The following is an overview of events in 1983 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1983 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1983 Rank Title Distributor Box-office gross 1 Return of the Jedi 20th Century Fox $252,583,617 2 Terms of Endearment Paramount $108,423,489 3Flashdance $92,921,203 4Trading Places $90,404,800 5WarGames United Artists $79,567,667 6 Octopussy $67,893,619 7 Sudden Impact Warner Bros. $67,642,693 8 Staying Alive Paramount $64,892,670 9 Mr. Mom 20th Century Fox $64,783,827 10 Risky Business Warner Bros. $63,541,777
Events February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York City. May 25 - Return of the Jedi, the final installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the highest-grossing film of the year. Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman makes her film debut in the Australian movie Bush Christmas. Brainstorm, the final film of screen star Natalie Wood, is released, 2 years after her death. October - Frank Price resigns as president of Columbia Pictures and is replaced by Guy McElwaine. November 18 - A Christmas Story released to theaters to moderate success, earning about $2 million in its first weekend. By Christmas 1983, the film is no longer playing at most venues but remains in about a hundred theatres until January 1984. Gross earnings were just over $19.2 million. Over the years, the film's critical reputation would grow considerably and it is now regarded by some as one of the best films of 1983. By the late 1980s, it was already considered a classic. December 9 - Terms of Endearment is released to theaters. It later went on to win five awards at the 56th Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Awards Category/Organization 41st Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 28, 1984 37th BAFTA AwardsMarch 25, 1984 56th Academy AwardsApril 9, 1984 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film Terms of Endearment Yentl Educating Rita Terms of Endearment Best Director Barbra StreisandYentl Bill ForsythLocal Hero James L. BrooksTerms of Endearment Best Actor Tom CourtenayThe DresserRobert DuvallTender Mercies Michael CaineEducating Rita Michael CaineEducating RitaDustin HoffmanTootsie Robert DuvallTender Mercies Best Actress Shirley MacLaineTerms of Endearment Julie WaltersEducating Rita Shirley MacLaineTerms of Endearment Best Supporting Actor Jack NicholsonTerms of Endearment Denholm ElliottTrading Places Jack NicholsonTerms of Endearment Best Supporting Actress CherSilkwood Jamie Lee CurtisTrading Places Linda HuntThe Year of Living Dangerously Best Screenplay, Adapted James L. BrooksTerms of Endearment Ruth Prawer JhabvalaHeat and Dust James L. BrooksTerms of Endearment Best Screenplay, Original Paul D. ZimmermanThe King of Comedy Horton FooteTender Mercies Best Original Score Giorgio MoroderFlashdance Ryuichi SakamotoMerry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Bill ContiThe Right Stuff (film)Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn BergmanYentl Best Original Song "Flashdance... What a Feeling"Flashdance "Up Where We Belong"An Officer and a Gentleman "Flashdance... What a Feeling"Flashdance Best Foreign Language Film Fanny and Alexander Danton Fanny and Alexander
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考, ), directed by Shohei Imamura, Japan
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): Prénom Carmen (First Name: Carmen), directed by Jean-Luc Godard,
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): Ascendancy, directed by Edward Bennett, United Kingdom The Beehive (La Colmena), directed by Mario Camus, Spain
People's Choice Award (Toronto International Film Festival): The Big Chill, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, United States
1983 films By country/region List of American films of 1983 List of Argentine films of 1983 List of Australian films of 1983 List of Bangladeshi films of 1983 List of British films of 1983 List of Canadian films of 1983 List of French films of 1983 List of Hong Kong films of 1983 List of Indian films of 1983 List of Hindi films of 1983 List of Kannada films of 1983 List of Malayalam films of 1983 List of Marathi films of 1983 List of Tamil films of 1983 List of Telugu films of 1983 List of Japanese films of 1983 List of Mexican films of 1983 List of Pakistani films of 1983 List of South Korean films of 1983 List of Soviet films of 1983 List of Spanish films of 1983
By genre/medium List of action films of 1983 List of animated feature films of 1983 List of avant-garde films of 1983 List of comedy films of 1983 List of drama films of 1983 List of horror films of 1983 List of science fiction films of 1983 List of thriller films of 1983 List of western films of 1983
Births January 2 Kate Bosworth, American actress Anthony Carrigan, American actor Kristen Hager, Canadian actress January 3 - Katie McGrath, Irish actress January 9 - Kerry Condon, Irish actress January 13 - Julian Morris, British actor January 16 - Marwan Kenzari, Dutch actor January 17 - Ryan Gage, English actor January 20 - Rukiya Bernard, Canadian actress and producer January 21 - Svetlana Khodchenkova, Russian actress January 24 Frankie Grande, American actor, singer, producer, television host and YouTube personality Lee Toland Krieger, American director and screenwriter January 26 - Stephen Lea Sheppard, Canadian writer and former actor January 28 - Ángel Manuel Soto, Puerto Rican film director, producer, and screenwriter February 4 – Hannibal Buress, American comedian, actor, writer and producer February 7 - Elina Pähklimägi, Estonian actress February 9 - Matty Cardarople, American actor and comedian February 10 - Julius Onah, Nigerian-American filmmaker February 12 - Iko Uwais, Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer and martial artist February 16 Agyness Deyn, English actress and model John Magaro, American actor February 18 Evan