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1988 in film

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The following is an overview of events in 1988 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.

Highest-grossing films

The top 10 films released in 1988 by worldwide gross are as follows: Note: We only link the studios ONCE--

RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross12345678910
Rain ManMGM$354,825,435
Who Framed Roger RabbitBuena Vista$329,803,958
Coming to AmericaParamount$288,752,301
Crocodile Dundee II$239,606,210
TwinsUniversal$216,614,388
Rambo IIITriStar / Carolco$189,015,611
A Fish Called WandaMGM$188,597,000
CocktailBuena Vista$171,504,781
Big20th Century Fox$151,668,774
Die Hard$141,500,000

Events

  • May 25 – Rambo III is released as the most expensive film ever made with a production budget between $58 and $63 million. The film fails to match the box office earnings from Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985).
  • June 26 – Michael Keaton is first announced to play comic book superhero Batman in a forthcoming feature film to be directed by Tim Burton and co–starring Jack Nicholson as Batman's arch nemesis, The Joker.
  • July 15 – Die Hard defies low commercial expectations to gross $141.5 million worldwide. Hailed as an influential landmark in the action film genre, it influences a common formula for many action films in the 1990s, featuring a lone everyman against a colorful terrorist character who is usually holding hostages in an isolated setting.
  • September 19 – English character actor Roy Kinnear suffers a fall from a horse which will prove fatal while filming The Return of the Musketeers in Toledo, Spain.
  • October 10 – Batman officially commences filming at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England.
  • October 27 – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is released on VHS and laserdisc; to combat piracy, the tapeguards and tape hubs on the videocassettes are colored green, and the tape itself is affixed with a small, holographic sticker of the 1963 Universal logo (much like the holograms on a credit card), and encoded with Macrovision. In North America alone, VHS sales come to $75million.
  • December 16 – Rain Man is released to critical and commercial success and becomes the highest grossing film of 1988 worldwide with a gross of $355 million. Winning four Academy Awards including Best Picture, it is the last MGM title to be nominated for Best Picture until Licorice Pizza (2021) 33 years later. Giancarlo Parretti and Max Théret acquire a 52% stake in Pathé.

Awards

Category/Organization46th Golden Globe Awards
January 28, 198942nd BAFTA Awards
March 19, 198961st Academy Awards
March 29, 1989DramaMusical or Comedy
Best FilmRain ManWorking GirlThe Last EmperorRain Man
Best DirectorClint Eastwood
BirdLouis Malle
Au revoir les enfantsBarry Levinson
Rain Man
Best ActorDustin Hoffman
Rain ManTom Hanks
BigJohn Cleese
A Fish Called WandaDustin Hoffman
Rain Man
Best ActressJodie Foster
The Accused
Shirley MacLaine
Madame Sousatzka
Sigourney Weaver
Gorillas in the MistMelanie Griffith
Working GirlMaggie Smith
The Lonely Passion of Judith HearneJodie Foster
The Accused
Best Supporting ActorMartin Landau
Tucker: The Man and His DreamMichael Palin
A Fish Called WandaKevin Kline
A Fish Called Wanda
Best Supporting ActressSigourney Weaver
Working GirlJudi Dench
A Handful of DustGeena Davis
The Accidental Tourist
Best Screenplay, AdaptedNaomi Foner Gyllenhaal
Running on EmptyJean-Claude Carrière and Philip Kaufman
The Unbearable Lightness of BeingChristopher Hampton
Dangerous Liaisons
Best Screenplay, OriginalShawn SlovoRonald Bass and Barry Morrow
Rain Man
Best Original ScoreMaurice Jarre
Gorillas in the MistJohn Williams
Empire of the SunDave Grusin
The Milagro Beanfield War
Best Original Song"Two Hearts"
Buster
"Let the River Run"
Working GirlN/A"Let the River Run"
Working Girl
Best Foreign Language FilmPelle the ConquerorBabette's FeastPelle the Conqueror

