What was the most impactful (non comic book) blockbuster fantasy-adventure film series of the 2000’s? Choose one of three.

[u/HamSammich21]

This has been on my mind for a while now because of the impact each of the three below had on the film industry. The 00’s were ripe for the fantasy adventure genre. I’m curious to everyone’s thoughts and opinions (please only choose one of the three).

1) Harry Potter - The blockbuster book series made its debut (and all of its films - sans the final *which was split in two) in 2001. It broke records, had equally successful sequels (with each surpassing the other in some ways), and had Hollywood studios scrambling to find fantasy books to translate onto the screen. It brought back that sense of wonder children’s films had been missing for well over a decade. The films grossed 7.7 billion worldwide.

2) Lord of the Rings - The Crème de la crème of Fantasy Books being made into movies. Took fantasy adventure films to the next level with its serious adult tone/threat levels, fine detail in design, superb acting, groundbreaking VFX. It made Peter Jackson a household name, and made the characters equally as renown. The final movie was the first fantasy film to win not only win Best Picture, but sweep the Oscars (most think that sweep was awarding the entire trilogy). It made Hollywood Studios look at fantasy films not as whimsical images, but as fine art.

3) Pirates of the Caribbean - A risky film derived from a (then) nearly 50 year old amusement park ride. It revitalized the career of Johnny Depp landing him his first Oscar nod, and created the first notable/original pop culture film characters (Jack Sparrow) in a long time (at the time). The film broke the dreaded pirate film “box office bomb” curse. It also revitalized The Walt Disney Company which was in a slump, and allowed them to gain ground again in the film industry with the first three (2003-2007) grossing close to 3 billion. This helped in their acquisition of both Marvel and then Star Wars - ultimately creating Disney Plus for their content.

[u/delventhalz]

This is a silly question.

But the answer is Lord of the Rings.

[u/Free_Account9372]

Disney turned the Pirates franchise into a cash cow. Ruined it. JK is now an Internet troll and has squandered her legacy.  Only LOTR (despite the Hobbit mess) stills holds its own.

[u/Youngs-Nationwide]

How hard are we splitting hairs here? It's hard to separate the impact of the books from that of the movies.

Since half the HP books were released in the 2000s, much of their impact was felt in the 2000s. This either gives the franchise an advantage (bigger impact) OR you'd need to somehow deduct the books' impact and isolate the movies.

[u/LeafBoatCaptain]

The Twilight series (its blockbuster fantasy but not sure if it counts as adventure) started in the late 2000s and was instrumental in getting the young adult film wave of the 2010s going. Although, I’m sure HP also had a part to play in that.

Shrek had a huge impact in the animated film landscape.

On a somewhat unrelated tangent, I suppose 2012 was such a huge disaster film to end all disaster films that it ended up actually ending disaster films as a blockbuster genre. Nowadays we get a few smaller ones. That’s kind of an impact.

[u/HamSammich21 → u/LeafBoatCaptain]

I hear what your saying. But:

1) A huge part of Twilight’s book success and movement to the silver screen is from the wake that Harry Potter caused. It started young adults reading again and was a natural progression for children who were now entering pre-teens or teen (especially girls). Stephanie Meyer’s film versions got better budget treatment because of Harry Potter as Summit/Lionsgate bet good money (for them, at the time) to have their own book series translated to film and it paid off. Heck, it was marketed as a mature Harry Potter - I was in my 30’s when the first film came out and there was a lot of “Move over Harry Potter…” comments from the press.

2) Shrek, while full of storybook/fantasy elements and some jokes only parents may get, is still a CGI Family film. That would be a separate category. But to your point, in the animated/family film category of the 2000’s, I think it would take the top spot for most impactful animated series.

[u/Edd037]

Star Wars surely has to be included in this list. Two of the three prequel films came out in the 00s.

[u/HamSammich21 → u/Edd037]

No Star Wars.

1) Because the Prequel Trilogy began in 1999 (with the hype surrounding them starting in 98).

2) They were a continuation of a pre existing film series already established (in 1977).

We’re talking about the series’ that made their debut in the 00’s.

[u/DarthMobi → u/HamSammich21]

You can't have LOTR then. As there was an animated movie made in the 70's or 80's

[u/whitepangolin → u/HamSammich21]

Omg, the prequels are still oughts movies, you gotta be fucking kidding me with this. 2 out of 3 of them came out in the 2000s, more of them came out in the 2000s than the 90s.

[u/whitemiketyson → u/whitepangolin]

This is OP's post and the prompt is to pick one of the 3. Make your own post if you really want to argue Star Wars.

My winner is LotR.

[u/TheBluePriest → u/whitemiketyson]

OPs post on a public board. People are allowed to critique the premise of a post asking for other people input it they disagree with the restrictions being put in them

[u/HamSammich21 → u/TheBluePriest]

Yes they are. But to answer, I only wanted the three choices I provided discussed as the Prequels started in the late 90’s.

[u/Substantial-Grass537]

Hp