1988 in film

Overview of the events of 1988 in film
Overview of the events of 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:[1]

Highest-grossing films of 1988
Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross
1 Rain Man MGM $354,825,435
2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Buena Vista $329,803,958
3 Coming to America Paramount $288,752,301
4 Crocodile Dundee II $239,606,210
5 Twins Universal $216,614,388
6 Rambo III TriStar / Carolco $189,015,611
7 A Fish Called Wanda MGM $188,597,000[2][3][4]
8 Cocktail Buena Vista $171,504,781
9 Big 20th Century Fox $151,668,774
10 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).
  • 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.[5]
  • 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 $75 million.[6]
  • 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.

Awards

Category/Organization 46th Golden Globe Awards
January 28, 1989
42nd BAFTA Awards
March 19, 1989
61st Academy Awards
March 29, 1989
Drama Musical or Comedy
Best Film Rain Man Working Girl The Last Emperor Rain Man
Best Director Clint Eastwood
Bird
Louis Malle
Au revoir les enfants
Barry Levinson
Rain Man
Best Actor Dustin Hoffman
Rain Man
Tom Hanks
Big
John Cleese
A Fish Called Wanda
Dustin Hoffman
Rain Man
Best Actress Jodie Foster
The Accused
Shirley MacLaine
Madame Sousatzka
Sigourney Weaver
Gorillas in the Mist
Melanie Griffith
Working Girl
Maggie Smith
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Jodie Foster
The Accused
Best Supporting Actor Martin Landau
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Michael Palin
A Fish Called Wanda
Kevin Kline
A Fish Called Wanda
Best Supporting Actress Sigourney Weaver
Working Girl
Judi Dench
A Handful of Dust
Geena Davis
The Accidental Tourist
Best Screenplay, Adapted Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal
Running on Empty
Jean-Claude Carriere and Philip Kaufman
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Christopher Hampton
Dangerous Liaisons
Best Screenplay, Original A World Apart
Shawn Slovo
Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow
Rain Man
Best Original Score Maurice Jarre
Gorillas in the Mist
John Williams
Empire of the Sun
Dave Grusin
The Milagro Beanfield War
Best Original Song "Two Hearts"
Buster
"Let the River Run"
Working Girl
N/A "Let the River Run"
Working Girl
Best Foreign Language Film Pelle the Conqueror Babette's Feast Pelle 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