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival) :Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren), directed by Bille August, Denmark

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival) :La leggenda del santo bevitore (The Legend of the Holy Drinker), directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy / France

Golden Bear (Berlin International Film Festival) :Red Sorghum (Hong gao liang), directed by Zhang Yimou, China

1988 films

By country/region

  • List of American films of 1988
  • List of Argentine films of 1988
  • List of Australian films of 1988
  • List of Bangladeshi films of 1988
  • List of British films of 1988
  • List of Canadian films of 1988
  • List of French films of 1988
  • List of Hong Kong films of 1988
  • List of Indian films of 1988
    • List of Hindi films of 1988
    • List of Kannada films of 1988
    • List of Malayalam films of 1988
    • List of Marathi films of 1988
    • List of Tamil films of 1988
    • List of Telugu films of 1988
  • List of Japanese films of 1988
  • List of Mexican films of 1988
  • List of Pakistani films of 1988
  • List of South Korean films of 1988
  • List of Soviet films of 1988
  • List of Spanish films of 1988

By genre/medium

  • List of action films of 1988
  • List of animated feature films of 1988
  • List of avant-garde films of 1988
  • List of comedy films of 1988
  • List of drama films of 1988
  • List of horror films of 1988
  • List of science fiction films of 1988
  • List of thriller films of 1988
  • List of western films of 1988

