Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 2003 as Move Year
My Oscar Book:
Top-Grossing films of 2003
Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross
1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, New Line, $1,118,887,224
2 Finding Nemo, Buena Vista $871,014,978
3 The Matrix Reloaded, Warner Bros. $739,412,035
4 Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl Buena Vista $654,264,015
5 Bruce Almighty Universal/Buena Vista, $484,592,874
6 The Last Samurai Warner, $454,627,263
7 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Warner/Sony/Columbia $433,371,112
8 The Matrix Revolutions Warner, $427,343,298
9 X2 20th Century Fox $407,711,549
10 Bad Boys II, Sony Pictures /Columbia $273,339,556
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King grossed more than $1.14 billion, making it the highest-grossing film in 2003 worldwide and in America and the second-highest-grossing film up to that time. It was also the second film to surpass the billion-dollar milestone after Titanic in 1997.
Finding Nemo was the highest-grossing animated movie of all time until being overtaken by Shrek 2 in 2004.
Events
February 24: The Pianist, directed by Polanski, wins 7 César Awards: Best Film, Director, Actor, Sound, Production Design, Music and Cinematography.
June 12:
Gregory Peck dies of bronchopneumonia; qge 87
June 29:
Katharine Hepburn dies of cardiac arrest, age 96
November 17:
Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in as Governor of California.
December 22:
Both movies from the Matrix trilogy were shut out of visual effects Oscar consideration by the Visual Effects Award Nominating Committee.
December 31:
The Academy mails nomination ballots, qualifies 254 films released in 2003 as eligible for Oscar consideration.
Award Ceremonies
9th Critics’ Choice Awards
February 15, 2004 Producers, Directors, Screen Actors, and Writers Guild
Oscars: 76th Academy Awards, February 29, 2004
Best Film: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Best Director Peter Jackson,m Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Mystic River
Best Actress Charlize Theron, Monster
Best Supporting Actor: Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Best Supporting Actress: Renée Zellweger, Cold Mountain
Best Screenplay, Adapted Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Best Screenplay, Original, Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Best Animated Film: Finding Nemo
Best Original Score: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Howard Shore Best Original Song: “Into the West,” Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King — — “Into the West”
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Best Foreign Language Film: The Barbarian Invasions
Deaths
Month Date Name Age Country Profession Notable films
January
Jan 4
Conrad Hall 72 French Polynesia Cinematographer, American Beauty, Cool Hand Luke
Jan 5
Massimo Girotti 84 Italy Actor, Senso, Last Tango in Paris
Jan 11
Maurice Pialat 77 France Director, Screenwriter À Nos Amours, Under the Sun of Satan (Cannes Fest)
13 Norman Panama 88 US Screenwriter, Director
White Christmas, The Court Jester
14
Mel Bourne 79 US Production Designer
The Fisher King, The Natural
14 Paul Monash 85 US Screenwriter, Producer
The Friends of Eddie CoyleThe Front Page
14 Donald O’Brien 72 Ireland Actor
Grand PrixRun, Man, Run
17 Richard Crenna 76 US Actor
First BloodThe Sand Pebbles
20 David Battley 67 UK Actor
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryKrull
20 Nedra Volz 94 US Actress
10Earth Girls Are Easy
21 John Grieve 78 UK Actor
Eye of the NeedleThe Thirty Nine Steps
23 Nell Carter 54 US Actress
The Grass HarpBebe’s Kids
25 Cliff Norton 84 US Actor
Harry and TontoKiss Me, Stupid
25 Leopoldo Trieste 85 Italy Actor, Screenwriter
The Godfather: Part IICinema Paradiso
29 Anthony Eisley 78 US Actor
The Naked Kiss, Star!
