The following is an overview of events in 1980 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 1980 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1980 Rank Title Distributor Box-office gross 1 The Empire Strikes Back 20th Century Fox $209,398,025 29 to 5 $103,290,500 3Stir Crazy Columbia $101,300,000 4Airplane! Paramount $83,453,539 5 Any Which Way You Can Warner Bros. $70,687,344 6 Private Benjamin $69,847,348 7 Coal Miner's Daughter Universal $67,182,787 8 Smokey and the Bandit II $66,132,626 9 The Blue Lagoon Columbia $58,853,106 10 The Blues Brothers Universal $57,229,890
Worldwide gross revenue The following table lists known worldwide gross revenue figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1980. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1980.
Title Gross Source Country The Empire Strikes Back $538,375,067 United States The Gods Must Be Crazy $200,000,000 South AfricaAirplane! $130,000,000 United States The Blues Brothers $115,229,890
Events April 29 – Sir Alfred Hitchcock, known as "The Master of Suspense", dies at his home in Bel Air, California, at the age of 80. May 21 – The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the highest-grossing film of the year (just as its predecessor, Star Wars, was three years prior). June 9 – Richard Pryor sets himself on fire while free-basing cocaine and drinking 151-proof rum. Pryor ran down his street in Northridge, California, until subdued by police. June 20 – The Blues Brothers is released, and in addition to becoming one of the top-grossing films of the year, it also became the first feature film to be based on characters created on Saturday Night Live. June 23 – Filming begins on George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's first Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark. August 13 – Pacific Data Images is founded by Carl Rosendahl. November 4 – Former Screen Actors Guild president and film actor Ronald Reagan wins the 1980 United States presidential election in a landslide victory. November 7- Legendary actor Steve McQueen dies at the age of 50 after surgery to remove tumours in his neck after previously been diagnosed with lung cancer. November 19 – Heaven's Gate becomes one of the biggest box office bombs of all-time and its colossal failure bankrupts United Artists. Allied Artists is sold to Lorimar Productions.
Context Industry professionals predicted comedy films and upbeat entertainment to dominate theaters in 1980. This was a response to poor morale in a nation suffering through economic recession, which generally increased theatrical visits as audiences sought escapism and ignored romantic films and depictions of blue-collar life. The financial success and low cost of production cost of comedies such as Blazing Saddles (1974) and Animal House (1978), had further driven demand for comedies; Airplane!, The Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, and The Jerk, were all scheduled for release that year. The average cost of making films had risen to $6million which had reduced the number of films being made for niche audiences. Some studios continued to release a wide variety of films, hoping that few significant successes would compensate for other failures.
A surge of interest in science-fiction following Star Wars release had led to many low-budget entries in the genre attempting to profit by association, and big budget entries such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Black Hole, both of which were released in late 1979, just months before The Empire Strikes Back.
Awards Category/Organization 38th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 31, 1981 34th BAFTA AwardsMarch 22, 1981 53rd Academy AwardsMarch 31, 1981 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film Ordinary People Coal Miner's Daughter The Elephant Man Ordinary People Best Director Robert RedfordOrdinary People Akira KurosawaKagemusha Robert RedfordOrdinary People Best Actor Robert De NiroRaging Bull Ray SharkeyThe Idolmaker John HurtThe Elephant Man Robert De NiroRaging Bull Best Actress Mary Tyler MooreOrdinary People Sissy SpacekCoal Miner's Daughter Judy DavisMy Brilliant Career Sissy SpacekCoal Miner's Daughter Best Supporting Actor Timothy HuttonOrdinary People N/A Timothy HuttonOrdinary People Best Supporting Actress Mary SteenburgenMelvin and Howard N/A Mary SteenburgenMelvin and Howard Best Screenplay, Adapted William Peter BlattyThe Ninth Configuration Jerzy KosinskiBeing There Alvin SargentOrdinary People Best Screenplay, Original Bo GoldmanMelvin and Howard Best Original Score Dominic FrontiereThe Stunt Man John WilliamsThe Empire Strikes Back Michael GoreFame Best Original Song "Fame"Fame N/A "Fame"Fame Best Foreign Language Film Tess N/A Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears Best Documentary N/A N/A N/A From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): All That Jazz, directed by Bob Fosse, United States Kagemusha, 影武者 (Shadow Warrior), directed by Akira Kurosawa, Japan
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): Atlantic City, directed by Louis Malle, US / Canada / France Gloria, directed by John Cassavetes, United States
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): Heartland, directed by Richard Pearce, United States Palermo or Wolfsburg (Palermo oder Wolfsburg), directed by Werner Schroeter, West Germany
People's Choice Award (Toronto International Film Festival): Bad Timing, directed by Nicolas Roeg, United Kingdom