Births

  • January 3 – Karl Glusman, American actor
  • January 6 – Mehwish Hayat, Pakistani actress
  • January 7 – Haley Bennett, American actress and singer
  • January 12 – Andrew Lawrence, American actor
  • January 14 – Tom Rosenthal, English actor, comedian and writer
  • January 21 – John Early, American comedian and actor
  • February 2
    • Amadou Ly, Senegalese-born American actor, writer and producer
    • Zosia Mamet, American actress and musician
  • February 6 – Anna Diop, Senegalese-born American actress
  • February 8 – Ryan Pinkston, American actor
  • February 11 – Jazz Raycole, American actress
  • February 12
    • Afshan Azad, British actress, model and media personality
    • Nana Eikura, Japanese actress
  • February 13
    • Ferdinand Kingsley, British actor
    • Erica Mendez, American voice actress
  • February 16 – Steven Caple Jr., American director, producer and screenwriter
  • February 17 – Nagita Slavina, Indonesian actress, television host, film producer, and singer
  • February 18
    • Sarah Sutherland, Canadian-American actress
    • Maiara Walsh, American actress
  • February 20
    • Rihanna, Barbadian singer, songwriter and actress
    • Tracy Spiridakos, Canadian actress
  • February 29
    • Reilly Dolman, Canadian actor
    • Langston Fishburne, American actor
  • March 4
    • Josh Bowman, English actor
    • Cody Longo, American actor (died 2023)
  • March 21
    • Luke Brandon Field, English actor and musician
    • Kevin Guthrie, Scottish actor
  • March 22 – Tania Raymonde, American actress
  • March 24 – Finn Jones, English actor
  • March 25 – Erik Knudsen, Canadian actor
  • March 27
    • Brenda Song, American actress, singer and model
    • Holliday Grainger, English actress
  • March 29 - Ansu Kabia, British actor
  • April 2 – Jesse Plemons, American actor
  • April 3 – Ruby Bentall, English actress
  • April 4 – Maggie Geha, American actress and model
  • April 6 – Mike Bailey, English actor
  • April 10
    • Molly Bernard, American actress
    • Haley Joel Osment, American actor
  • April 13
    • Allison Williams, American actress
    • Katie Lucas, American actress and writer
  • April 14
    • Ben Lloyd-Hughes, British actor
    • Chris Wood, American actor
  • April 18 – Vanessa Kirby, English actress
  • April 21
    • Robbie Amell, Canadian actor and producer
    • Christoph Sanders, American actor
  • April 23 – Carla Quevedo, Argentine actress
  • April 25
    • Jonathan Bailey, English actor
    • Sara Paxton, American singer and actress
  • April 27
    • Lizzo, American singer, actress, and flautist
    • Regé-Jean Page, British actor
  • April 30 – Ana de Armas, Cuban actress
  • May 1
    • Nicholas Braun, American actor
    • Anushka Sharma, Indian actress
  • May 2 – Laura Brent, Australian actress
  • May 3 – Remington Hoffman, American actor and director
  • May 7 – Brandon Jones, American actor, producer and musician
  • May 16 – Jermaine Fowler, American actor, comedian, producer and writer
  • May 17 – Nikki Reed, American actress and writer
  • May 22 - Heida Reed, Icelandic actress
  • May 24 - Callie Hernandez, American actress
  • May 25 - Ashley Whillans, Canadian-American former actress
  • June 2 – Awkwafina, American actress, comedian, writer, producer and rapper
  • June 4 – Li Man, Chinese actress
  • June 5 – Nuh Omar, Pakistani writer and director
  • June 6 - Gideon Glick, American actor
  • June 7 – Michael Cera, Canadian actor
  • June 9
    • Lauren Landa, American voice actress
    • Mae Whitman, American actress
  • June 13 – Cody Walker, American actor
  • June 14 – Dayo Okeniyi, Nigerian-American actor
  • June 16 – Jonny Weston, American actor
  • June 22
    • Shefali Chowdhury, British actress
    • Portia Doubleday, American actress
  • June 23
    • Pippa Bennett-Warner, British actress
    • Isabella Leong, Hong Kong singer, actress and model
  • June 25 – Daniel Webber, Australian actor
  • July 1 - Evan Ellingson, American actor (died 2023)
  • July 2 – Edward Randell, English musician and actor
