2017 in film


2017 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of films released, and notable deaths. Illumination celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Evaluation of the year

of The New Yorker observed that for 2017, "the most important event in the world of movies was the revelation, in The New York Times and The New Yorker, of sexual abuse allegations|sexual abuse] by Harvey Weinstein, and the resulting liberation of the long-stifled voices of the people who had been abused by him or other powerful figures in the movie business, and, for that matter, in other arts and industries, too." He emphasizes that in effect, "hat's missing from the year-end list, and from the era in movies, isn't only the unmade work by these filmmakers but the artistry and the careers of cast and crew members who would have been in their unrealized films."

Highest-grossing films

The top films released in 2017 by worldwide gross are as follows:
RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross
1Star Wars: The Last JediDisney Studios Motion Pictures|Disney]$1,332,539,889
2Beauty and the BeastDisney$1,263,521,126
3The Fate of the FuriousUniversal$1,236,005,118
4Despicable Me 3Universal$1,034,799,409
5Jumanji: Welcome to the JungleSony$962,077,546
6Spider-Man: HomecomingSony$880,166,924
7Wolf Warrior 2United Entertainment$870,325,439
8Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2Disney$869,087,963
9Thor: RagnarokDisney$853,983,911
10Wonder WomanWarner Bros.$822,303,505

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, and Despicable Me 3 have each grossed over $1 billion, making them among the highest-grossing films of all time, with the latter being the fourth-highest-grossing animated film.
Wolf Warrior 2, a Chinese film, became the first non-Hollywood film to be listed on the all-time worldwide top 100 box office.
Split, by M. Night Shyamalan, was the year's most profitable film in terms of return on investment, having generated over 2,000% ROI. It is the 11th film to cross 2,000% ROI, and the first film to do so since 2015.

2017 box office records

  • In China, the country recorded a new single-day record as well as an all-time admission high on Saturday, January 28, with over ¥755 million registering an admission of over 21 million moviegoers, beating the previous record of ¥647 million and 17 million admissions set the previous year. Both records were set on the first day of the Chinese New Year.
  • In May, China had its first consecutive monthly gain in box office revenue in more than a year, led by Indian film Dangal, followed by Hollywood film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
  • 2017 has been a record year for non-Hollywood foreign films in the Chinese market, with the success of films such as India's Dangal, Thailand's Bad Genius and Spain's Contratiempo., non-Hollywood imports account for 72% of the year's foreign film box office revenue so far, with Dangal alone accounting for 27%.
  • The Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first film franchise to gross more than $11 billion with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. With the subsequent release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, it became the first film franchise to gross more than $12 billion, and with the release of Thor: Ragnarok, the MCU became the first film franchise to gross more than $13 billion. It also became the first film franchise to release three movies in one year that all made over $800 million worldwide and opened to over $100 million domestically.
  • The Despicable Me franchise became the highest-grossing animated franchise ever, surpassing the Shrek franchise; it became the second non-Disney animated film to reach 1 billion dollars worldwide; it also became the first animated franchise to have two films hit over $1 billion.
  • With Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, and Wonder Woman, 2017 was the first year since 1958 in which the top 3 highest grossing domestic films were female-led.
  • Wolf Warrior 2 was a massive commercial success and became the highest-grossing Chinese film ever released. The film broke numerous box office records, including the biggest single-day gross for a Chinese film as well as the fastest film to cross the RMB 2 billion, 3 billion, 4 billion and 5 billion box office marks. It also became the fastest film to surpass US$500 million and the first film to gross more than US$600 million at the Chinese box office. At a total domestic gross of , it is the second-highest-grossing film of all time in a single market behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and having exceeded North America's totals from Avatar, Titanic and Jurassic World. The film was the sixth highest-grossing film of 2017 at US$874 million, making it the 54th-highest-grossing film worldwide. It is the first and only Chinese film ever to be included in the list of 100 all-time highest-grossing films worldwide. It was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

Studio records

  • Walt Disney Studios became the first studio ever to reach $6 billion at the global box office in consecutive years, and the first studio to reach $5 billion globally in three consecutive years.

