2004 in film


2004 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of country-specific lists of films released, notable deaths and film debuts. Shrek 2 was the year's top-grossing film, and Million Dollar Baby won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Evaluation of the year

American film critic and professor Emanuel Levy described 2004 as "a banner year for actors, particularly men." He went on to emphasize, "I can't think of another year in which there were so many good performances, in every genre. It was a year in which we saw the entire spectrum of demographics displayed on the big screen, from vet actors such as Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, to seniors such as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Dustin Hoffman, to newcomers such as Topher Grace. As always, though, the centre of the male acting pyramid is occupied by actors in their forties and fifties, such as Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Liam Neeson, Kevin Kline, Don Cheadle, Jim Carrey. In terms of film genres, Levy stated, "The year's most prominent genre was the biopicture, a genre that in the past has suffered from lack of prestige and abundance of clichés. There were a dozen worthy biopictures, including Alexander, The Aviator, Beyond the Sea, Finding Neverland, Hotel Rwanda, Kinsey, Motorcycle Diaries, and Ray. Celebrating entrepreneurs, playwrights, singers, sex researchers, composers, and politicians, they continued to show one alarming bias: They were all about men. You don't have to be a feminist critic or a sociologist to deduct that, as far as real or reel heroes are concerned, women matter less in Hollywood and American society at large. Can't anyone come up with a strong part for a femme-driven bio a la British film Vera Drake, without relegating women to showbiz personae." Levy also stated, "Classic Hollywood cinema, which reached its height during the golden age of studio system and has been in decline, is kept alive by one major force: Clint Eastwood. The "Man With No Name" has become the "Man With the Best Name", a director who's experiencing an unparallel artistic height with “Million Dollar Baby,” a follow-up to the equally sublime Mystic River."

Highest-grossing films

The top 10 films released in 2004 by worldwide gross are as follows:
RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross
1Shrek 2DreamWorks$935,454,538
2Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanWarner Bros.$798,076,924
3Spider-Man 2Sony$783,766,341
4The IncrediblesBuena Vista$631,442,092
5The Passion of the ChristIcon / Newmarket$611,486,736
6The Day After Tomorrow20th Century Fox$552,639,571
7Meet the FockersUniversal / DreamWorks$522,657,936
8TroyWarner Bros.$497,409,852
9Shark TaleDreamWorks$374,583,879
10Ocean's TwelveWarner Bros.$362,744,280

Shrek 2 set a new record for total gross by an animated film making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The record was later surpassed by Toy Story 3 in 2010. It also remained the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film until it was surpassed by Despicable Me 2 in 2013 and the highest-grossing non Disney or Universal animated film until it was surpassed by Ne Zha 2 in 2025. On July 7, Spider-Man 2 reached a $200 million domestic gross in a record time of eight days. On July 18, after 19 days in release, Spider-Man 2 reached $300 million domestically in another record time. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has the highest international revenue of $546 million compared to Shrek 2s $487.5 million.
The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson, became the first blockbuster motion picture of 2004 and also the highest grossing R-rated film domestically. Meet the Fockers beat 2003's Bruce Almighty record for the highest-grossing comedy film; both were released by Universal.

Events

Awards

Palme d'Or :
Golden Lion :
'''Golden Bear :'''