30 Mary Ellis 105 US Singer, Actress
Paris in SpringFatal Lady
31 William Marlowe 72 UK Actor
Cry FreedomThe Heroes of Telemark
February
Feb 3
Lana Clarkson 40 US Actress
Scarface, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
7 Stephen Whittaker 55 UK Actor, Director
To Sir, with LoveThe Keep
9 Vera Hruba Ralston 82 Czech Republic Actress
The Fighting KentuckianDakota
13 Robert Ivers 68 US Actor, Voice Double
Broken LanceA Kiss Before Dying
13 Stacy Keach Sr. 88 US Actor
Pretty WomanSaturday the 14th
18 Jack Brodsky 70 US Producer
Romancing the StoneDaddy Day Care
22 Daniel Taradash 89 US Screenwriter
From Here to EternityHawaii
24 Walter Scharf 92 US Composer, Orchestrator
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryWinchester ’73
24 Alberto Sordi 82 Italy Actor, Screenwriter, Director
The Great WarI Vitelloni
March
March 3
Horst Buchholz 69 Germany Actor, The Magnificent Seven, Life is Beautiful
March 8
Karen Morley 93 US Actress, Our Daily Bread, Scarface
16 Lars Passgård 62 Sweden Actor, Through a Glass Darkly, The Fuller Report
March 18 Naomi Chance 73 UK Actress
The Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Gambler and the Lady
March 24
Philip Yordan 88 US Screenwriter, The Harder They Fall, El Cid
27 Paul Zindel 66 US Screenwriter
Runaway TrainMame
30 Michael Jeter 50 US Actor
The Green MileJurassic Park III
31 Anne Gwynne 84 US Actress
House of FrankensteinDick Tracy Meets Gruesome
April
April 1 Jean-Yves Escoffier 52 France Cinematographer, Good Will Hunting
April 2
Michael Wayne 68 US Producer (John Wayne’ son), McLintock!, The Green Berets
4 Anthony Caruso 86 US Actor
The Asphalt JungleSylvia
7 David Greene 82 UK Director
GodspellGray Lady Down
8 Kathie Browne 72 US Actress
Man’s Favorite Sport?Cinderfella
8 Bing Russell 76 US Actor
Suicide BattalionRide a Violent Mile
April 9 Vera Zorina 86 Germany Actress, Follow the Boys, Louisiana Purchase
12 Sydney Lassick 80 US Actor
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestCarrie
16 Graham Jarvis 72 Canada Actor
MiserySilkwood
22 Andrea King 82 US Actress
Ride the Pink HorseDial 1119
25 Jesse Nilsson 25 Canada Actor
The SkullsModel Behavior
26 Peter Stone 73 US Screenwriter, Charade, Taking of Pelham One Two Three
28 Ciccio Ingrassia 80 Italy Actor
War Italian StyleKaos
30 Jim Connors 56 US Actor, Stuntman
HookDemolition Man
May
May 3
Suzy Parker 70 US Actress, Kiss Them for Me, The Best of Everything
6 Jocelyn Herbert 86 UK Production Designer
if….The Hotel New Hampshire
9 Carmen Filpi 80 US Actor
Ed WoodBeetlejuice
9 Bernard Spear 83 UK Actor
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Man Who Cried
May
May 14 Wendy Hiller 90 UK Actress, The Elephant Man, A Man for All Seasons
May 14 Robert Stack 84 US Actor
Written on the WindAirplane!