  • July 7 – Jack Whitehall, English actor, comedian, presenter and writer
  • July 8 - Shazad Latif, British actor
  • July 10 – Pavlo Lee, Ukrainian actor (died 2022)
  • July 12 – Christine Marie Cabanos, American voice actress
  • July 13 – Chris Sheffield, American actor
  • July 14 – Elise Gatien, Canadian actress
  • July 15 – Aimee Carrero, Dominican-born American actress
  • July 18
    • Ambyr Childers, American actress
    • Chen Tang, Chinese-American actor
  • July 19 – Cherami Leigh, American voice actress
  • July 20 – Julianne Hough, American dancer, actress, singer and songwriter
  • July 24 – Joe Pera, American comedian, writer and actor
  • July 25 – Mamoudou Athie, Mauritanian-American actor and producer
  • July 26 – Francia Raisa, American actress
  • July 30 – Nico Tortorella, American actor and model
  • July 31 – Charlie Carver, American actor
  • August 1 – Max Carver, American actor
  • August 16
    • Kevin Schmidt, American actor
    • Rumer Willis, American actress
  • August 17 – Joyner Lucas, American rapper and actor
  • August 24 – Rupert Grint, English actor
  • August 26
    • Evan Ross, American actor and musician
    • Danielle Savre, American actress
  • August 27 – Alexa PenaVega, American actress and singer
  • September 6 – Jovan Adepo, English actor
  • September 8 – E. J. Bonilla, American actor
  • September 12
    • Matt Martians, American record producer
    • Clara Paget, British actress
  • September 15 - John Bradley, English actor
  • September 17 – Ritu Arya, English actress
  • September 19 – Celine Song, Canadian director, playwright, and screenwriter
  • September 22 – Sana Saeed, Indian actress
  • September 26 – Lilly Singh, Canadian comedian, former talk show host and YouTuber
  • September 28
    • Olivia Jordan, American actress and model, Miss USA 2015
    • Hana Mae Lee, American actress, model and comedian
  • October 1 – Nick Whitaker, American actor
  • October 3 – Alicia Vikander, Swedish actress
  • October 4 – Melissa Benoist, American actress, singer and dancer
  • October 5 – Bobby Edner, American actor and singer
  • October 6 – Everlyn Sampi, Australian actress
  • October 17 – Dee Jay Daniels, American former actor
  • October 18 – Tessa Schram, Dutch actress and director
  • October 21
    • Glen Powell, American actor, writer and producer
    • Mark Rendall, Canadian actor
  • October 22
    • Corey Hawkins, American actor
    • Sharon Rooney, Scottish actress
  • October 23 – Ritesh Rajan, American actor
  • October 28 – Edd Gould, British animator, artist, writer, director and voice actor (died 2012)
  • October 29 – Devon Murray, Irish actor
  • November 6 – Emma Stone, American actress
  • November 9
    • Nikki Blonsky, American singer and actress
    • Alexandrea Owens-Sarno, American actress
    • Lio Tipton (credited as Analeigh Tipton up to 2021), American model and actress
  • November 12 – Alistair Brammer, English actor
  • November 17 – Justin Cooper, American producer and former child actor
  • November 20 – Demetrius Shipp Jr., American actor
  • November 22
    • Jamie Campbell Bower, English actor and singer
    • Lily Frazer, English actress
  • November 26 – Tamsin Egerton, English actress
  • November 30
    • Rotimi, Nigerian-American actor and singer
    • Rebecca Rittenhouse, American actress
  • December 1
    • Nadia Hilker, German actress and model
    • Yim Si-wan, Korean actor and singer
    • Zoë Kravitz, American actress
  • December 2 – Alfred Enoch, English actor
  • December 7
    • Emily Browning, Australian actress
    • Benjamin Clementine, British composer, musician and actor
  • December 14 – Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer
  • December 15 – Gregg Chillin, English actor and writer
  • December 16
    • Anna Popplewell, English actress
    • Park Seo-joon, South Korean actor
  • December 17 – Rin Takanashi, Japanese actress and model
  • December 21 – Shelley Regner, American actress and singer
  • December 27 – Hera Hilmar, Icelandic actress
  • December 28 – Iwan Lewis, Welsh actor
  • December 30 - Jena Sims, American actress

