In the 2000s, fantasy movies roared back to life and began to dominate the box office. While there were a ton of successful sci-fi movies making big bucks in the '90s, fantasy movies seemed to fall out of favor. However, in 2000 a fantasy wuxia movie was an Oscar contender, and then the era of fantasy blockbuster franchises began.

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The decade included a trip through Middle Earth and the introduction to the world of the Boy Wizard. By the time the decade ended, fantasy movies had grossed billions of dollars at the worldwide box office and almost guaranteed success. Here is a look at the highest-grossing fantasy film, each year of the 2000s.

2000 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ($213 million)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

In 2000, a movie hit theaters in America that did two things. It proved that fans were ready for high concept fantasy again, and it opened the door for Asian wuxia movies to start a short run at the U.S. box office. This movie was Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

The film broke the record for Oscar nominations for a foreign-language film with 10 nods. The film ranked 18th for the year at the worldwide box office and was the highest-grossing fantasy movie that year, and it features some of the most epic martial arts fights in any film.

2001 - Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone ($972 million)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione

In 2001, the top two highest-grossing movies were fantasy films. Those films were The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

It was the only time Harry Potter beat a Lord of the Rings movie at the box office, but that was mostly due to the fact it was a family-friendly movie, with millions of books sold to kids and adults alike. Harry Potter ended up finishing with $85 million more at the box office than the Hobbits in 2001.

2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($919 million)

LOTR Two Towers

While The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers made less money than the first Harry Potter movie did the year before, it was still a monster success. The Two Towers parlayed the success of the first film by bringing in $919 million at the box office, $41 million more than the second Harry Potter film.

This was a year of franchises as well, as those two fantasy movies were followed in box office totals by a superhero movie in Spider-Man and a sci-fi movie in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return Of The King ($1.12 billion)

The Return of the King poster.

In 2003, the third and final movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, finally broke $1 billion at the box office. With a total worldwide take of $1.12 billion, it moved the franchise as a whole to over $2.9 billion worldwide for the trilogy. This success was always going to be the case for a film as big as Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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Even with The Hobbit movies later, this was still the highest-grossing film in the six-movie series. For 2003, it was the highest-grossing movie of the year, making $184 million more than the runner-up, Finding Nemo.

2004 - Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban ($793 million)

With the Lord of the Rings trilogy out of the way, it was time for the Boy Wizard to rise back to the top. The third Harry Potter movie in the seriesThe Prisoner of Azkaban was the highest-grossing fantasy movie of 2004 and arguably the best Harry Potter movie.

However, it fell behind two other releases that year in the animated film Shrek 2 and the superhero action movie Spider-Man 2. Still, it brought in $793 million, and Harry Potter just grew stronger from here.

2005 - Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire ($897 million)

Voldemort reaches out to touch Harry's forehead

The year after coming in third at the worldwide box office, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire conquered the box office in 2005. The movie rose straight to the top with an impressive $896 million take, beating out the third film in the Star Wars prequel series, as well as the first movie in the new fantasy franchise Chronicles of Narnia.

However, for genre fans, the fact that those movies were all in the top three spots had to make fantasy and sci-fi fans happy.

2006 - Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.06 billion)

After failing to compete for the top spot at the box office in 2003, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise returned in 2006 with a sequel that not only topped all fantasy movies but stole the year's box office crown. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest won the year big, with an impressive $1.06 billion at the box office.

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This total was $400 million more than the first movie in the series and showed that it gained a massive following on DVD. It was also the 2006 winner by a large margin. With no Harry Potter this year, the second-best film at the box office was The Da Vinci Code, bringing in almost $300 million less.

2007 - Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End ($963 million)

Jack and Barbosa using spyglasses in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

In 2007, Johnny Depp won again with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. However, the film failed to hit the $1 billion mark the year after doing so with the third film. Even the fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series broke $1 billion worldwide, making this one a slight dropoff.

Even with a lesser take, it still managed to beat Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the box office by $21 million.

2008 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ($417 million)

Prince Caspian holding a sword on the poster of The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian

In 2008, there was a massive dropoff for fantasy films. The top nine movies of the year included three animated films, three superhero movies, two action flicks, and even a musical.

Finally, at the 10th spot on the worldwide box office was the first actual fantasy film, with the sequel, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. At just $417 million, it seemed like a letdown for fantasy fans at theaters in 2008.

2009 - Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince ($935 million)

The good news is that Harry Potter still had life in his legs, and three more movies to go for the initial franchise run. In 2009, the last year of the decade, the Boy Wizard was back for a $934 million box office take, inching closer to the $1 billion mark.

However, the big news in 2009 was that Harry Potter was second that year and missed out on number one by over $1.8 billion, as sci-fi blockbuster Avatar made a record-breaking $2.7 billion.

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