Births January 2 - David Gyasi, British actor January 4 June Diane Raphael, American actress and comedian D'Arcy Carden, American actress and comedian Greg Cipes, voice actor January 7 Hele Kõrve, Estonian actress and singer Simon Woods, English actor and writer January 8 Sam Riley, English actor and singer January 10 Katie Dippold, American actress, writer and screenwriter Sarah Shahi, American actress and former model January 16 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American singer-songwriter and actor January 17 – Zooey Deschanel, American singer-songwriter and actress January 18 Estelle, British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress Jason Segel, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, author and producer January 19 – Luke Macfarlane, American actor January 21 Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer and voice actress Kim Sharma, Indian actress January 22 - Christopher Masterson, American actor January 29 Joe MacLeod, Canadian actor and television host Jason James Richter, American actor and musician January 30 – Wilmer Valderrama, American actor February 2 – Zhang Jingchu, Chinese actress February 3 - Ben Turner, British-Iranian actor February 6 - Ben Lawson, Australian actor February 8 William Jackson Harper, American actor Sinead Matthews, English actress February 9 - Margarita Levieva, Russian-American actress February 11 – Matthew Lawrence, American actor February 12 Christina Ricci, American actress Enver Gjokaj, American actor Sarah Lancaster, American actress February 14 – Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress and producer February 17 - Jason Ritter, American actor, voice actor and producer February 21 Justin Roiland, American voice actor, animator, writer, and producer Brendan Sexton III, American actor February 25 Chris Knowings, American actor Christy Knowings, American actress and comedian (died 2026) Rashaan Nall, American writer, director, screenwriter and actor February 26 Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Icelandic actor Georgia Taylor, English actor February 27 - Stephen Wight, English actor February 28 Denise Gough, Irish actress Charles Halford, American actor February 29 Steven Cree, Scottish actor Peter Scanavino, American actor March 2 - Rebel Wilson, Australian actress, comedian, writer and producer March 3 Meiling Melançon, American actress and screenwriter Katherine Waterston, American actress March 5 - Jessica Boehrs, German actress and singer March 7 Laura Prepon, American actress Mart Toome, Estonian actor March 9 – Matthew Gray Gubler, American actor March 13 - Nathan Phillips, Australian actor March 17 - Katie Morgan, American pornographic actress March 18 - Sophia Myles, English actress March 20 - Mikey Day, American actor and comedian March 23 - Itay Tiran, Israeli actor and director March 25 - Tinsel Korey, Canadian actress and singer-songwriter March 30 - Fiona Gubelmann, American actress March 31 Christine Barger, American actress Kate Micucci, American actress Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese singer and voice actress April 4 - Collette Wolfe, American actress April 8 Carrie Savage, American voice actress Katee Sackhoff, American actress April 10 Sean Avery, Canadian actor Charlie Hunnam, British actor and screenwriter April 11 - Julia Chantrey, Canadian actress April 13 Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress Kelli Giddish, American actress April 14 Tom Franco, American actor Claire Coffee, American actress April 15 - Arian Moayed, Iranian-born American actor, writer and director April 17 Nicholas D'Agosto, American actor Samantha Soule, American actress April 21 - Hadley Fraser, English actor and singer April 22 - Rodrigo Hilbert, Brazilian television presenter, actor, and former model April 24 - Reagan Gomez-Preston, American actress April 25 Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor and television presenter Céline Sallette, French actress April 26 Jordana Brewster, American actress Anna Mucha, Polish actress Marnette Patterson, American actress Channing Tatum, American actor Damien Dante Wayans, American actor, screenwriter, producer and director April 30 - Sam Heughan, Scottish actor May 2 - Ellie Kemper, American actress and comedian May 5 - Zach McGowan, American actor May 8 Jasen Fisher, American former child actor Kimberlee Peterson, American actress May 14 - Sérgio Guizé, Brazilian actor May 18 - Matt Long, American actor May 19 - Chris Jarvis, English actor May 20 - Cauã Reymond, Brazilian actor May 22 Nazanin Boniadi, British actress Lucy Gordon, English actress and model (died 2009) Evelin Võigemast, Estonian actress May 23 D. J. Cotrona, American actor Lane Garrison, American actor Chris Gethard, American actor, comedian and writer May 25 - Will Janowitz, American actor May 27 - Ben Feldman, American actor and producer May 28 - Kelly Fremon Craig, American screenwriter, producer and director May 29 - Adam Brown, English actor and comedian June 1 - Oliver James, English musician and former actor June 3 - Billy Slaughter, American actor June 6 - Elliot Villar, American actor June 10 - Jessica DiCicco, American film, television and voice actress June 15 - Candace Brown, American actress and comedian June 16 – Sibel Kekilli, German actress June 18 - David Giuntoli, American actor June 19 Neil Brown Jr., American actor Lauren Lee Smith, Canadian actress June 20 - Tika Sumpter, American actress, singer, producer, television host and model June 21 Preeya Kalidas, British singer and actress Wanuri Kahiu, Kenyan film director, producer, and author June 22 - Javone Prince, British comedian and actor June 23 Heath Freeman, American actor (died 2021) Melissa Rauch, American actress and comedian June 24 – Minka Kelly, American actress June 26 - Jason Schwartzman, American actor, producer and musician July 1 - Fortune Feimster, American comedian July 3 – Olivia Munn, American actress July 4 - Max Elliott Slade, American former child actor July 6 – Eva Green, French actress July 7 - Marika Domińczyk, Polish-American actress July 10 James Rolfe, American filmmaker, actor, YouTuber and online personality Jessica Simpson, American singer and actress Thomas Ian Nicholas, American actor Aaron Staton, American actor July 12 Kristen Connolly, American actress Mylène Jampanoï, French actress Tom Price, Welsh actor and comedian July 15 – Jasper Pääkkönen, Finnish actor and film producer July 17 – Brett Goldstein, British actor and comedian