2019 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, critics' lists of the best films of 2019, festivals, a list of country-specific lists of films released, and movie programming. Avengers: Endgame was the year's highest grossing film and became the highest-grossing film of all-time until Avatar regained the top spot in 2021. United Artists celebrated its 100th anniversary, and DreamWorks Pictures and DreamWorks Animation celebrated their 25th anniversary.
Evaluation of the year In his article highlighting the best movies of 2019, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said,
Highest-grossing films
The top films released in 2019 by worldwide gross are as follows:
+Highest-grossing films of 2019 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross 1 Avengers: EndgameDisney $2,799,439,100 2 The Lion King $1,656,943,394 3 Frozen 2 $1,450,026,933 4 Spider-Man: Far From Home Sony $1,131,927,996 5 Captain Marvel Disney $1,128,274,794 6 Joker Warner Bros. $1,078,751,311 7 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Disney$1,074,144,248 8 Toy Story 4 $1,073,841,294 9 Aladdin $1,050,693,953 10 Jumanji: The Next Level Sony $801,693,929
Avengers: Endgame became the fifth film to gross $2 billion worldwide and the highest-grossing film of all time. The Lion King, Frozen 2, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel, Joker, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Toy Story 4, and Aladdin all grossed $1 billion, with the second, third, and eighth as the first, second, and fifth highest-grossing animated films, respectively. Joker became the first R-rated film in history to surpass $1 billion.
2019 box office records The Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first film franchise to gross $18 billion, $19 billion, $20 billion, $21 billion, and $22 billion with the release of Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The Star Wars franchise became the second film franchise to gross $10billion with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. China set the all-time biggest global one-month record in February 2019 with ($1.63 billion), as a result of Chinese New Year season, surpassing the previous record set by China in February 2018. The month's highest-grossing film was the domestic Chinese film The Wandering Earth, while the highest-grossing foreign film that month was Alita: Battle Angel. Toy Story 4, The Lion King, and Frozen 2 all earned over $1 billion in the same year, making it the first time three animated films surpassed $1 billion in the same year.
Studio records Walt Disney Studios became the first studio in history to surpass $10 billion in worldwide box office grosses in a year. Spider-Man: Far From Home became Sony Pictures' highest-grossing film. The record would be surpassed by 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. With Toy Story 4, Pixar became the first animation studio to have four animated films (along with Toy Story 3, Finding Dory, and Incredibles 2) each surpass $1 billion at the worldwide box office, and also the second animated film series to have two installments surpass $1 billion at the worldwide box office, after the Despicable Me franchise in 2017.
Film records The Wandering Earth set the all-time opening record in China, grossing in its first seven days, which also made it the second biggest opening in any territory (after Star Wars: The Force Awakens in North America). Pokémon Detective Pikachu earned the best North American opening for a film based on a video game, with a debut. By June 14, 2019, Detective Pikachu became the highest-grossing video game film adaptation in North America, surpassing Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). Avengers: Endgame set numerous box office records, including becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. Capernaum became the highest-grossing Middle-Eastern film of all time, having earned more than worldwide (including in China) by 16 May 2019. Aladdin became the highest-grossing release of all time in the Middle East, and had the year's biggest opening weekend for a foreign film as well as this year's highest-grossing foreign film in Japan to date. The film has also surpassed Independence Day (1996) to become the highest-grossing film of Will Smith's career. The film also became the highest-grossing Disney film ever in South Korea, not including films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In June, Toy Story 4 set the record for the biggest opening for an animated film, with $244.5 million. However, the record was surpassed the following month by The Lion King, which grossed $246 million. The latter then became the fastest animated film to gross $1 billion worldwide, doing so in 21 days, surpassing Incredibles 2 (46 days). The Lion King then surpassed Frozen (2013) to become the highest-grossing animated film and highest-grossing musical film of all time in only 31 days. On the other hand, Toy Story 4 surpassed Toy Story 3 to become the highest-grossing film of the series. The Lion King set the record for the widest opening weekend and widest release ever for North American film history, with 4,725 and 4,802 theaters, respectively. On August 11, the film surpassed Beauty and the Beast (2017) as the highest-grossing remake of all time worldwide. On August 26, the film become the first animated film to grossed $1 billion at overseas box office outside North America. Ne Zha set the record for the biggest opening for an animated film in China, with $91.5 million, this was also the highest for a non-Hollywood animated film. It later became the first non-Hollywood animated film to earn $500 million (in 17 days), $600 million (in 25 days), and $700 million (in 46 days) and the first animated film not released by Universal, Disney, Paramount, or Fox to do so. Joker became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, and the first R-rated film to pass the billion-dollar mark at the worldwide box office. In November, Frozen 2 surpassed the record set by The Lion King earlier in July, as the biggest opening weekend for an animated and musical film with $358.5 million worldwide. 2019 is the first year to have nine films cross the billion-dollar milestone, surpassing 2015's and 2018's record of five billion-dollar films.