By genre/medium

Births

Deaths

Month Date Name Age Country Profession Notable films
January 1 Marcel Hillaire 79 Germany Actor
  • Sabrina
  • Murderers' Row
7 Michel Auclair 65 France Actor
  • The Day of the Jackal
  • Beauty and the Beast
7 Trevor Howard 74 UK Actor
8 Boyd Morgan 72 US Stuntman, Actor
10 Hugh A. Robertson 55 US Film Editor, Director
16 Ballard Berkeley 83 UK Actor
19 Bridget Boland 75 UK Screenwriter
19 Cary Odell 77 US Art Director
25 Colleen Moore 88 US Actress
  • The Power and the Glory
  • The Scarlet Letter
February 1 Marcel Bozzuffi 58 French Actor
  • The French Connection
  • Z
1 Heather O'Rourke 12 US Actress
  • Poltergeist
  • Poltergeist II: The Other Side
5 Emeric Pressburger 85 Hungary Screenwriter, Director
8 Allan Cuthbertson 67 Australia Actor
  • The Guns of Navarone
  • Performance
14 Frederick Loewe 86 Germany Composer
  • Gigi
  • The Little Prince
28 Asakazu Nakai 86 Japan Cinematographer
29 Sidney Harmon 80 US Producer, Screenwriter
  • Man Crazy
  • The Talk of the Town
March 1 Joe Besser 80 US Actor
3 Lois Wilson 93 US Actress
5 Alberto Olmedo[9] 54 Argentina Actor, Comedian
6 Jeanne Aubert 82 France Actress
  • La Possession
  • Mirages
7 Divine 42 US Actor
7 Robert Livingston 83 US Actor
12 DeWitt Bodeen 79 US Screenwriter
  • Cat People
  • I Remember Mama
12 Karen Steele 56 US Actress
13 Steno 71 Italy Director, Screenwriter
13 John Holmes 43 US Actor
13 Olive Carey 92 US Actress
  • The Searchers
  • The Alamo
27 Renato Salvatori 55 Italy Actor
31 Manuel Silos 82 Philippines Actor, Director
April 1 Jim Jordan 91 US Actor
5 Alf Kjellin 68 Sweden Actor, Director
6 John Clements 77 UK Actor
7 Albert S. Rogell 86 US Director
11 Jeff Donnell 66 US Actress
11 Jesse L. Lasky Jr. 77 US Screenwriter
  • The Ten Commandments
  • Samson and Delilah
15 Kenneth Williams 62 UK Actor
  • Carry On
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles
21 I. A. L. Diamond 67 Moldovia Screenwriter
22 Irene Rich 96 US Actress
28 Andrew Cruickshank 80 UK Actor
  • El Cid
  • The Cruel Sea
May 1 Paolo Stoppa 81 Italy Actor
4 Tom Overton 58 US Sound Engineer
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture
  • A Star Is Born
5 George Rose[10] 68 UK Actor
  • A Night to Remember
  • Hamlet
12 Paul Osborn 86 US Screenwriter
15 Andrew Duggan 64 US Actor
15 Greta Nissen 82 Norway Actress
18 Daws Butler 71 US Voice Actor
18 Anthony Forwood 72 UK Actor
18 Christopher Gore 43 US Screenwriter
  • Fame
21 Barbara Laage 67 France Actress
22 Tom Adair 74 US Lyricist
  • Julie
  • Sleeping Beauty
29 Vladimír Menšík 59 Czech Republic Actor
30 Ella Raines[11] 67 US Actress
June 2 Raj Kapoor[12] 63 India Actor, Director, Producer
16 Kim Milford 37 US Actor
18 Wilford Leach 58 US Director, Screenwriter
  • The Wedding Party
  • The Pirates of Penzance
19 Teru Shimada 82 Japan Actor
  • You Only Live Twice
  • Tokyo Joe
22 Dennis Day 77 US Singer, Actor
  • I'll Get By
  • Golden Girl
22 Stuart Randall 78 US Actor
July 1 Alice Nunn 60 US Actress
2 Aldo Tonti 78 Italy Cinematographer
7 Jimmy Edwards 68 UK Actor
  • The Bed-Sitting Room
  • The Plank
12 Joshua Logan 79 US Director, Screenwriter
  • Mister Roberts
  • Paint Your Wagon
22 Milton Krasner 84 US Cinematographer
22 Patrick Newell 56 UK Actor
25 Judith Barsi 10 US Actress
  • The Land Before Time
  • Jaws: The Revenge
25 Douglas Hickox 59 UK Director
27 Larry Clemmons 81 US Animator, Screenwriter
31 Trinidad Silva 38 US Actor
  • Colors
  • UHF
August 1 Florence Eldridge 86 US Actress
  • Inherit the Wind
  • Les Misérables
2 Robert Emmet Smith 73 US Art Director
5 Colin Higgins 47 France Director, Producer, Screenwriter
5 Ralph Meeker 65 US Actor
7 Wilfred Jackson 82 US Animator
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
  • Fantasia
8 Alan Napier 85 UK Actor
  • Joan of Arc
  • Batman
10 Adela Rogers St. Johns 94 US Screenwriter
11 Anne Ramsey 59 US Actress
17 Victoria Shaw 53 Australia Actress
19 Don Haggerty 74 US Actor
  • Cause for Alarm!
  • Footsteps in the Night
23 Jack Sher 75 US Screenwriter, Director
24 Leonard Frey 49 US Actor
26 Milton Sperling 76 US Screenwriter
  • Battle of the Bulge
  • The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell
27 Charles Farrell 88 Ireland Actor
September 1 Hugh Hunt 86 US Set Decorator
5 Gert Fröbe 75 Germany Actor
  • Goldfinger
  • The Longest Day
6 Harold Rosson 93 US Cinematographer
12 Stephen B. Grimes 61 UK Production Designer
14 Louis Quinn 73 US Actor
15 Samuel E. Beetley 74 US Film Editor
  • The Longest Day
  • Doctor Dolittle
20 Roy Kinnear 54 UK Actor
21 Henry Koster 83 Germany Director, Screenwriter
21 Christine Norden 63 UK Actress
30 Chick Chandler 83 US Actor
October 1 Lucien Ballard[13] 84 US Cinematographer
1 Pavle Vuisić 62 Yugoslavia Actor
4 Margaret Lacey 76 UK Actress
  • Diamonds Are Forever
  • The Ruling Class
6 Don Terry 86 US Actor
9 Edward Chodorov 84 US Screenwriter
  • Road House
  • Kind Lady
11 Morgan Farley 90 US Actor
11 Bonita Granville 65 US Actress
12 Ken Murray 85 US Actor, Producer
13 Melvin Frank 75 US Screenwriter, Director
14 Mary Morris 72 Fiji Actress
  • The Thief of Bagdad
  • Undercover
19 Lawrence W. Butler 80 US Special Effects Artist
  • Casablanca
  • The Caine Mutiny
24 Valerie Taylor 85 UK Actress
25 Eric Larson 83 US Animator
  • Alice in Wonderland
  • The Jungle Book
27 Charles Hawtrey 73 UK Actor
31 John Houseman 86 Romania Actor, Producer
  • The Paper Chase
  • Rollerball
November 1 George J. Folsey 90 US Cinematographer
2 Lukas Heller 58 Germany Screenwriter
3 Sidney Carroll 75 US Screenwriter
6 John Hubbard 74 US Actor
9 Billy Curtis 79 US Actor
15 Mona Washbourne 84 UK Actress
  • My Fair Lady
  • Casino Royale
27 Angela Aames 32 US Actress
  • Scarface
  • Bachelor Party
27 John Carradine 82 US Actor
  • Stagecoach
  • The Grapes of Wrath
December 7 Christopher Connelly 47 US Actor
7 Dorothy Jordan 82 US Actress
8 Anne Seymour 79 US Actress
15 Maria De Matteis 90 Italy Costume Designer
  • War and Peace
  • The Bible: In the Beginning...
10 Richard S. Castellano 55 US Actor
10 Dennis Arundell 90 UK Actor, Composer
17 Jerry Hopper 81 US Director
21 Bob Steele 81 US Actor
  • The Big Sleep
  • The Colorado Kid
22 Tucker Smith 52 US Actor, Dancer
  • West Side Story
  • The Producers
24 Noel Willman 70 Ireland Actor
  • Doctor Zhivago
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much
26 Julanne Johnston 88 US Actress
26 John Loder 90 UK Actor
27 Hal Ashby 59 US Director, Film Editor

