What do you remember about 2004?
For the world, 2004 was exhausting and still a bit depressing, like the years preceding and succeeding it. There were a lot of shitty things happening out there, from disappointing elections to natural disasters to a brutal and depressing war. As an American teen, 2004 was all over the place for me. I remember graduating from high school, I remember people freaking out about Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl performance, I remember voting for president for the first time (the less said about that, the better). Oh, and I remember movies. I remember lots and lots of movies.
Cinematically, 2004 was a wild year. The top ten domestic movies of 2004 were a real mixed bags, featuring anticipated sequels and brand new sensations and a few movies that just wouldn’t be as big of hits today. 2004 was just…weird, to put it politely. But, hey, it makes for an interesting year!
The Top Grossing Films of 2004 (Domestic)
Oh, Shrek 2. I don’t know why but I have always really disliked the Shrek franchise. Something about it just didn’t sit well with me. Part of it was that the first movie was incredibly lackluster to me. Another thing I didn’t like was humor. The topical references just irked me, as did that damn donkey. Even Mike Myers’s Shrek voice bothered me. On top of it all, I don’t care for Cameron Diaz. So, yeah, Shrek wasn’t for me.
If you can believe it, Shrek was still a massive hit without my support. The original Shrek took the box office by storm. It was the first CG animated film that really took the fight to Pixar and showed them that other dogs could get into the fight. A sequel to the film was inevitable and people had the sense that Shrek 2 was going to be a smash.
And, boy howdy, it really was a smash, wasn’t it? Shrek 2 was the top-grossing film in America back in 2004 which was a bit of a surprise considering its competition. The film came out swinging, debuting with a crazy-big $108 million. It was the biggest animated opening ever, which definitely scared the kind souls at Pixar. It was also the highest debut for a PG-rated film and it came this close to overtaking Spider-Man’s biggest opening weekend record, claimed back in 2002. Shrek 2 was huge. Huge, huge, huge. Was it good? Well, that isn’t for me to judge (but, trust me, I am judging) but it was a major runaway blockbuster.
It was so big that it stole the top spot from Spider-Man 2. I say “stole” because a whole lot of people (including yours truly) thought that Sam Raimi’s Marvel sequel would be the biggest movie of the year. And why wouldn’t we expect that? The first Spider-Man was beyond massive. So of course Spider-Man 2 would take 2004’s top spot, or so we thought. And while it did break some records (biggest July debut, highest-grossing Wednesday) it didn’t have enough to land the biggest opening or gross for 2004. That was a tad perplexing because the movie was a follow-up to one of the biggest hits ever, plus it opened on the coveted Fourth of July holiday and garnered wonderful reviews. Don’t get me wrong, $373 million is a huge feat but a lot of prognosticators saw Spider-Man 2 as the heir apparent for 2004. But Shrek had different plans and sometimes you just can’t beat the appeal of a family film.
Speaking of heirs, let’s talk about Jesus. Have you heard the good news? Jesus Christ is a movie star.
Mel Gibson is a real piece of trash. There is a laundry list of shitty things he has done and said. No one here is going to debate that. But despite his soulless nature, Gibson has proven himself as a successful film director. Braveheart was one of the movies of the 90s and in 2004 he decided to make a little film about the founder of Christianity, the son of God, the big man from Bethlehem: Jesus Christ. The Passion Of The Christ has been called a two-hour torture porn film and that is a pretty apt description. It chronicles the last hours of the life of Christ, the final moments before crucifixion. To say that Passion was a brutal film is an understatement. The movie was a hard R. It was ultra-violent and realistic. Heavy, heavy viewing. And, Lord on high (sorry), people absolutely loved it. Families, church groups and the morbidly curious stormed theaters for Passion’s February debut and it stayed at number one for three weeks in a row. It eventually re-claimed the number one spot in its 11th week, which happened to be Easter weekend. The movie received raves from much of its audience and earned multiple repeat viewings. Families would go to the theater right after church on Sunday afternoon, still decked out in their fanciest outfits. It was an event for many. There were multiple complaints about the movie, from its relentless violence to its anti-semitism and all of those claims were valid. But that didn’t slow The Passion Of The Christ down, not one bit. The movie showed just how much a force church-going Americans could be at the box office. No religious film since has come even close to the heights set by The Passion Of The Christ.
A couple other movies on the list were expected hits — The Incredibles and Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban. There was no question that Azkaban would be a smash, although some predicted it would rank higher than number 6 when the year came to a close. But you have to remember just how crowded the marketplace was. Plus Azkaban was the third film in the series. The novel experience of seeing Potter in theaters had worn off. A small narrowing of the audience should have been expected.
As for The Incredibles, the movie followed on the heels of Pixar’s enormous success with Finding Nemo. Audiences and critics wondered how the studio would surpass that acclaimed underwater tale. The answer was The Incredibles, which surpassed all previous Pixar movies in terms of quality. It was an action film, it was a superhero film, it was a family film. More than anything, The Incredibles was just that: incredible. So while DreamWorks may have taken the top spot for the year with Shrek 2, in the end it was Pixar that walked away with the true champion. Because when it comes right down to it, people talk about The Incredibles way more often than they talk about Shrek 2.
You’ve got to hand it to National Treasure and The Polar Express, two major hits that wouldn’t find the same sort of viewership in this day-and-age. National Treasure hit at a time when Disney was really into the live-action adventure genre (thank you, Pirates) and they promoted the movie perfectly. Also, never underestimate the pure primal power of Nicolas Cage. Sure, he’s not everyones’ cup of tea but he does strike a chord with a lot of audiences. The guy has a seductive power over movie-goers. As for The Polar Express, there is no way that movie would be a smash in 2020. It is true that Tom Hanks has a greater hold on audiences than Nicolas Cage but even his power wouldn’t be able to overcome the overpopulated CG animation landscape we have today. I think The Polar Express would get absolutely drowned out if it were to come out today. But it didn’t, it came out in 2004 and did quite nicely. People love the uncanny valley.
Like I said, 2004 was a mixed bag. But 2005 would feel much more in line with previous years. It would have a slew of enormous hits, including one of Spielberg’s best, a raunchy R-rated comedy and the return of the Caped Crusader.