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1990 in film

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The year 1990 in film involved many significant events as shown below. Universal Pictures celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1990, despite its actual 75th anniversary taking place in 1987.

Highest-grossing films

The top 10 films released in 1990 by worldwide gross are as follows:

RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross12345678910
GhostParamount$505,702,588
Home Alone20th Century Fox$476,684,675
Pretty WomanBuena Vista$463,406,268
Dances with WolvesOrion$424,208,848
Total RecallTriStar / Carolco$261,317,921
Back to the Future Part IIIUniversal$244,527,583
Die Hard 220th Century Fox$240,031,094
Presumed InnocentWarner Bros.$221,303,188
Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesNew Line$202,084,756
Kindergarten CopUniversal$201,957,688

Events

  • March 2 - The Hunt for Red October is released. It is the first film in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan franchise and is met with critical and blockbuster commercial success.
  • March 23 – Pretty Woman is released and grosses $463 million, making Julia Roberts a worldwide star.
  • March 30 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is released to massive box office success. At the time, it is the highest-grossing independent film in history.
  • May 25 – Universal Pictures unveils a new opening logo with music composed by James Horner, which debuts on Back to the Future Part III. It is the first change to the Universal opening logo in 27 years.
  • June 1 – CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall.
  • June 15 – Following a massive media and marketing blitz, Dick Tracy is released. Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg expressed disappointment in a studio memo that noted that the film had cost about $100 million in total to produce, market and promote and with its disappointing performance claimed "We made demands on our time, talent and treasury that, upon reflection, may not have been worth it".
  • June 22 – The use of real-time computer graphics or "digital puppetry" to create a character in a motion picture is performed, in RoboCop 2.
  • July 4 – The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2.
  • July 13 - Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, is released and grosses $506 million, making it the third highest-grossing movie at the time.
  • November 9 – Kevin Costner's directorial debut, Dances with Wolves, is released. It later earns twelve Academy Award nominations and wins seven, including Best Picture and Best Director for Costner.
  • November 16
    • Home Alone is released. It spends twelve consecutive weeks at number one on the United States box office, becoming both the highest-grossing film of the year and the highest-grossing comedy of all-time.
    • The Rescuers Down Under is considered as the first fully digital film ever made.
  • December 24 – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman marry.
  • Buchwald v. Paramount decided, a leading case on the financial rewards due to writers of film treatments.

Awards

Category/Organization48th Golden Globe Awards
January 19, 199144th BAFTA Awards
March 17, 199163rd Academy Awards
March 25, 1991DramaMusical or Comedy
Best FilmDances with WolvesGreen CardGoodfellasDances with Wolves
Best DirectorKevin Costner
Dances with WolvesMartin Scorsese
GoodfellasKevin Costner
Dances with Wolves
Best ActorJeremy Irons
Reversal of FortuneGérard Depardieu
Green CardPhilippe Noiret
Cinema ParadisoJeremy Irons
Reversal of Fortune
Best ActressKathy Bates
MiseryJulia Roberts
Pretty WomanJessica Tandy
Driving Miss DaisyKathy Bates
Misery
Best Supporting ActorBruce Davison
Longtime CompanionSalvatore Cascio
Cinema ParadisoJoe Pesci
Goodfellas
Best Supporting ActressWhoopi Goldberg
Ghost
Best Screenplay, AdaptedMichael Blake
Dances with WolvesMartin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi
GoodfellasMichael Blake
Dances with Wolves
Best Screenplay, OriginalGiuseppe Tornatore
Cinema ParadisoBruce Joel Rubin
Ghost
Best Original ScoreThe Sheltering Sky
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Richard HorowitzCinema Paradiso
Ennio Morricone and Andrea MorriconeDances with Wolves
John Barry
Best Original Song"Blaze of Glory"
Young Guns IIN/A"Sooner or Later"
Dick Tracy
Best Foreign Language FilmCyrano de BergeracJourney of Hope