Film records

Events

Awards

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

2017 films

By country/region

By genre/medium

Deaths

MonthDateNameAgeCountryProfessionNotable films
January6Les Lazarowitz75USSound Engineer
January6Om Puri66IndiaActor
January6Francine York80USActress
January9Teresa Ann Savoy61UKActress
January10Manlio Rocchetti73ItalyMakeup Artist
January12William Peter Blatty89USScreenwriter, Director
January13Dick Gautier85USActor
January19Miguel Ferrer61USActor
January23Gorden Kaye75UKActor
January25Kevin Geer64USActor
January25John Hurt77UKActor
January25Mary Tyler Moore80USActress
January26Mike Connors91USActor
January26Barbara Hale94USActress
January27Robert Ellis Miller89USDirector
January27Emmanuelle Riva89FranceActress
January27Gisella Sofio85ItalyActress
January27Frank Tidy84UKCinematographer
January28Richard Portman82USSound Engineer
January31Frank Pellegrino72USActor
February5Björn Granath70SwedenActor
February6Irwin Corey102USActor
February6Alec McCowen91UKActor
February6Roy Forge Smith87UKProduction Designer
February7Richard Hatch71USActor
February7Gianfranco Plenizio76ItalyComposer
February13Gerald Hirschfeld95USCinematographer
February13Seijun Suzuki93JapanDirector
February18Pasquale Squitieri78ItalyDirector, Screenwriter
February21Brunella Bovo84ItalyActress
February22Nikos Koundouros90GreeceDirector, Screenwriter
February25Neil Fingleton36UKActor
February25Bill Paxton61USActor
February28Euel Box88USComposer
March3Míriam Colón80Puerto RicoActress
March3Nathan George80USActor
March5Fred Weintraub88USProducer
March6Robert Osborne84USFilm Historian
March9Bobby Byrne85USCinematographer
March10John Forgeham75UKActor
March10Tony Haygarth72UKActor
March14Jack H. Harris98USProducer
March16Rodger Maus84USProduction Designer
March17Robert Day94UKDirector
March17Lawrence Montaigne86USActor
March18Tony Russel91USActor
March22Tomas Milian84CubaActor
March23Lola Albright92USActress, Singer
March24Jean Rouverol100USScreenwriter, Actress
March25Giorgio Capitani89ItalyDirector, Screenwriter
March28Christine Kaufmann72GermanyActress
April 2017|April]4Gordon Sterne94UKActor
April5Memè Perlini69ItalyActor, Director
April6Don Rickles90USActor, Comedian
April7Tim Pigott-Smith70UKActor
April9Peter Hansen95USActor
April11Michael Ballhaus81GermanyCinematographer
April12Charlie Murphy57USComedian, Actor, Screenwriter
April15Clifton James96USActor
April18Yvonne Monlaur77FranceActress
April18J. C. Spink45USProducer
April21Sandy Gallin76USProducer
April21Enrico Medioli92ItalyScreenwriter
April22Erin Moran56USActress
April22Gustavo Rojo93UruguayActor
April23Kathleen Crowley87USActress
April24Don Gordon90USActor
April26Jonathan Demme73USDirector, Producer
April27Vinod Khanna70IndiaActor
May1Pierre Gaspard-Huit99FranceDirector, Screenwriter
May3Daliah Lavi74IsraelActress, Singer
May4Victor Lanoux80FranceActor
May8Curt Lowens91GermanyActor
May8Mary Tsoni29GreeceActress
May9Michael Parks77USActor
May10Geoffrey Bayldon93UKActor
May13John Cygan63USVoice Actor
May13Manuel Pradal53FranceDirector, Screenwriter
May14Powers Boothe68USActor
May14Brad Grey59USProducer, Executive
May16Arvo Kukumägi58EstoniaActor
May22Dina Merrill93USActress
May23Roger Moore89UKActor
May24Jared Martin75USActor
May26Toni Bertorelli69ItalyActor
May30Molly Peters75UKActress
May31Tino Insana69USActor
May31Fred J. Koenekamp94USCinematographer
June 2017|June]1José Greci76ItalyActress
June2Peter Sallis96UKActor
June4Bill Butler83UKFilm Editor
June4Roger Smith84USActor
June5Rita Riggs86USCostume Designer
June8Glenne Headly62USActress
June9Adam West88USActor
June13Anita Pallenberg75ItalyActress
June15Aleksey Batalov88RussiaActor, Director
June16John G. Avildsen81USDirector
June16Stephen Furst62USActor
June22Keith Loneker46USActor
June24Loren Janes85USStuntman
June25Skip Homeier86USActor
June27Michael Nyqvist56SwedenActor
June28C. O. Erickson93USProducer, Production Manager
July 2017|July]3Paolo Villaggio84ItalyActor, Screenwriter
July4David Yewdall66USSound Engineer
July6Thomas E. Sanders63USProduction Designer, Art Director
July8Nelsan Ellis39USActor
July8Elsa Martinelli82ItalyActress
July9Danny Daniels92USChoreographer, Dancer
July13John Bernecker33USStuntman
July15William Hoyland73UKActor
July15Martin Landau89USActor
July16George A. Romero77USDirector, Screenwriter, Film Editor
