2014 in film


The following is an overview of the events of 2014 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, and a list of films released and notable deaths.

Evaluation of the year

In his article highlighting the best films of 2014, Richard Brody of The New Yorker stated, "The great surge in American filmmaking in the past ten years is due to independent financing at all levels. The American independent cinema is right now the flower of the world, but independence isn't in itself a merit badge. Artistically, the films in question range from the majestic to the meretricious. Independent financing has set truly imaginative directors into free flight. This is a moment of extraordinary cinematic invention—of filmmakers, working at a wide range of budget levels, coming up with original and personal ideas about movies and how to make them. On the other hand, this independent surge has also created a new class of culturally respectable directors and films, an ostensible art cinema that flows into the mainstream. True independent filmmaking has always been a tough proposition in the marketplace, let alone at the multiplex. Its commercial obstacles are an increasing problem even for established professionals, who now take their place alongside street-level independents. Filmmakers rightly worry that it's becoming more difficult than ever to make a salable movie, to make a living making movies. If films are becoming like books, where the artistically ambitious ones are only rarely big hits, then directors working outside Hollywood will become more and more like novelists, who often need to supplement their income with teaching or other outside jobs. As independent films become increasingly marginalized in the marketplace, this loss of status risks marginalizing critics as well—which is why the re-professionalization of the movie business has become a matter of critical advocacy."

Highest-grossing films

The top 10 films released in 2014 by worldwide gross are as follows:
RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross
1'Paramount$1,104,054,072
2'Warner Bros.$956,019,788
3Guardians of the GalaxyDisney$772,776,700
4 Maleficent$758,410,378-
5'Lionsgate$755,356,711
6'20th Century Fox$746,045,700
7'Disney$714,241,503
8Dawn of the Planet of the Apes20th Century Fox$710,644,566
9The Amazing Spider-Man 2Sony$708,982,323
10InterstellarParamount / WB$677,463,813

' grossed more than $1.1 billion, becoming the 29th highest-grossing film of all time. Big Hero 6 grossed more than $657 million, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of 2014 and the 28th highest-grossing animated film of all time.

Events

Award ceremonies

Festivals

Awards

2014 films

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

List of films released in 2014