1990 films

By country/region

  • List of American films of 1990
  • List of Argentine films of 1990
  • List of Australian films of 1990
  • List of Bangladeshi films of 1990
  • List of British films of 1990
  • List of Canadian films of 1990
  • List of French films of 1990
  • List of Hong Kong films of 1990
  • List of Indian films of 1990
    • List of Hindi films of 1990
    • List of Kannada films of 1990
    • List of Malayalam films of 1990
    • List of Marathi films of 1990
    • List of Tamil films of 1990
    • List of Telugu films of 1990
  • List of Japanese films of 1990
  • List of Mexican films of 1990
  • List of Pakistani films of 1990
  • List of Soviet films of 1990
  • List of South Korean films of 1990
  • List of Spanish films of 1990

By genre/medium

  • List of action films of 1990
  • List of animated feature films of 1990
  • List of avant-garde films of 1990
  • List of crime films of 1990
  • List of comedy films of 1990
  • List of drama films of 1990
  • List of horror films of 1990
  • List of science fiction films of 1990
  • List of thriller films of 1990
  • List of western films of 1990

Births

  • January 1 - Tom Ackerley, British producer and former assistant director
  • January 7 – Liam Aiken, American actor
  • January 13 – Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor
  • January 14 - Grant Gustin, American actor and singer
  • January 15
    • Sidney Franklin, American actor
    • Chris Warren, American actor
  • January 18 - Zeeko Zaki, Egyptian-born American actor
  • January 19 - Shaunette Renée Wilson, Guyanese-born American actress
  • January 21
    • Kelly Rohrbach, American actress
    • Jacob Smith, American actor
  • January 22 - Phil Wang, British-Malaysian stand-up comedian, writer and actor
  • January 23 - Joel Basman, Swiss actor
  • January 25 - Dustin Ingram, American actor and musician
  • January 26 – Christopher Massey, American actor, comedian and rapper
  • January 29 – François Civil, French actor
  • January 30
    • Eiza González, Mexican actress and singer
    • Jake Thomas, American actor and voice actor
  • January 31 - Siobhán Cullen, Irish actress
  • February 1 - Toby Onwumere, Nigerian-American actor
  • February 2 - Julia Fox, Italian-American actress
  • February 4 - Will Denton, American actor
  • February 5
    • Charlbi Dean, South African actress and model (died 2022)
    • Anthony Ingruber, Dutch-Australian actor and impressionist
  • February 8
    • Christian Madsen, American actor
    • Ben Schnetzer, American actor
  • February 9 - Tyson Houseman, Canadian actor
  • February 10 - Trevante Rhodes, American actor
  • February 11 - Q'orianka Kilcher, American actress
  • February 15
    • Isabella Giovinazzo, Australian actress
    • Callum Turner, British actor and model
  • February 16 - The Weeknd, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • February 20 - Sean Sagar, British actor
  • February 21 – Flavio Aquilone, Italian voice actor
  • February 28 - Georgina Leonidas, British actress
  • March 1 – Harry Eden, British actor
  • March 2 - Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
  • March 11 - Reiley McClendon, American actor
  • March 12 – Jörgen Liik, Estonian actor
  • March 13 - Sasha Clements, Canadian actress
  • March 20 - Stacy Martin, French actress
  • March 24 – Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress
  • March 25 - Kiowa Gordon, American actor of Hualapai descent
  • March 26 - Choi Woo-shik, Korean-Canadian actor
  • March 28 – Laura Harrier, American actress
  • March 29 - Josh Blaylock, American actor
  • March 30 - Chelsea Harris, American actress
  • April 5 - Haruma Miura, Japanese actor (died 2020)
  • April 9 – Kristen Stewart, American actress
  • April 10 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor and model
  • April 12
    • Jamie Muscato, English actor and singer
    • Eline Powell, Belgian actress
  • April 15 – Emma Watson, English actress
  • April 16 – Lorraine Nicholson, American actress
  • April 17 – Gia Mantegna, American actress
  • April 18 - Britt Robertson, American actress
  • April 23 – Dev Patel, British actor
  • April 25 - Meghann Fahy, American actress
  • May 1 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress and singer
  • May 2 - Kay Panabaker, American retired actress
  • May 3 - Harvey Guillén, American actor
  • May 6 - Moses Storm, American writer, actor and comedian
  • May 14
    • Rea Lest-Liik, Estonia actress
    • Sasha Spielberg, American actress, daughter of producer/director Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw
  • May 15 - Sophie Cookson, English actress
  • May 16
    • Deniz Akdeniz, Australian actor
    • Thomas Brodie-Sangster, British actor