Events March 20 – The Walt Disney Company completes its acquisition of the assets of 21st Century Fox, which includes 20th Century Fox and its subsidiaries. April 26 – Avengers: Endgame is released in theatres worldwide, breaking many box-office records, including becoming the second highest grossing movie of all time. November 23 – After a disorder following the screening of the gang-themed British film Blue Story (released the previous day) at Star City, in Birmingham, England, UK cinema chains cancel all screenings of the film. December 4 - CBS and Viacom agreed to merge back into one entity after 13 years. Both companies came to an agreement on the management team for the merger. The reunited company's new name is ViacomCBS.
Award ceremonies Date Event Host Location January 6 76th Golden Globe Awards Hollywood Foreign Press Association Beverly Hills, California, U.S. January 12 24th Forqué Awards EGEDA Zaragoza, Spain January 13 24th Critics' Choice Awards Broadcast Film Critics Association Santa Monica, California, U.S. January 19 Producers Guild of America Awards 2018 Producers Guild of America Beverly Hills, California, U.S. January 27 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 28 54th Guldbagge Awards Swedish Film Institute Stockholm, SwedenFebruary 2 46th Annie Awards International Animated Film Association Los Angeles, California, U.S. 71st Directors Guild of America Awards Directors Guild of America Los Angeles, California, U.S. 33rd Goya Awards Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain Seville, Spain 9th Magritte Awards Académie André Delvaux Brussels, Belgium February 10 72nd British Academy Film Awards British Academy of Film and Television Arts London, England, UK February 22 23rd Satellite Awards International Press Academy Century City, Los Angeles, California, U.S.February 23 39th Golden Raspberry Awards Golden Raspberry Award Foundation Los Angeles, California, U.S. 34th Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards Santa Monica, California, U.S. February 24 91st Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Hollywood, California, U.S. March 1 42nd Japan Academy Film Prize Nippon Academy-shō Association Tokyo, Japan March 23 64th Filmfare Awards Filmfare Mumbai, India March 27 64th David di Donatello Accademia del Cinema Italiano Rome, Italy April 14 38th Hong Kong Film Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Association Ltd. Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong April 28 2019 FAMAS Awards Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Pasig, Philippines September 13 45th Saturn Awards Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Burbank, California, U.S. November 21 40th Blue Dragon Film Awards Sports Chosun Incheon, South Korea November 23 56th Golden Horse Awards Motion Picture Development Foundation R.O.C. Taipei, Taiwan December 23 66th National Film Awards Directorate of Film Festivals
Festivals List of some of the film festivals for 2019 that have been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).
Date Event Host Location January 14–February 3 2019 Sundance Film Festival Sundance Institute Park City, Utah, United States February 9–14 69th Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival Berlin, Germany May 14–25 2019 Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival Cannes, France August 28–September 7 76th Venice International Film Festival Venice Film Festival Venice, Italy September 5–15 2019 Toronto International Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 20–28 67th San Sebastián International Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival San Sebastián, Spain
Awards Category/Organization 77th Golden Globe Awards 25th Critics' Choice Awards Producers, Directors, Screen Actors, and Writers Guild Awards 73rd BAFTA Awards 92nd Academy Awards Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film 1917 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood1917 Parasite Best Director Sam Mendes1917 Sam Mendes1917 (tie)Bong Joon-hoParasite (tie) Sam Mendes1917 Bong Joon-hoParasite Best Actor Joaquin PhoenixJoker Taron EgertonRocketman Joaquin PhoenixJoker Best Actress Renée ZellwegerJudyAwkwafinaThe Farewell Renée ZellwegerJudy Best Supporting Actor Brad PittOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood Best Supporting Actress Laura DernMarriage Story Best Screenplay, Adapted Quentin TarantinoOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood Greta GerwigLittle Women Taika WaititiJojo Rabbit Best Screenplay, Original Quentin TarantinoOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-wonParasite Best Animated Film Missing Link Toy Story 4 Klaus Toy Story 4 Best Original Score Hildur GuðnadóttirJoker Hildur GuðnadóttirJoker Best Original Song "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again"Rocketman "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again"Rocketman (tie) "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)"Wild Rose (tie) "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again"Rocketman Best Foreign Language Film Parasite Parasite Best Documentary colspan="2" Apollo 11 For Sama American Factory
Palme d'Or (72nd Cannes Film Festival): Parasite (기생충), directed by Bong Joon-ho, South Korea
Golden Lion (76th Venice International Film Festival): Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, United States
Golden Bear (69th Berlin International Film Festival): Synonyms (Synonymes), directed by Nadav Lapid, Israel
2019 films By country/region List of American films of 2019 List of Argentine films of 2019 List of Australian films of 2019 List of Bangladeshi films of 2019 List of British films of 2019 List of Canadian films of 2019 List of Chinese films of 2019 List of Filipino films of 2019 List of French films of 2019 List of Hong Kong films of 2019 List of Indian films of 2019 List of Assamese films of 2019 List of Bengali films of 2019