32,127 films on the site were released from 2000 to 2009, and 4,787 are ranked. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) leads the decade, ahead of The Battle of Algiers (2004). The biggest hit was Avatar (2009) with $2.9B worldwide, and 10 Best Picture winners were released in the decade.
#1 of 4,787 Best-rated film of the 2000s
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001 Action Adventure Fantasy 2h 58m English
92 Metascore $888.5M worldwide
Directed by Peter Jackson
About The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingThe Battle of Algiers and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days follow The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Drama is the most common genre in the top 20 (16 films). Peter Jackson has 2 films on the list. Ranked by a blend of Metascore and IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings (Echo Scores start with 2017 releases).
2001 · Action, Adventure · 2h 58m
Dir. Peter Jackson No Echo Score: ranked 92/100 on critics & audiences
2004 · Drama, War · 2h 1m
Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo No Echo Score: ranked 92/100 on critics & audiences
2008 · Drama · 1h 53m
Dir. Cristian Mungiu No Echo Score: ranked 91/100 on critics & audiences
2004 · Drama · 2h 4m
Dir. Ousmane Sembene No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences
2006 · Drama, War · 2h 25m
Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences
2004 · Drama, Romance · 1h 20m
No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences
2001 · Sci-Fi, Drama · 2h 25m
Dir. Ágnes Hranitzky No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences
2007 · Drama · 1h 20m
Dir. Charles Burnett No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences
2003 · Action, Adventure · 3h 21m
Dir. Peter Jackson No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences
2008 · Adventure, Sci-Fi · 1h 38m
Dir. Andrew Stanton No Echo Score: ranked 89/100 on critics & audiences
2006 · Drama, Mystery · 1h 58m
Dir. Guillermo del Toro No Echo Score: ranked 89/100 on critics & audiences
2007 · Biography, Drama · 1h 52m
Dir. Julian Schnabel No Echo Score: ranked 89/100 on critics & audiences
2002 · Drama, Fantasy · 2h 52m
Dir. Zacharias Kunuk No Echo Score: ranked 88/100 on critics & audiences
2008 · Action, Drama · 2h 32m
Dir. Christopher Nolan No Echo Score: ranked 88/100 on critics & audiences
2009 · Action, Drama · 2h 11m
Dir. Kathryn Bigelow No Echo Score: ranked 88/100 on critics & audiences
2006 · Drama, Thriller · 2h 17m
Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck No Echo Score: ranked 88/100 on critics & audiences
2000 · Documentary · 1h 20m
Dir. Josh Aronson No Echo Score: ranked 88/100 on critics & audiences
2008 · Drama · 2h 8m
Dir. Laurent Cantet No Echo Score: ranked 88/100 on critics & audiences
2007 · Drama, Thriller · 2h 38m
Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson No Echo Score: ranked 87/100 on critics & audiences
2000 · Drama, Romance · 2h 53m
Dir. Edward Yang No Echo Score: ranked 87/100 on critics & audiences
2007 has the most releases on the site (3,913). The decade's biggest single hit, Avatar, came out in 2009. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was both its year's biggest hit and the Best Picture winner. Each year links to its own ranking.
| Year | Releases | Biggest hit | Best Picture winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Releases: 2,354 |  Biggest hit Mission: Impossible II $546.4M worldwide | Best Picture winner Gladiator Oscars 2001 |
| 2001 | Releases: 2,627 |  Biggest hit Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $1B worldwide | Best Picture winner A Beautiful Mind Oscars 2002 |
| 2002 | Releases: 2,674 |  Biggest hit Spider-Man $825.8M worldwide | Best Picture winner Amadeus Oscars 1985 |
| 2003 | Releases: 2,948 | Biggest hit The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $1.1B worldwide | Best Picture winner The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Oscars 2004 |
| 2004 | Releases: 3,145 |  Biggest hit Shrek 2 $932.5M worldwide | Best Picture winner Million Dollar Baby Oscars 2005 |
| 2005 | Releases: 3,441 |  Biggest hit Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith $905.6M worldwide | Best Picture winner Crash Oscars 2006 |
| 2006 | Releases: 3,838 |  Biggest hit Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $1.1B worldwide | Best Picture winner The Departed Oscars 2007 |
| 2007 | Releases: 3,913 |  Biggest hit Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix $1B worldwide | Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men Oscars 2008 |
| 2008 | Releases: 3,528 | Biggest hit The Dark Knight $1B worldwide | Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire Oscars 2009 |
| 2009 | Releases: 3,659 |  Biggest hit Avatar $2.9B worldwide | Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker Oscars 2010 |
Sound and Fury (2000), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2002) and 7 more years: the best-rated film of each year of the 2000s. Ranked by a blend of Metascore and IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings (Echo Scores start with 2017 releases).
85 Metascore Sound and Fury Documentary 92 Metascore The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Action, Adventure 91 Metascore Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Drama, Fantasy 94 Metascore The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Action, Adventure 96 Metascore The Battle of Algiers Drama, War 
87 Metascore Caché (Hidden) Drama, Mystery 99 Metascore Army of Shadows Drama, War 96 Metascore Killer of Sheep Drama 97 Metascore 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days Drama 95 Metascore The Hurt Locker Action, Drama Avatar (2009) earned $2.9B worldwide, the most of any 2000s film; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King follows with $1.1B. The top 10 took $12B; all 9,101 films of the decade with a box office record took $201.3B.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) leads the 2000s with 28 wins from 38 nominations, ahead of Slumdog Millionaire (27 wins). Films of the decade won 940 awards in all.
Drama is the biggest genre of the 2000s with 12,799 films (40% of the decade's films), then Comedy (28%) and Documentary (16%). A film can have several genres, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Takashi Miike made 28 notable films in the 2000s, the best-rated being Audition; Johnnie To follows with 21. Counted over feature films with ratings, box office or awards.
Quick answers about the 2000s' best-rated films, biggest hits and Best Picture winners, from the lists above.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) is the best-rated film of the 2000s on What's After the Movie, with a rank value of 92/100 from critics and audiences. The Battle of Algiers (2004) is second and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2008) third. Ranked by a blend of Metascore and IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings (Echo Scores start with 2017 releases).
About The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingAvatar (2009) earned $2.9B worldwide, the most of any 2000s release on the site.
2009 box officeGladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Amadeus (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Crash (2005), The Departed (2006), No Country for Old Men (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and The Hurt Locker (2009).
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), with 28 wins from 38 nominations recorded on the site.
32,127 films released from 2000 to 2009, the most in 2007 (3,913). 4,787 of them are ranked.
Ranked by a blend of Metascore and IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings (Echo Scores start with 2017 releases). Only feature films count (60 minutes or longer, no concert recordings), and a film needs enough ratings, box office or award attention to be ranked.