    • Marc John Jefferies, American actor
  • May 17
    • Ross Butler, American actor
    • Leven Rambin, American actress
  • May 18 - Luke Kleintank, American actor
  • May 20 - Josh O'Connor, British actor
  • May 24 - Félix Moati, French actor, director and screenwriter
  • May 26 - Madeleine Mantock, British actress
  • May 27 - Chris Colfer, American actor and singer
  • May 30
    • Sai Bennett, English actress
    • Im Yoon-ah, South Korean actress
    • Mason Lee, Taiwanese-American actor
  • May 31 - Phillipa Soo, American actress and singer
  • June 2
    • Brittany Curran, American actress
    • Jack Lowden, Scottish actor
  • June 13 - Aaron Taylor-Johnson, British actor
  • June 15 - Denzel Whitaker, American actor
  • June 17 - Monica Barbaro, American actress
  • June 18 - Jeremy Irvine, English actor
  • June 20 - Jacob Wysocki, American actor and comedian
  • June 26 - Brandon Sklenar, American actor
  • July 2 – Margot Robbie, Australian actress
  • July 4
    • Melissa Barrera, Mexican actress and singer
    • David Kross, German actor
  • July 6 – Jeremy Suarez, American actor
  • July 11 - Connor Paolo, American actor
  • July 12 – Rachel Brosnahan, American-British actress
  • July 13 - Nomzamo Mbatha, South African actress and television personality
  • July 15
    • Olly Alexander, British musician, actor and screenwriter
    • Alexander Calvert, Canadian actor
  • July 16
    • Eddie Hassell, American actor (died 2020)
    • James Maslow, American actor
  • July 19 - Steven Anthony Lawrence, American actor
  • July 24 – Daveigh Chase, American actress
  • July 27 – Indiana Evans, Australian actress and singer-songwriter
  • July 29 – Matt Prokop, American actor
  • July 30 - Eliot Sumner, English singer-songwriter and actor
  • July 31 - Ruby Modine, American actress, model and singer
  • August 1 - Jack O'Connell, English actor
  • August 4 - Chet Hanks, American actor and musician
  • August 9
    • Bill Skarsgård, Swedish actor
    • Emily Tennant, Canadian actress
  • August 10 – Lucas Till, American actor
  • August 15 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
  • August 17 – Rachel Hurd-Wood, British actress
  • August 20 - Win Morisaki, Burmese singer and actor
  • August 23 – Wesley Singerman, American record producer, songwriter and guitarist, and voice actor
  • August 24 – Elizabeth Debicki, Australian actress
  • August 29
    • Nicole Gale Anderson, American actress
    • Erika Harlacher, American voice actress
  • September 1 - Aisling Loftus, English actress
  • September 3 - Bianca Bin, Brazilian actress
  • September 9
    • Sarah Baker, American actress and comedian
    • Klaudia Tiitsmaa, Estonian actress
  • September 11 - Georgina Terry, British actress
  • September 15 – Matt Shively, American actor
  • September 20 – Saara Pius, Estonian actress
  • September 21
    • Christian Serratos, American actress
    • Allison Scagliotti, American actress and director
  • September 27 - Lola Kirke, American actress and singer
  • September 28 - Kirsten Prout, Canadian actress
  • September 30 - Caren Pistorius, New Zealand actress
  • October 2 - Samantha Barks, Manx actress and singer
  • October 5
    • Wesley Morgan, Canadian actor and model
    • Taylour Paige, American actress and dancer
  • October 6 - Scarlett Byrne, English actress and model
  • October 8 - Tom Rhys Harries, Welsh actor
  • October 13
    • Florian Munteanu, German-Romanian actor and model
    • Himesh Patel, British actor
  • October 18 - Carly Schroeder, American actress
  • October 22 – Jonathan Lipnicki, American actor
  • October 31 - Patti Harrison, Vietnamese-American comedian and actress
  • November 2 – Kendall Schmidt, American actor
  • November 4 – Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Canadian actor
  • November 6 - Bowen Yang, Australian-born American comedian, writer and actor
  • November 9 – Chris Di Staulo, Canadian filmmaker (died 2025)
  • November 14 - Jessica Jacobs, Australian actress and singer (died 2008)
  • November 16 - Milo Gibson, American actor
  • November 18 - Matt Milne, English actor and director
  • November 24 - Sarah Hyland, American actress
  • November 25 - Stephanie Hsu, American actress
  • November 26 - Rita Ora, British actress, singer and songwriter
  • November 28 - Carla Diaz, Brazilian actress
  • November 29 - Diego Boneta, Mexican actor, producer and singer
  • December 10 - Teyana Taylor, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • December 20
    • JoJo, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • Bugzy Malone, British rapper and actor
  • December 23
    • Moses J. Moseley, American actor, writer and model (died 2022)
    • Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, American actress and singer