Deaths

MonthDateNameAgeCountryProfessionNotable films
January1Marcel Hillaire79GermanyActor
7Michel Auclair65FranceActor
7Trevor Howard74UKActor
8Boyd Morgan72USStuntman, Actor
10Hugh A. Robertson55USFilm Editor, Director
16Ballard Berkeley83UKActor
19Bridget Boland75UKScreenwriter
19Cary Odell77USArt Director
25Colleen Moore88USActress
February1Marcel Bozzuffi58FrenchActor
1Heather O'Rourke12USActress
5Emeric Pressburger85HungaryScreenwriter, Director
8Allan Cuthbertson67AustraliaActor
14Frederick Loewe86GermanyComposer
28Asakazu Nakai86JapanCinematographer
29Sidney Harmon80USProducer, Screenwriter
March1Joe Besser80USActor
3Lois Wilson93USActress
5Alberto Olmedo54ArgentinaActor, Comedian
6Jeanne Aubert82FranceActress
7Divine42USActor
7Robert Livingston83USActor
12DeWitt Bodeen79USScreenwriter
12Karen Steele56USActress
13Steno71ItalyDirector, Screenwriter
13John Holmes43USActor
13Olive Carey92USActress
16Dorothy Adams88USActress
27Renato Salvatori55ItalyActor
31Manuel Silos82PhilippinesActor, Director
April1Jim Jordan91USActor
5Alf Kjellin68SwedenActor, Director
6John Clements77UKActor
7Albert S. Rogell86USDirector
11Jeff Donnell66USActress
11Jesse L. Lasky Jr.77USScreenwriter
15Kenneth Williams62UKActor
21I. A. L. Diamond67MoldoviaScreenwriter
22Irene Rich96USActress
28Andrew Cruickshank80UKActor
May1Paolo Stoppa81ItalyActor
4Tom Overton58USSound Engineer
5George Rose68UKActor
12Paul Osborn86USScreenwriter
15Andrew Duggan64USActor
15Greta Nissen82NorwayActress
18Daws Butler71USVoice Actor
18Anthony Forwood72UKActor
18Christopher Gore43USScreenwriter
21Barbara Laage67FranceActress
22Tom Adair74USLyricist
29Vladimír Menšík59Czech RepublicActor
30Ella Raines67USActress
June2Raj Kapoor63IndiaActor, Director, Producer
16Kim Milford37USActor
18Wilford Leach58USDirector, Screenwriter
19Teru Shimada82JapanActor
22Dennis Day77USSinger, Actor
22Stuart Randall78USActor
July1Alice Nunn60USActress
2Aldo Tonti78ItalyCinematographer
7Jimmy Edwards68UKActor
12Joshua Logan79USDirector, Screenwriter
22Milton Krasner84USCinematographer
22Patrick Newell56UKActor
25Judith Barsi10USActress
25Douglas Hickox59UKDirector
27Larry Clemmons81USAnimator, Screenwriter
31Trinidad Silva38USActor
August1Florence Eldridge86USActress
2Robert Emmet Smith73USArt Director
5Colin Higgins47FranceDirector, Producer, Screenwriter
5Ralph Meeker65USActor
7Wilfred Jackson82USAnimator
8Alan Napier85UKActor
10Adela Rogers St. Johns94USScreenwriter
11Anne Ramsey59USActress
17Victoria Shaw53AustraliaActress
19Don Haggerty74USActor
23Jack Sher75USScreenwriter, Director
24Leonard Frey49USActor
26Milton Sperling76USScreenwriter
27Charles Farrell88IrelandActor
September1Hugh Hunt86USSet Decorator
5Gert Fröbe75GermanyActor
6Harold Rosson93USCinematographer
12Stephen B. Grimes61UKProduction Designer
14Louis Quinn73USActor
15Samuel E. Beetley74USFilm Editor
20Roy Kinnear54UKActor
21Henry Koster83GermanyDirector, Screenwriter
21Christine Norden63UKActress
30Chick Chandler83USActor
October1Lucien Ballard84USCinematographer
1Pavle Vuisić62SerbiaActor
4Margaret Lacey76UKActress
6Don Terry86USActor
9Edward Chodorov84USScreenwriter
11Morgan Farley90USActor
11Bonita Granville65USActress
12Ken Murray85USActor, Producer
13Melvin Frank75USScreenwriter, Director
14Mary Morris72FijiActress
19Lawrence W. Butler80USSpecial Effects Artist
24Valerie Taylor85UKActress
25Eric Larson83USAnimator
27Charles Hawtrey73UKActor
31John Houseman86RomaniaActor, Producer
November1George J. Folsey90USCinematographer
2Lukas Heller58GermanyScreenwriter
3Sidney Carroll75USScreenwriter
6John Hubbard74USActor
9Billy Curtis79USActor
15Mona Washbourne84UKActress
27Angela Aames32USActress
27John Carradine82USActor
December7Christopher Connelly47USActor
7Dorothy Jordan82USActress
8Anne Seymour79USActress
15Maria De Matteis90ItalyCostume Designer
10Richard S. Castellano55USActor
10Dennis Arundell90UKActor, Composer
17Jerry Hopper81USDirector
21Bob Steele81USActor
22Tucker Smith52USActor, Dancer
24Noel Willman70IrelandActor
26Julanne Johnston88USActress
26John Loder90UKActor
27Hal Ashby59USDirector, Film Editor