Film debuts

References

  1. ^ "1988 Worldwide Box Office". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "A Fish Called Wanda (1988)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 7, 2020. A Fish Called Wanda domestic gross $62,493,712
  3. ^ Groves, Don (August 9, 1989). "UIP Up, Up and Away For Year; Rentals Take Off". Variety. p. 11. UIP Top 10 Grossers, 1988–89
    Rain Man $233 million
    Crocodile Dundee 2 $126 million
    Coming to America $122 million
    A Fish Called Wanda $115 million
    Willow $80 million
    Twins $75 million
    The Naked Gun $61 million
  4. ^ "UIP's $25M-Plus Club". Variety. September 11, 1995. p. 92. A Fish Called Wanda $126,103,000; The Naked Gun $73,689,000
  5. ^ "Roy Kinnear Is Dead At 54 After Falling From Horse in Film". The New York Times. 23 September 1988. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  6. ^ Griffin, Nancy (June 1988). "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". Premiere.
  7. ^ Mason, Aiden (2017-08-28). "Five Things You Didn't Know About Anna Diop". TVOvermind. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  8. ^ 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. p. 424. ISBN 978-1-64143-316-7.
  9. ^ David K. Frasier (2002). Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth-century Cases. McFarland. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-7864-1038-5.
  10. ^ Dennis Hevesi (13 May 1988). "Dominican Police Say 4 Men Killed George Rose". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  11. ^ Newsweek. Newsweek. 1988. p. 72.
  12. ^ Ritu Nanda; Rāja Kapūra (2002). Raj Kapoor Speaks. Penguin Books India. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-670-04952-3.
  13. ^ John A. Willis (1989). Screen World. Crown Publishers. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-517-57332-7.

External links

  • 1988 Domestic Grosses at Box Office Mojo
  • Top 1988 Movies at the Domestic Box Office at The Numbers
  • Top 1988 Movies at the International Box Office at The Numbers
  • Top 1988 Movies at the Worldwide Box Office at The Numbers
  • Top-US-Grossing Titles Released 1988-01-01 to 1988-12-31 at IMDb
  • Most Popular Feature Films Released 1988-01-01 to 1988-12-31 at IMDb
  • List of 1988 films at IMDb
  • List of 1988 deaths at IMDb
  • List of 1988 births at IMDb
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