2004 films

By country/region

MonthDateNameAgeCountryProfessionNotable films
January2Etta Moten Barnett102USActress
January2Lynn Cartwright76USActress
January4Brian Gibson59UKDirector
January4Jeff Nuttall70UKActor
January6Philip Gilbert72CanadaActor
January7Ingrid Thulin77SwedenActress
January8Reginald H. Morris85UKCinematographer
January9Lyndon Brook77UKActor
January10Spalding Gray62USActor
January10Sidney Miller87USActor, Director
January13Phillip Crosby69USActor
January14Catherine Craig88USActress
January14Uta Hagen84GermanyActress
January14Ron O'Neal66USActor, Director
January17Ray Stark89USProducer
January17Noble Willingham72USActor
January22Ann Miller83USActress, Dancer
January27H.B. Haggerty78USActor
January27Jack Paar85USActor
January28Elroy Hirsch80USActor
January28Joe Viterelli66USActor
January29Andrew J. Kuehn66USDirector
February2Bernard McEveety79USDirector
February4Michael P. Moran59USActor
February8Robert F. Colesberry57USProducer
February10J. C. Quinn63USActor
February11Tony Pope56USVoice Actor
February12Martin Jurow92USProducer
February13Carole Eastman69USScreenwriter
February13John Trumper80UKFilm Editor
February14Elois Jenssen81USCostume Designer
February15Jan Miner86USActress
February23Carl Anderson58USSinger, Actor
February23John Randolph88USActor
February26Russell Hunter79UKActor
February26Ralph E. Winters94CanadaFilm Editor
February29Mark Cavell64USActor
March2Mercedes McCambridge87USActress
March3Arthur Kempel59USComposer
March5Walt Gorney91AustriaActor
March6Frances Dee94USActress
March7Michael Stringer79UKProduction Designer, Art Director
March7Paul Winfield64USActor
March8Robert Pastorelli50USActor
March10Wilhelm von Homburg63GermanyActor
March15René Laloux74FranceAnimator, Director
March15John Vallone50USProduction Designer
March18Richard Marner82RussiaActor
March21Ludmilla Tchérina79FranceActress, Choreographer
March24Richard Leech81IrelandActor
March25Robert Arden81UKActor
March26Fred Karlin67USComposer
March26Jan Sterling82USActress
March27Peter Diamond74UKStuntman, Actor
March28Peter Ustinov82UKActor, Director
March29Charles Grenzbach80USSound Engineer
March29Simone Renant93FranceActress
April1Carrie Snodgress58USActress
April4Ralph Kemplen91UKFilm Editor
April4Austin Willis87CanadaActor
April7Victor Argo69USActor
April17Bruce Boa73CanadaActor
April18Frances Rafferty81USActress
April19Tim Burstall77UKDirector, Screenwriter
April19Philip Locke76UKActor
April21Mary Selway68UKCasting Director
April25Albert Paulsen78USActor
May1Nelson Gidding84USScreenwriter
May3Anthony Ainley71UKActor
May4Hugh Gillin78USActor
May5Vern Taylor71USActor
May6Virginia Capers78USActress
May9Tommy Farrell82USActress
May9Alan King76USActor, Producer
May14Anna Lee91UKActress
May17Tony Randall84USActor
May18Lincoln Kilpatrick73USActor
May23Trudy Marshall84USActress
May27Patience Cleveland73USActress
May28Irene Manning91USActress
May31Robert A. Burns60USArt Director
June3Harold Goodwin86UKActor
June4Charles Correll60USCinematographer
June4Nino Manfredi83ItalyActor, Director
June4Anthony Steffen73ItalyActor
June5Virginia North58UKActress
June5Mark Northover54UKActor
June5Ronald Reagan93USActor, 40th President of the United States
June6Judy Campbell88UKActress
June7Donald Trumbull95USVisual Effects Artist
June9Barbara Whiting73USActress
June10Ray Charles73USSinger, Actor
June13Robert Lees91USScreenwriter
June14Max Rosenberg89USProducer
June18Doris Dowling81USActress
June18George Buck Flower66USActor
June19Colin McCormack62UKActor
June26Muriel Angelus92UKActress
June30Chris Alcaide80USActor
July1Marlon Brando80USActor
July6Eric Douglas46USActor
July6Jimmie F. Skaggs59USActor
July9Carlo Di Palma79ItalyCinematographer
July9Isabel Sanford86USActress
July11Dorothy Hart82USActress
July12Jeff Morris69USActor
July13George Mallaby64UKActor
July17Pat Roach67UKActor
July18Richard Ney87USActor
July19Irvin Yeaworth78GermanyDirector
July21Jerry Goldsmith75USComposer
July22Muriel Angelus92UKActress
July23Serge Reggiani82ItalyActor, Singer
July27Sam Edwards89USActor
July28Eugene Roche75USActor
July31Laura Betti77ItalyActress
July31Virginia Grey87USActress
August1Vivian Austin84USActress
August3Geraldine Peroni51USFilm Editor
August8Paul Garner95USActor
August8Fay Wray96CanadaActress
August9David Raksin92USComposer
August12Peter Woodthorpe72UKActor
August16Mildred "Acquanetta" Davenport83USActress
August18Elmer Bernstein82USComposer
August18Hugh Manning83UKActor
August22Daniel Petrie83CanadaDirector
August25Donald M. Ashton85UKProduction Designer
August26David Myers90USCinematographer
August27William Pierson78USActor
August30Bob Sherman63USActor
September8Frank Thomas92USAnimator
September9Caitlin Clarke52USActress
September10O. L. Duke51USActor
September11Michael A. Carter77UKSound Engineer
September11Fred Ebb76USLyricist
September15Bernard Gribble77UKFilm Editor
September17Evi Rauer88EstoniaActress
September18Russ Meyer82USDirector
September19Annabella Incontrera61ItalyActress
September19Robert Lawrence90CanadaFilm Editor
September24Tim Choate49USActor
September30Michael Relph89UKProducer
September30Ignatius Wolfington83USActor
October3Janet Leigh77USActress
October5Rodney Dangerfield82USActor, Comedian
October8Irina Demick67FranceActress
October10Christopher Reeve52USActor
October17Julius Harris81USActor
October26Patricia Knight89USActress
October28Gil Mellé72USComposer
October28Charles F. Wheeler88USCinematographer
October30Peggy Ryan80USActress, Dancer
October31Mari Aldon78LithuaniaActress
November6Robert Lang70UKActor
November6Elizabeth Rogers70USActress
November6Edward Warschilka76HungaryFilm Editor
November7Howard Keel85USActor
November9Ed Kemmer83USActor
November12Norman Rose87USActor
November13Carlo Rustichelli87ItalyComposer
November13Don Sharpe75UKSound Engineer
November14Michel Colombier65FranceComposer
November19Helmut Griem72GermanyActor
November20Anna Keaveney55UKActress
November22Jerry Bick81USProducer
November25David Bailey71USActor
November26Philippe de Broca71FranceDirector, Screenwriter
November27John Drew Barrymore72USActor
November28Molly Weir94UKActress
December1William Sackheim85USScreenwriter, Producer
December4Carl Esmond102AustriaActor
December9Jean Tournier78FranceCinematographer
December10John Monks Jr.94USScreenwriter
December15Maria Perschy66AustriaActress
December16Stefano Madia49ItalyActor
December20Howard Feuer56USCasting Director
December21Richard Hamilton83USActor
December28Jerry Orbach69USActor
December29William Boyett77USActor
December29Liddy Holloway57New ZealandActress