July17Harvey Atkin74CanadaActor
July17Evan Helmuth40USActor
July18Red West81USActor, Stuntman
July20Chester Bennington41USSinger, Actor
July20Claude Rich88FranceActor
July21John Heard72USActor
July26June Foray99USVoice Actress
July27Sam Shepard73USActor, Screenwriter
July31Jeanne Moreau89FranceActress
July31Henry Richardson81UKFilm Editor
August 2017|August]1Eric Zumbrunnen52USFilm Editor
August2Daniel Licht60USComposer
August3Ty Hardin87USActor
August3Robert Hardy91UKActor
August4Bruno Canfora92ItalyComposer
August7Haruo Nakajima88JapanActor
August8Glen Campbell81USSinger, Actor
August10Patrick O'Connell83IrelandActor
August11Terele Pávez78SpainActress
August13Joseph Bologna82USActor, Screenwriter
August17Sonny Landham76USActor
August18Bruce Forsyth89UKActor
August20Jerry Lewis91USActor, Director, Screenwriter
August21Thomas Meehan88USScreenwriter
August23Viola Harris91USActress
August24Jay Thomas69USActor
August26Tobe Hooper74USDirector, Screenwriter
August28Mireille Darc79FranceActress
August30Alan MacDonald61UKProduction Designer
August31Richard Anderson91USActor
August31Novella Nelson77USActress
September1Shelley Berman92USComedian, Actor
September2Harry Gittes81USProducer
September2Murray Lerner90USDocumentarian
September4Gastone Moschin88ItalyActor
September5Yoshio Tsuchiya90JapanActor
September8Blake Heron35USActor
September10Hans Alfredson86SwedenActor, Director
September10Luigi Maria Burruano68ItalyActor
September11Peter Hall86UKDirector
September13Frank Vincent80USActor
September15Harry Dean Stanton91USActor
September15Albert Moses79Sri LankaActor
September18Chuck Low89USActor
September19Bernie Casey78USActor
September25Tony Booth85UKActor
September25Jan Tříska80Czech RepublicActor
September26Barry Dennen79USActor
September27Anne Jeffreys94USActress
September28Benjamin Whitrow80UKActor
October 2017|October]5Anne Wiazemsky70FranceActress
October6Terry Downes81UKActor
October8Gianni Bonagura91ItalyActor
October9Jean Rochefort87FranceActor
October11Don Pedro Colley79USActor
October16Roy Dotrice94UKActor
October16John Dunsworth71CanadaActor
October17Danielle Darrieux100FranceActress, Singer
October17Harry Stradling Jr.92USCinematographer
October18Brent Briscoe56USActor
October19Umberto Lenzi86ItalyDirector, Screenwriter
October20Ugo Fangareggi79ItalyActor
October20Federico Luppi81ArgentinaActor
October21Robert Getchell80USScreenwriter
October23Walter Lassally90GermanyCinematographer
October24Willie Chan76Hong KongProducer
October24Robert Guillaume89USActor
October25Jack Bannon77USActor
October25Peter MacGregor-Scott69USProducer
October25John Mollo86UKCostume Designer
October30Kim Joo-hyuk45South KoreaActor
November 2017|November]3William Frye96USProducer
November6Karin Dor79GermanyActress
November7Paul Buckmaster71UKComposer
November7Debra Chasnoff60USDocumentarian
November7Brad Harris84USActor, Stuntman
November8Charles Tyner92USActor
November9John Hillerman84USActor
November10Ray Lovelock67ItalyActor
November15Luis Bacalov84ArgentinaComposer
November15Keith Barron83UKActor
November16Ann Wedgeworth83USActress
November19Peter Baldwin86USActor, Director
November19Della Reese86USActress, Singer
November20Peter Berling83GermanyActor
November21Rodney Bewes79UKActor
November21David Cassidy67USActor, Singer
November23Anthony Harvey87UKDirector, Film Editor
November25Rance Howard89USActor
November25Julio Oscar Mechoso62USActor
November29Heather North71USActress
November30Jim Nabors87USActor, Singer
November30Alfie Curtis87UKActor
December2Ulli Lommel72GermanyDirector, Actor
December2Shashi Kapoor70IndiaActor
December5Johnny Hallyday74FranceActor, Singer
December6Conrad Brooks86USActor
December7Steve Reevis55USActor
December8Howard Gottfried94USProducer
December10Bruce Brown80USDocumentarian
December11Suzanna Leigh72UKActress
December13Bruce Gray81CanadaActor
December13Martin Ransohoff90USProducer
December15Darlanne Fluegel64USActress
December19Thérèse DePrez52USProduction Designer
December19Hiep Thi Le46VietnamActress
December21Dominic Frontiere86USComposer
December22Gerald B. Greenberg81USFilm Editor
December23Thomas Stanford93USFilm Editor
December24Heather Menzies68CanadaActress
December27Thomas Hunter85USActor, Screenwriter
December28Rose Marie94USActress
December29Peggy Cummins92UKActress