# 2014 in film
**2014 in film** refers to the events, releases, and industry trends of the cinema year 2014, a year in which global box office reached a record $36.4 billion while North American attendance fell to its lowest level in two decades.[1](https://www.motionpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Releases-2014-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-Report.pdf) • [2](https://time.com/3652040/movies-theaters-netflix-blockbusters/) The year combined a strong worldwide market driven by Asia Pacific growth with a weak domestic summer, a landmark [Sony Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures) cyberattack, and an Academy Awards season dominated by small, artist-driven films.[1](https://www.motionpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Releases-2014-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-Report.pdf) • [3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Global box office | $36.4 billion for all films released worldwide, up 1% over 2013's record[1](https://www.motionpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Releases-2014-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-Report.pdf) |
| U.S./Canada box office | $10.4 billion, down 5% from $10.9 billion in 2013[4](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf) |
| Admissions | 1.27 billion tickets sold in the U.S./Canada, down 6%, the lowest turnout since 1995[4](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf) • [2](https://time.com/3652040/movies-theaters-netflix-blockbusters/) |
| China milestone | Chinese box office of $4.8 billion, up 34%, the first international market to exceed $4 billion[4](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf) |
| Top domestic film | Guardians of the Galaxy, $333,176,600 total in the U.S./Canada[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2014/) |
| Top international film | Transformers: Age of Extinction, the year's biggest worldwide hit with only $245.4 million of its gross domestic[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) |
| Best Picture (87th Academy Awards) | Birdman, which also won Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) |
| Average U.S. ticket price | $8.17, an all-time yearly high, up from $8.13 in 2013[6](https://time.com/3675462/movie-ticket-prices/) |
## The domestic box office slump
North American moviegoing contracted sharply in 2014. Box office revenue fell about 5% to roughly $10.4 billion, the biggest year-over-year decline in nine years, and attendance dropped 6% to 1.27 billion tickets, the lowest number since 1.21 billion in 1995.[4](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf) • [2](https://time.com/3652040/movies-theaters-netflix-blockbusters/) TIME attributed the slump to underperforming sequels, including [The Amazing Spider-Man 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-amazing-spider-man-2), [Transformers: Age of Extinction](https://www.edgepedia.org/transformers-age-of-extinction), and [The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-1), each of which fell short of its predecessor, alongside competition from streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu.[2](https://time.com/3652040/movies-theaters-netflix-blockbusters/) Americans aged 12 to 24 saw 15% fewer films in the first three quarters of 2014, according to Nielsen figures cited by TIME.[2](https://time.com/3652040/movies-theaters-netflix-blockbusters/)
**The summer was the weak point.** Domestic summer totals slumped 25% from the same point in 2013, the largest single summer decline in more than 30 years, and no film had crossed $300 million by early August.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) 2014 was the first year since 2005 in which no animated film placed in the summer's top five; the closest was [How to Train Your Dragon 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/how-to-train-your-dragon-2) at $177 million.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) The year's eventual domestic leader, [Guardians of the Galaxy](https://www.edgepedia.org/guardians-of-the-galaxy), grossed $333,176,600 after its August 1 release, ahead of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, ranked second on the year's chart, and [Captain America: The Winter Soldier](https://www.edgepedia.org/captain-america-the-winter-soldier) ($259,766,572).[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2014/) The Lego Movie, the fifth-highest-grossing domestic film at $257.8 million, was the most commercially successful animated film Warner Bros. Pictures had made, yet was not nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
**A late surge changed the ranking.** [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood)'s American Sniper, released in limited run at Christmas, was the lowest-grossing Best Picture nominee at nomination time with $3.3 million, but after the February 2015 Oscar ceremony it had passed $331 million and ultimately reached $337.4 million, making it the top domestic film of the 2014 calendar year by March 2015.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) Internationally, the year belonged to Transformers: Age of Extinction, which earned only $245.4 million domestically but led all films worldwide, with [The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies) trailing.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
## Global markets
Growth came almost entirely from outside North America. International box office reached $26.0 billion, up 4%, led by the Asia Pacific region, which grew 12%.[4](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf) China's box office jumped 34% to $4.8 billion, making it the first international market to exceed $4 billion, and the top five international markets were China, Japan, France, the U.K., and India.[4](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf) • [7](https://www.mpa-apac.org/2015/03/infographic-demand-for-movies-continues-to-rise-around-the-globe/) Worldwide cinema screens grew 6% to over 142,000, with more than 90% now digital.[4](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf)
National markets diverged. France recorded 208.97 million paid admissions, up 7.9%, with feature films generating 205.59 million of them.[8](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/etudes-et-rapports/bilans/bilan-2014-du-cnc_301979) In Italy, box office fell even as a record 201 films were produced, with average investments declining; the Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo's report called 2014 a year of transition.[9](https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/295362/) In the United States, only 22 of 106 major-studio releases, about 16%, were actually filmed in California, as tax incentives drew production to New York, Britain, Canada, Georgia, Louisiana, Australia, and elsewhere.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