Deaths

MonthDateNameAgeCountryProfessionNotable films
January2Alan Hale Jr.68USActor
5Arthur Kennedy75USActor
6Ian Charleson40UKActor
6Peter Cookson76USActor
8Terry-Thomas78UKActor
10Lyle R. Wheeler84USArt Director
14John Witty74UKActor
15Gordon Jackson66UKActor
20John Maxim64UKActor
20Barbara Stanwyck82USActress
25Ava Gardner67USActress
26Dodo Abashidze66GeorgiaDirector
27Helen Jerome Eddy92USActress
February2Hans Schumm93GermanyActor
6John Merivale72CanadaActor
6Jimmy Van Heusen77USSongwriter
8Frank Ross85USProducer
13Ken Lynch79USActor
14Jean Wallace66USActress
15Henry Brandon77GermanyActor
15Michel Drach59FranceDirector, Screenwriter, Producer
16Joshua Shelley70USActor
17Allen Rivkin86USScreenwriter
19Gabriel Katzka59USProducer
19Michael Powell84UKDirector
28Fabia Drake86UKActress
March5Gary Merrill74USActor
17Capucine62SwitzerlandActress
18Robin Harris36USActor, Comedian
20Maurice Cloche82FranceDirector
28Helene Reynolds75USActress
April2Aldo Fabrizi84ItalyActor
3Clair Huffaker63USScreenwriter
8Ernest Steward79UKCinematographer
11Vanda Godsell67UKActress
15Greta Garbo84SwedenActress
17Joseph McMillan Johnson77USArt Director, Production Designer, Visual Effects Artist
18Robert D. Webb87USDirector
20Alex McCrindle78UKActor
22Albert Salmi62USActor
23Paulette Goddard79USActress
25Dexter Gordon67USMusician, Actor
27Bella Spewack91USScreenwriter
May1Sunset Carson69USActor
2David Rappaport38USActor
6Charles Farrell89USActor
10Susan Oliver58USActress
12Anthony Masters70UKProduction Designer
12Nate Monaster78USScreenwriter
14Franklyn Seales37West IndiesActor
16Sammy Davis Jr.64USActor, Singer
16Jim Henson53USPuppeteer, Director, Screenwriter, Producer
18Jill Ireland54UKActress
22Max Wall82UKActor
25Vic Tayback60USActor
June1Eric Barker78UKActor
2Rex Harrison82UKActor
3Tom Brown70USActor
4Jack Gilford81USActor
6Marcel Grignon75FranceCinematographer
7Barbara Baxley67USActress
15Leonard Sachs80UKActor
20Ina Balin52USActress
23Frank Gatliff62UKActor
25Sydney Boehm82USScreenwriter
July8Howard Duff76USActor
13Lois Moran81USActress
14Philip Leacock74UKDirector
15Margaret Lockwood73UKActress
15Bud Thackery87USCinematographer
19Eddie Quillan83USActor
20Sergei Parajanov66GeorgiaDirector
21Stanley Shapiro65USScreenwriter
23Georges Flamant86FranceActor
27Elizabeth Allan80UKActress
27Ernest Archer80UKArt Director
28Jill Esmond82UKActress
August2Edwin Richfield68UKActor, Screenwriter
3Betty Amann85GermanyActress
12Dorothy Mackaill87USActress
12Sara Seegar76USActress
17Pearl Bailey72USActress, Singer
23Dorothea Kent74USActress
27Raymond St. Jacques60USActor
28Edmund H. North79USScreenwriter
September4Irene Dunne91USActress
5Jack Hildyard82UKCinematographer
19Werner Janssen91USComposer
19Hermes Pan80USChoreographer
20Jackie Moran67USActor
October4Jill Bennett58UKActress
4Roy Charman60UKSound Engineer
14Leonard Bernstein72USComposer
15Delphine Seyrig58FranceActress, Director
20Joel McCrea84USActor
27Jacques Demy59FranceDirector, Screenwriter, Composer
27Ugo Tognazzi68ItalyActor
November2William Travilla70USCostume Designer
3Valerie French62UKActress
3Mary Martin76USActress, Singer
3Walter H. Tyler81USArt Director
4Carol Sobieski51USScreenwriter
10Maura McGiveney51USActress
11Alexis Minotis90GreeceActor
12Eve Arden82USActress
13Don Chaffey73New ZealandDirector
13Maurice Richlin70USScreenwriter
23Roald Dahl74UKScreenwriter
27David White74USActor
December1Sergio Corbucci63ItalyDirector, Screenwriter
1Carla Lehmann73CanadaActress
2Robert Cummings80USActor
4Edward Binns79USActor
7Joan Bennett80USActress
8Martin Ritt76USDirector, Actor, Producer
9Mike Mazurki82USActor
18Anne Revere87USActress
18Connie Russell67USSinger, Actress
26Gene Callahan67USProduction Designer
28Warren Skaaren44USScreenwriter

