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:
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.
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.
Awards
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 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
February 20 – Rihanna, Barbadian singer, songwriter and actress
February 29
Reilly Dolman, Canadian actor
Langston Fishburne, American actor
March 4
Josh Bowman, English actor
Cody Longo, American actor (died 2023)
March 14 – Stephen Curry, American basketball player
March 21 - 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
March 27 – Holliday Grainger, English actress
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 – 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 – Allison Williams, American actress
April 18 – Vanessa Kirby, English actress
April 21 - Robbie Amell, Canadian actor and producer
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 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
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 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
June 23
Pippa Bennett-Warner, British actress
Isabella Leong, Hong Kong singer, actress and model
June 25 - Daniel Webber, Australian actor
July 2 - Edward Randell, English musician and actor
July 7 - Jack Whitehall, English actor, comedian, presenter and writer
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 - 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 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 12
Matt Martians, American record producer
Clara Paget, British actress
September 17 - Ritu Arya, English actress
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 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
November 26 - Tamsin Egerton, English actress
November 30 - Rebecca Rittenhouse, American actress
December 1
Nadia Hilker, German actress and model
Im Si-wan, Korean actor and singer
Zoe 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
unknow - Celine Song,Korean-Canadian director, playwright, and screenwriter
Deaths
Film debuts
References
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