## Awards season
**Birdman led the Oscars.** At the 87th Academy Awards, honoring 2014 films, [Alejandro González Iñárritu](https://www.edgepedia.org/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu)'s Birdman won Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography; Iñárritu was the second consecutive Mexican director to win Best Director, after Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) It was the first year since the Best Picture field was expanded in 2009 that every nominee won at least one Oscar.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) The ceremony also drew criticism for a lack of diversity: all 20 acting nominees were white, and no women appeared in the directing or writing categories.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) The eight Best Picture nominees had grossed only $205.2 million collectively at nomination time, the lowest since 2009, and [Meryl Streep](https://www.edgepedia.org/meryl-streep) extended her record to 19 career nominations with a nod for [Into the Woods](https://www.edgepedia.org/into-the-woods).[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
Independent and critics' awards spread recognition widely. The [National Board of Review](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-board-of-review) named [A Most Violent Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-most-violent-year) its best film and listed [American Sniper](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-sniper), Birdman, Boyhood, Fury, Gone Girl, The Imitation Game, Inherent Vice, The Lego Movie, Nightcrawler, and Unbroken among its top films.[10](https://nationalboardofreview.org/2014/12/national-board-review-announces-2014-award-winners/) At the British Independent Film Awards, Pride won Best British Independent Film, with Yann Demange taking Best Director for '71 and Boyhood named Best International Independent Film.[11](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/british-independent-film-awards-2014-winners-full) The Bath Film Festival introduced an "F" rating for films passing the Bechdel test and employing significant female crew, a response to the finding that only about 4.7% of Hollywood films that year were directed by a woman.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
## Industry change: streaming, crowdfunding, and the Sony attack
**Distribution was in flux.** Netflix moved from a video distributor to an acquisition and production platform, pursuing original content such as House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, and Marco Polo and bypassing standard distribution channels.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) Crowdfunding matured as an independent-film financing route: the Veronica Mars film, revived through a record $5.7 million Kickstarter campaign in 2013, reached theaters in 2014, and Zach Braff's Wish I Was Here followed the same model.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg predicted in April 2014 that theatrical windows would shrink to about three weeks within ten years.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
**The Sony Pictures hack was the year's defining industry crisis.** In late November, hackers calling themselves Guardians of Peace attacked Sony Pictures; the FBI later confirmed North Korea was behind the breach, which was tied to the planned Christmas Day release of the satire The Interview.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) The attack rendered thousands of computers inoperable, leaked employee data and executive emails, and forced cancellation of the film's wide theatrical release; Sony instead streamed it online on Christmas Day and showed it in over 300 independent cinemas, earning about $6.1 million by year's end while facing losses estimated as high as $100 million.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
## Notable events and losses
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer marked its 90th anniversary in 2014, celebrating a studio founded in 1924 and home to more than 175 Academy Award-winning films, including 14 Best Pictures.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) The year also saw the release of Godzilla, which made the Japanese monster series, promoted by Toho Studios since the original 1954 Gojira, the longest continually running movie franchise.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
Cinema lost several major figures. Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2014, at 46; Shirley Temple died on February 10 at 85; Mickey Rooney died on April 6 at 93.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) In August, Robin Williams died on August 11 at 63 and Lauren Bacall, a star of Hollywood's Golden Age, died on August 12 at 89.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html) Director Mike Nichols, one of the few EGOT winners, died on November 19 at 83.[3](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
## References
1. [https://www.motionpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Releases-2014-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-Report.pdf](https://www.motionpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Releases-2014-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-Report.pdf)
2. [Moviegoing Hit a 20-Year Low in 2014, TIME](https://time.com/3652040/movies-theaters-netflix-blockbusters/)
3. [Film History Milestones – 2014, Filmsite](https://www.filmsite.org/2014-filmhistory.html)
4. [2014 Theatrical Statistics Summary, Motion Picture Association](https://www.mpa-americalatina.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf)
5. [Domestic Box Office For 2014, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2014/)
6. [Average Movie Ticket Price Hit All-Time High in 2014, TIME](https://time.com/3675462/movie-ticket-prices/)
7. [Infographic: Demand for Movies Continues to Rise Around the Globe, MPA APAC](https://www.mpa-apac.org/2015/03/infographic-demand-for-movies-continues-to-rise-around-the-globe/)
8. [Bilan 2014 du CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/etudes-et-rapports/bilans/bilan-2014-du-cnc_301979)
9. [FEdS 2014 report: a year of transition, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/295362/)
10. [National Board of Review Announces 2014 Award Winners](https://nationalboardofreview.org/2014/12/national-board-review-announces-2014-award-winners/)
11. [British Independent Film Awards 2014: the winners in full, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/british-independent-film-awards-2014-winners-full)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › National and regional cinemas by year*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license