Film debuts

  • Tadanobu Asano – Bataashi Kingyo
  • Hank Azaria – Pretty Woman
  • Patricia Belcher – Flatliners
  • Abraham Benrubi – Diving In
  • Julie Benz – Two Evil Eyes
  • Brenda Blethyn – The Witches
  • Andrew Bryniarski – Dragonfight
  • Mark Camacho – Whispers
  • Bill Camp – Reversal of Fortune
  • Robert Carlyle – Silent Scream
  • Chiara Caselli – The Secret
  • Kyle Chandler – The Color of Evening
  • Nick Chinlund – The Ambulance
  • Scott Cohen – Jacob's Ladder
  • Russell Crowe – Blood Oath
  • James Badge Dale – Lord of the Flies
  • Hope Davis – Flatliners
  • Andy Dick – The Grifters
  • Vin Diesel – Awakenings
  • Ann Dowd – Green Card
  • Denise Dowse – Coldfire
  • Chris Ellis – Days of Thunder
  • Kerry Fox – An Angel at My Table
  • Brad Garrett – Jetsons: The Movie
  • Balthazar Getty – Lord of the Flies
  • Brendan Gleeson – The Field
  • John Hannah – Harbour Beat
  • Damon Herriman – The Big Steal
  • Djimon Hounsou – Without You I'm Nothing
  • Anthony Johnson – House Party
  • Ashley Johnson – Lionheart
  • Jacek Koman – Hunting
  • Valérie Lemercier – May Fools
  • Nia Long – Buried Alive
  • George Lopez – Ski Patrol
  • Aasif Mandvi – No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers
  • Margo Martindale – Days of Thunder
  • Debi Mazar – Goodfellas
  • John McConnell – Miller's Crossing
  • Neal McDonough – Darkman
  • Rose McGowan – Class of 1999
  • Don McManus – The Bonfire of the Vanities
  • Rachel Miner – Alice
  • Kristin Minter – Home Alone
  • Julianne Moore – Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
  • Peter Mullan – The Big Man
  • Lochlyn Munro – Sylvan Lake Summer
  • Guy Pearce – Heaven Tonight
  • Wayne Péré – An American Summer
  • Luke Perry – Terminal Bliss
  • Christina Ricci – Mermaids
  • Rob Schneider – Martians Go Home
  • Nick Searcy – Days of Thunder
  • June Squibb – Alice
  • Joe Viterelli – State of Grace
  • Isiah Whitlock Jr. – Gremlins 2: The New Batch
  • Jeffrey Wright – Presumed Innocent
  • Catherine Zeta-Jones – Les 1001 Nuits

References

References

  1. "1990 Worldwide Box Office". [[IMDb]].
  2. "Sidney Franklin - In Biographical Summaries of Notable People".
  3. Mauduech, Bénédicte. (18 February 2019). "François Civil, jeunesse se place".
  4. "Emma Watson {{!}} Biography, Movie, Harry Potter, & Facts {{!}} Britannica".
  5. "Margot Robbie {{!}} Biography, Movies, Wolf of Wall Street, & Facts {{!}} Britannica".
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