Jonigkeit, American actor Wrenn Schmidt, American actress February 20 Jessie Mueller, American actor and singer Bronson Webb, British actor February 21 Eoin Macken, Irish actor Mélanie Laurent, French actress February 22 - Taraka Ratna, Indian actor (died 2023) February 23 Aziz Ansari, American actor, writer, producer, director and comedian Emily Blunt, English actress February 27 - Kate Mara, American actress March 1 - Lupita Nyong'o, Kenyan-Mexican actress and director March 4 - Julieta Zylberberg, Argentine actress March 7 Greta Lee, American actress Hettienne Park, American actress and writer March 9 Bobby Campo, American actor Victor Gojcaj, Albanian-American actor March 10 Rafe Spall, English actor Carrie Underwood, American singer-songwriter and actress March 11 - Lucy DeVito, American actress March 12 - Ron Funches, African-American comedian, writer, actor and voice actor March 14 Phillip Chorba, American actor Johnny Flynn, British actor, musician and singer-songwriter March 15 - Sean Biggerstaff, Scottish actor March 18 - Ivan Kolesnikov, Russian actor March 20 - Michael Cassidy, American actor March 21 - Justin McDonald, British actor March 29 - Ed Skrein, English actor, director, screenwriter and rapper March 31 - Ashleigh Ball, Canadian singer, musician and voice actress April 1 Ellen Hollman, American actress Matt Lanter, American actor April 4 Eric André, American comedian, actor, writer, producer and musician Amanda Righetti, American actress April 6 - Diora Baird, American actress and former model April 7 - Kyle Labine, Canadian actor April 8 Serena Reeder, American actress and screenwriter Levy Tran, Vietnamese-American actress April 10 - Jamie Chung, American actress April 15 - Alice Braga, Brazilian actress and producer April 18 - Reeve Carney, American actor and musician April 19 - Victoria Yeates, English actress April 21 - Gugu Mbatha-Raw, British actress April 22 - Francis Capra, American actor April 27 - Ari Graynor, American actress April 30 - Will Jordan, Scottish film critic and YouTuber May 3 - Ari Magder, Canadian actor (died 2012) May 4 Brad Bufanda, American actor (died 2017) Jesse Moss, Canadian actor May 5 - Henry Cavill, British actor May 6 Adrianne Palicki, American actress Gabourey Sidibe, American actress May 8 Elyes Gabel, English actor Vicky McClure, English actress May 11 - Holly Valance, Australian actress and singer May 12 - Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor, writer, and director May 14 - Amber Tamblyn, American actress, writer, and director May 15 - Sid Makkar, Indian actor May 17 - Ginger Gonzaga, American comedian and actress May 18 - Nakamura Shichinosuke II, Japanese actor May 22 Cassie Powney, English actress Connie Powney, English actress May 25 - Chelse Swain, American actress May 28 - Megalyn Echikunwoke, American actress June 1 - Sylvia Hoeks, Dutch actress June 2 - Yuliya Snigir, Russian actress and model June 3 - Yasmin Lee, Cambodian-American actress June 10 - Leelee Sobieski, American retired actress June 14 - Louis Garrel, French actor and filmmaker June 16 - Olivia Hack, American actress June 17 - Kazunari Ninomiya, Japanese actor and singer-songwriter June 19 - Aidan Turner, Irish actor June 23 - Miles Fisher, American actor, comedian and musician June 24 - John Lloyd Cruz, Filipino actor June 28 - Scott Haze, American actor and filmmaker June 30 - Angela Sarafyan, Armenian-American actress July 1 Tanya Chisholm, American actress Kyle Soller, English actor July 6 Christine Firkins, Canadian former actress Gregory Smith, Canadian actor, writer and director July 7 - Robert Eggers, American filmmaker July 8 - DeVaughn Nixon, American actor July 10 - Golshifteh Farahani, Iranian actress July 16 - Katrina Kaif British actress July 18 - Cara Gee, Canadian actress July 19 - Trai Byers, American actor July 20 - Martin McCann, Irish actor July 23 - Olamide Faison, American actor and singer July 28 - Dhanush, Indian actor August 1 - Inga Salurand, Estonian actress August 3 - Mamie Gummer, American actress August 4 Nathaniel Buzolic, Australian actor Greta Gerwig, American director, writer, and actress Adhir Kalyan, South African actor August 6 - Landon Pigg, American singer-songwriter and actor August 7 Maggie Castle, Canadian actress Brit Marling, American actress and screenwriter August 8 Guy Burnet, British actor Trina Nishimura, American voice actress August 9 Ashley Johnson, American actress Dan Levy, Canadian actor and filmmaker August 10 - Bonnie Piesse, Australian actress and singer-songwriter August 11 Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor Tatá Werneck, Brazilian comedian, television presenter and actress August 14 Mila Kunis, American actress Lamorne Morris, American actor, comedian and television personality August 16 - Dominik García-Lorido, American actress August 19 - Mike Moh, American actor and martial artist August 20 - Andrew Garfield, English actor August 22 - Elena Goode, American actress August 23 - Annie Ilonzeh, American actress August 24 - Antonio Campos, American film director August 29 - Jennifer Landon, American actress August 31 - Devan Chandler Long, American actor September 9 - Zoe Kazan, American actress and screenwriter September 20 - Olivia Grant, English actress September 21 Scott Evans, American actor Maggie Grace, American actress Joseph Mazzello, American actor September 25 - Donald Glover, American actor, singer, comedian, writer, producer and director September 26 - Manny Montana, American actor September 28 - Sarah Wright, American actress October 3 - Tessa Thompson, American actress October 4 - Vicky Krieps, Luxembourgish-German actress October 5 Jesse Eisenberg, American actor, director, producer, and writer Shelby Rabara, Filipino-American actress and dancer Noot Seear, Canadian actress Noah Segan, American actor October 9 - Spencer Grammer, American actress October 10 - Layke Anderson, British director and former actor