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:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1988 Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross 1 Rain Man MGM / UA $354,825,435 2Who Framed Roger Rabbit Buena Vista $329,803,958 3 Coming to AmericaParamount $288,752,301 4Crocodile Dundee II $239,606,210 5 Twins Universal $216,614,388 6 Rambo III Tri-Star $189,015,611 7 A Fish Called Wanda MGM $188,597,000 8 Cocktail Buena Vista $171,504,781 9 Big20th 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). 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/Organization 46th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 28, 1989 42nd BAFTA AwardsMarch 19, 1989 61st Academy AwardsMarch 29, 1989 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film Rain Man Working Girl The Last Emperor Rain Man Best Director Clint EastwoodBird Louis MalleAu revoir les enfants Barry LevinsonRain Man Best Actor Dustin HoffmanRain Man Tom HanksBig John CleeseA Fish Called Wanda Dustin HoffmanRain Man Best Actress Jodie FosterThe AccusedShirley MacLaineMadame SousatzkaSigourney WeaverGorillas in the Mist Melanie GriffithWorking Girl Maggie SmithThe Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Jodie FosterThe Accused Best Supporting Actor Martin LandauTucker: The Man and His Dream Michael PalinA Fish Called Wanda Kevin KlineA Fish Called Wanda Best Supporting Actress Sigourney WeaverWorking Girl Judi DenchA Handful of Dust Geena DavisThe Accidental Tourist Best Screenplay, Adapted Naomi Foner GyllenhaalRunning on Empty Jean-Claude Carrière and Philip KaufmanThe Unbearable Lightness of Being Christopher HamptonDangerous Liaisons Best Screenplay, Original Shawn Slovo A World Apart Ronald Bass and Barry MorrowRain Man Best Original Score Maurice JarreGorillas in the Mist John WilliamsEmpire of the Sun Dave GrusinThe 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
People's Choice Award (Toronto International Film Festival): Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios), directed by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
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 10 - Daniel Kwan, American filmmaker (Daniels) 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 11 - Claire Holt, Australian-American actress June 12 - Cody Horn, American actress June 13 – Cody Walker, American actor June 14 Victoire Du Bois, French actress Kevin McHale, American actor and singer 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 4 - Luke Thompson, English actor July 6 - Cody Fern, Australian director 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 Chloe Fineman, American actress and comedian Julianne Hough, American dancer, actress, singer and songwriter July 21 - Jing Tian, Chinese actress 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 23 - Kim Matula, 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 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 Cariba Heine, Australian actress 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