Film in History (Part 5)

1993-06-11 "Jurassic Park", directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum opens, sets box office weekend record of $502 million

1993-07-12 Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Sunset Boulevard", based on Billy Wilder's 1950 film, starring Patti Lupone and Daniel Benzali, opens at the Adelphi Theatre, London

1993-07-25 Romantic comedy film "Sleepless in Seattle" is released starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, directed by Nora Ephron

1993-12-14 "Philadelphia" one of the first mainstream films about AIDS, directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington premieres in Century City, California

1994-04-14 Turner Classic Movies cable channel launches; media mogul Ted Turner hosts ceremony in NYC's Times Square district at 6PM marking "the exact centennial anniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City"

1994-05-27 "The Flintstones" live action movie based in the 1960s cartoon, starring John Goodman (as Fred), Rick Moranis (as Barney), and Rosie O'Donnell (as Betty) premieres

1994-12-28 "The Madness of King George" film based on the play by Alan Bennett, directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren premieres in the US

1995-11-13 "GoldenEye", 17th James Bond film released, starring Pierce Brosnan for the first time, Robbie Coltrane and Judi Dench as M

1996-02-15 Tamil romantic comedy film "Poove Unakkaga" released directed by Vikraman, starring Sangita and Vijay in his breakthrough role

1996-02-27 American film production company "Happy Madison Productions" is founded by Adam Sandler

1996-11-18 "Star Trek: First Contact" film directed by Jonathan Frakes and starring Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes premieres

1996-12-20 Horror film classic "Scream", starring Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, is released

1997-03-21 Film "Selena" is released based on the life of singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, starring Jennifer Lopez in her breakthrough role, directed by Gregory Nava

1997-04-15 Disaster film "Volcano" directed by Mick Jackson, and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche premieres in South Korea

1997-05-07 Science fiction film "The Fifth Element" written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich is released. Then the most expensive European film ever made.

1997-11-07 "Bean" film directed by Mel Smith and starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean opens in the US

1997-12-15 "Spice World" movie directed by Bob Spiers and starring girl pop group the Spice Girls premieres in the UK

1997-12-23 "As Good as It Gets" film released written and directed by James L. Brooks, starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt

1999-03-24 "The Matrix" film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeve, Lawrence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss premieres

1999-05-04 "The Mummy" film directed by Stephen Sommers starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah premieres in the US

1999-06-18 Hindi film "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" premieres directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, starring Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Aishwarya Rai

1999-07-09 Coming of age film "American Pie" is released, directed by Paul Weitz, starring Jason Biggs, Eugene Levy, and an ensemble cast

2001-04-23 Fatboy Slim releases single "Weapon of Choice", music video directed by Spike Jonze starring Christopher Walken dancing

2001-06-18 "The Fast and the Furious" film directed by Rob Cohen starring Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez premieres

2001-07-29 "The Princess Diaries", starring Anne Hathaway (in her film debut), featuring Julie Andrews, and directed by Garry Marshall, premieres at El Capitan theater in Hollywood

2001-11-04 "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" 1st film adaptation of the book series by J. K. Rowling starring Daniel Radcliffe, premieres in London (Titled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in some markets)

2001-11-16 "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", 1st film adaptation of the book series by J. K. Rowling starring Daniel Radcliffe, premieres in US (Titled "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's's Stone" in some markets)

2001-12-10 "The Fellowship of the Ring" Lord of the Rings film directed by Peter Jackson and starring Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen premieres in London

2001-12-19 "The Fellowship of the Ring", 1st Lord of the Rings film is released. Makes US$47 million US opening weekend, $871 million total worldwide.

2002-03-12 Animated film "Ice Age" directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, with voices by Denis Leary and John Leguizamo premieres

2002-10-24 Wuxia film "Hero" directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Jet Li released in China (US release 2004)

2002-11-14 Film "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is released, based on the 2nd book of the series by J. K. Rowling

2002-12-27 "Chicago" (Best Picture 2003), film based on John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical, directed by Rob Marshall, starring Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere, and Catherine Zeta-Jones released.

2004-04-30 "Mean Girls", teen comedy film released starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams and written by Tina Fey

2005-05-27 DreamWorks releases computer-animated film "Madagascar" with voices by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett-Smith

2005-07-08 Marvel superhero film "The Fantastic Four" starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis premieres

2005-09-11 "Pride & Prejudice", the film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name, starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet, is released

2005-12-09 "Brokeback Mountain" film released, directed by Ang Lee, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, based on story by Annie Proulx

2006-01-20 "High School Musical" debuts, starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hugdens; becomes Disney Channel's most successful TV movie

2006-01-24 Walt Disney International and Bob Iger announce it is buying computer animation film studio Pixar for $7.4 billion

2006-03-01 Animated film "Ice Age: The Meltdown" directed by Carlos Saldanha with voices by Ray Romano and John Leguizamo premieres in Belgium

2006-06-22 Film "The Devil Wears Prada" based starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt premieres in LA

2006-06-24 "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, premieres at Disneyland - becomes fastest film to gross over 1 billion

2006-11-14 "Casino Royale", 21st James Bond film premieres in London, starring Daniel Craig for the 1st time and Eva Green, premieres in London

2006-12-05 Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy little black dress from film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" auctioned for charity for record £467,200 ($923,187) at Christie's, London

2007-03-23 After some initial hesitation, Emma Watson signs on to appear as Hermione in the final three Harry Potter films

2007-05-19 "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End", directed by Gore Verbinksi, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom premieres in Anaheim - most expensive film ($300 million) made at the time

2007-08-26 The Rolling Stones close their two-year, 147 concert "A Bigger Bang" tour at O2 Arena in London, England; box office gross of tour exceeds $558M, a record at the time

2008-05-02 First film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe released: "Iron Man" directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark

2008-06-30 "Mamma Mia!, The Movie!" starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, premieres at Leicester Square, London

2008-09-25 Supernatural-fantasy film "Painted Skin" directed by Gordon Chan, starring Donnie Yen, Chen Kun and Zhou Xun is released

2009-04-06 "Star Trek" film reboot directed by J.J. Abrams, starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto premieres in Austin, Texas

2009-12-18 James Cameron's "Avatar" starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, released in the US, becomes highest-grossing film of all time

2010-06-12 "Toy Story 3", directed by Lee Unkrich, starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, premieres at the Taormina Film Fest in Italy - 1st animated film to earn 1 billion

2010-09-17 Documentary film "Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?" released theatrically