Or (74th Cannes Film Festival): Titane, directed by Julia Ducournau, France
Golden Lion (78th Venice International Film Festival): Happening, directed by Audrey Diwan, France
Golden Bear (71st Berlin International Film Festival): Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc), directed by Radu Jude, Romania
People's Choice Award (46th Toronto International Film Festival): Belfast, directed by Kenneth Branagh, United Kingdom
2021 films By country/region List of American films of 2021 List of Australian films of 2021 List of Bangladeshi films of 2021 List of British films of 2021 List of Canadian films of 2021 List of Chinese films of 2021 List of French films of 2021 List of Hong Kong films of 2021 List of Indian films of 2021 List of Japanese films of 2021 List of Nigerian films of 2021 List of Philippine films of 2021 List of Russian films of 2021 List of South Korean films of 2021 List of Spanish films of 2021 List of Sri Lankan films of 2021
By genre/medium List of animated feature films of 2021 List of horror films of 2021 List of science fiction films of 2021
Deaths