Film debuts

  • Tim Allen – Tropical Snow
  • Gabrielle Anwar – Manifesto
  • Stephen Baldwin – Homeboy
  • Ned Bellamy – The Night Before
  • Annette Bening – The Great Outdoors
  • Patrick Bergin – Taffin
  • Thora Birch – Purple People Eater
  • Lara Flynn Boyle – Poltergeist III
  • Christopher Titus - Killer Klowns from Outer Space
  • Benjamin Bratt – Lovers, Partners & Spies
  • Reg E. Cathey – Funny Farm
  • Macaulay Culkin – Rocket Gibraltar
  • Vondie Curtis-Hall – Coming to America
  • Matt Damon – Mystic Pizza
  • Benicio del Toro – Big Top Pee-wee
  • Stephen Dillane – Business as Usual
  • David Duchovny – Working Girl
  • Kevin Dunn – Mississippi Burning
  • Nora Dunn – Working Girl
  • Richard Fancy – Sunset
  • Colm Feore – Iron Eagle II
  • Iain Glen – Paris by Night
  • Cuba Gooding, Jr. – Coming to America
  • Clark Gregg – Things Change
  • Jess Harnell – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
  • Frank Harper – For Queen and Country
  • Danielle Harris – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
  • Neil Patrick Harris – Clara's Heart
  • Jane Horrocks – The Dressmaker
  • Felicity Huffman – Things Change
  • Marceline Hugot – Working Girl
  • Bonnie Hunt – Rain Man
  • Gregory Jbara – The House on Carroll Street
  • Milla Jovovich – Two Moon Junction
  • Jenifer Lewis – Beaches
  • Jane Lynch – Vice Versa
  • Marc Macaulay – Graverobbers
  • Kevin McNulty – Shoot to Kill
  • Graham McTavish – For Queen and Country
  • David Morrissey – Drowning by Numbers
  • Dermot Mulroney – Sunset
  • Clive Owen – Vroom
  • Vincent Pastore – Black Roses
  • Harold Perrineau – Shakedown
  • David Hyde Pierce – Bright Lights, Big City
  • Oliver Platt – Married to the Mob
  • Bruce Ramsay – Pin
  • Noomi Rapace – In the Shadow of the Raven
  • Alan Rickman – Die Hard
  • Katja Riemann – Faust - Vom Himmel durch die Welt zur Hölle
  • Julia Roberts – Satisfaction
  • Stephen Root – Crocodile Dundee II
  • Richard Schiff – Medium Straight
  • Rusty Schwimmer – Memories of Me
  • Steven Seagal – Above the Law
  • Suzanne Shepherd – Mystic Pizza
  • Roger Guenveur Smith – School Daze
  • Lili Taylor – She's Having a Baby
  • David Thornton – Diamond Run
  • Stanley Townsend – Taffin
  • Goran Višnjić – Braća po materi
  • Marlon Wayans – I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
  • Duane Whitaker – Deadly Dreams
  • Gregory Alan Williams – Above the Law

References

References

  1. "1988 Worldwide Box Office". [[IMDb]].
  2. "A Fish Called Wanda (1988)".
  3. Groves, Don. (August 9, 1989). "UIP Up, Up and Away For Year; Rentals Take Off".
  4. (September 11, 1995). "UIP's $25M-Plus Club".
  5. (June 26, 1988). "Keaton Set For Beetlejuice II. - Page 23". Gainesville Sun.
  6. (June 27, 1988). "Herald-Journal - Page 8". Herald-Journal.
  7. (23 September 1988). "Roy Kinnear Is Dead At 54 After Falling From Horse in Film". The New York Times.
  8. Griffin, Nancy. (June 1988). "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". [[Premiere (magazine).
  9. Alderman, Bruce. (December 21, 1988). "After lengthy battle, Pathé falls into hands of Parretti, Théret".
  10. Mason, Aiden. (2017-08-28). "Five Things You Didn't Know About Anna Diop".
  11. ((Editors of Chase's)). (24 September 2019). "Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months". Rowman & Littlefield.
  12. David K. Frasier. (2002). "Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth-century Cases". McFarland.
  13. Dennis Hevesi. (13 May 1988). "Dominican Police Say 4 Men Killed George Rose". [[The New York Times]].
  14. (1988). "Newsweek". Newsweek.
  15. (2002). "Raj Kapoor Speaks". Penguin Books India.
  16. John A. Willis. (1989). "Screen World". Crown Publishers.
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