24 Rachel Kempson 92 UK Actress
Out of AfricaTom Jones
May 28 Martha Scott 90 US Actress, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments
28 Marc Zuber 59 India Actor
Robin Hood: Prince of ThievesNavy SEALs
30 Haskell Boggs 94 US Cinematographer
The BellboyTeacher’s Pet
June
June 2 Richard Cusack 77 US Actor
The Fugitive, High Fidelity
3 John Jympson 72 UK Film Editor
A Fish Called WandaLittle Shop of Horrors
7 Trevor Goddard 40 UK Actor
Mortal KombatPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
11 William Marshall 78 US Actor
BlaculaTwilight’s Last Gleaming
12 Gregory Peck 87 US Actor, Producer
To Kill a MockingbirdRoman Holiday
15 Hume Cronyn 90 Canada Actor
Shadow of a DoubtCocoon
15 Philip Stone 79 UK Actor
The ShiningIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
16 Carlos Rivas 78 US Actor
The King and ITrue Grit
20 Fielder Cook 80 US Director
How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your LifePrudence and the Pill
June 21
George Axelrod 81 US Scribe, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Manchurian Candidate
June 21
Leon Uris 78 US Screenwriter, Battle Cry, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
June 27
David Newman 66 US Screenwriter, Bonnie and Clyde, Superman
June 29
Katharine Hepburn 96 US Actress, The Philadelphia Story, On Golden Pond
30 Buddy Hackett 78 US Actor
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldThe Music Man
30 Constance Smith 75 Ireland Actress
ImpulseTreasure of the Golden Condor
July
July 6
Buddy Ebsen 95 US Actor, Dancer, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Born to Dance
7 Elisabeth Welch 99 US Actress
CleopatraRevenge of the Pink Panther
8 Marjorie Fowler 82 US Film Editor
Doctor DolittleConquest of the Planet of the Apes
9 Elliott Marks 61 US Still Photographer
AnnieRocky
21 Robert F. Blumofe 93 US Producer, Executive
Bound for GloryYours, Mine and Ours
23 Sheila Bromley 91 US Actress
Idol of the CrowdsWomen in the Wind
25 John Schlesinger 77 UK Director
Midnight CowboyMarathon Man
27 Karin Booth 87 US Actress
Cripple CreekJuke Box Rhythm
27 Bob Hope 100 US Actor
The PalefaceRoad to Morocco
30 Marian Carr 77 US Actress
Kiss Me DeadlyNightmare
31 Frederick Coffin 60 US Actor
Wayne’s WorldHard to Kill
August
Aug 2 Don Estelle 70 UK Actor, Santa Claus: The Movie, A Private Function
6 Larry Taylor 85 UK Actor, Stuntman
ZuluChitty Chitty Bang Bang
9 Gregory Hines 57 US Actor, Dancer
The Cotton ClubRunning Scared
10 Jacques Deray 74 France Director, Screenwriter
BorsalinoThree Men to Kill
30 Charles Bronson 81 US Actor
The Great EscapeDeath Wish
September
Sep 1 Jack Smight 78 US Director, Harper, Airport 1975
3 David King-Wood 89 Iran Actor
The Quatermass XperimentPrivate’s Progress
4 Ben Aris 66 UK Actor
The Plague of the ZombiesIf….
6 Louise Platt 88 US Actress
Stagecoach, Forgotten Girls
Sep 8
Leni Riefenstahl 101 Germany Director, Olympia Tiefland
11 John Ritter 54 US Actor
Problem ChildSling Blade
12 Johnny Cash 71 US Singer, Actor
Five Minutes to LiveA Gunfight
14 Jerry Fleck 55 US Production Manager
Edward ScissorhandsBeetlejuice
16 Sheb Wooley 82 US Actor
HoosiersThe Outlaw Josey Wales
20 Tom Busby 66 Canada Actor
The Dirty DozenThe War Lover
21 Pamela Gordon 66 US Actress
Weird SciencePoltergeist II: The Other Side
22 Gordon Jump 71 US Actor
Conquest of the Planet of the ApesMaking the Grade
24 Lyle Bettger 88 US Actor
The Greatest Show on EarthGunfight at the O.K. Corral
25 Herb Gardner 68 US Screenwriter
A Thousand ClownsI’m Not Rappaport
26 George Plimpton 76 US Actor
Good Will HuntingReds
27 Fay Helm 94 US Actress
Phantom LadyDangerous Intruder
27 Donald O’Connor 78 US Actor, Dancer
Singin’ in the RainThere’s No Business Like Show Business
Sep 28
Elia Kazan 94 Turkey Director, A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront
October
Oct 1 Julie Parrish 62 US Actress, The Nutty Professor, Fireball 500
3 Florence Stanley 79 US Actress
Atlantis: The Lost EmpireBulworth
5 Denis Quilley 75 UK Actor
King DavidMurder on the Orient Express
9 Ruth Hall 92 US Actress
The Man from MontereyLocal Boy Makes Good
10 Victoria Horne 91 US Actress
HarveyThe Ghost and Mrs. Muir
17 Janice Rule 72 US Actress
Invitation to a GunfighterThe Ambushers
17 Bernard Schwartz 85 US Producer
Coal Miner’s DaughterSt. Elmo’s Fire
18 David Lodge 82 UK Actor
A Shot in the DarkThe Return of the Pink Panther
19 Guy Rolfe 91 UK Actor
IvanhoeThe Fall of the Roman Empire
20 Jack Elam 82 US Actor
The Cannonball RunOnce Upon a Time in the West
29 Steve Yaconelli 62 US Cinematographer
The Karate Kid Part IIIBlue Sky
November
Nov 8
Bob Grant 71 UK Actor On the Buses, Mutiny on the Buses
9 Fred J. Brown 68 US Sound Engineer
The ExorcistFirst Blood
9 Art Carney 85 US Actor
Harry and TontoThe Late Show
11 Robert Brown 82 UK Actor
OctopussyLicence to Kill
12 Jonathan Brandis 27 US Actor
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next ChapterLadybugs
12 Whitfield Cook 94 US Screenwriter
Stage FrightStrangers on a Train
12 Kay E. Kuter 78 US Actor
SabrinaThe Last Starfighter
12 Penny Singleton 95 US Actress
BlondieJetsons: The Movie
14 Gene Anthony Ray 41 US Actor
FameAustin Powers in Goldmember
15 David Holt 76 US Actor
The Pride of the YankeesBattleground
15 Dorothy Loudon 78 US Actress
Midnight in the Garden of Good and EvilGarbo Talks
16 Albert Nozaki 91 Japan Art Director
The Ten CommandmentsThe War of the Worlds
18 Michael Kamen 55 US Composer
Die HardMr. Holland’s Opus
20 Robert Addie 87 UK Actor
ExcaliburAnother Country
23 Patricia Burke 86 UK Actress
Lisbon StoryForbidden
24 Michael Small 64 US Composer
KluteMarathon Man
26 Gordon Reid 64 UK Actor
Leon the Pig FarmerThe Others
27 Norman Burton 79 US Actor
Planet of the ApesThe Towering Inferno
28 Edmund Hartmann 92 US Screenwriter
The Lemon Drop KidThe Caddy
30 Earl Bellamy 86 US Director
Munster, Go Home!Walking Tall Part 2
December
Dec 3
Ellen Drew 88 US Actress, The Man from Colorado, The Baron of Arizona
Dec 3 David Hemmings 62 UK Actor, Blow-Up, Gladiator
Dec 10
10
Sean McClory 79 Ireland Actor
Mary Poppins, The Quiet Man
Dec 14
Jeanne Crain 78 US Actress, State Fair, Leave Her to Heaven
16 Madlyn Rhue 68 US Actress
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldA Majority of One
17 Alan Tilvern 85 UK Actor
Who Framed Roger RabbitSuperman
19 Hope Lange 72 US Actress
The Best of EverythingPeyton Place
Dec 19
Les Tremayne 90 UK Actor, The War of the Worlds, North by Northwest
22 Rose Hill 89 UK Actress
A Shot in the DarkHouse of Whipcord
Dec 27
Alan Bates 69 UK Actor, Women in Love, The Fixer, Go-Between
Dec 30
John Gregory Dunne 71 US writer, A Star is Born, Up Close and Personal
Film Debuts
Benedict Cumberbatch – To Kill a King
Zac Efron – Melinda’s World
Matthew Goode – South from Granada
Josh Hutcherson – American Splendor
Zoe Kazan – Swordswallowers and Thin Men
Anna Kendrick – Camp
Danny McBride – All the Real Girls
Chris O’Dowd – Conspiracy of Silence
Glen Powell – Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Chris Pratt – The Extreme Team
Kristen Wiig – Melvin Goes to Dinner
