1988 in film

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:

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	Paramount	$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
8	Cocktail	Buena Vista	$171,504,781
9	Big	20th Century Fox	$151,668,774
10	Die Hard	20th Century Fox	$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.
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, 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 33 years later. Giancarlo Parretti and Max Théret acquire a 52% stake in Pathé.

Awards

Palme d'Or
Golden Lion
'''Golden Bear '''

1988 films

By country/region

By genre/medium

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 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
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 13 – Cody Walker, American actor
June 14 – 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
July 2 – Edward Randell, English musician and actor
July 7 – Jack Whitehall, English actor, comedian, presenter and writer
July 8 - Shazad Latif, British actor
July 10 – Pavlo Lee, Ukrainian actor
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 – 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 17 – Joyner Lucas, American rapper and actor
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 – 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
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, American model and actress
November 12 – Alistair Brammer, English actor
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
*Lily Frazer, English actress
November 26 – Tamsin Egerton, English actress
November 30
*Rotimi, Nigerian-American actor and singer
*Rebecca Rittenhouse, American actress
December 1
*Nadia Hilker, German actress and model
*Yim Si-wan, Korean actor and singer
*Zoë 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
December 28 – Iwan Lewis, Welsh actor
December 30 - Jena Sims, American actress

Deaths

Month	Date	Name	Age	Country	Profession	Notable films
January	1	Marcel Hillaire	79	Germany	Actor
January	7	Michel Auclair	65	France	Actor
January	7	Trevor Howard	74	UK	Actor
January	8	Boyd Morgan	72	US	Stuntman, Actor
January	10	Hugh A. Robertson	55	US	Film Editor, Director
January	16	Ballard Berkeley	83	UK	Actor
January	19	Bridget Boland	75	UK	Screenwriter
January	19	Cary Odell	77	US	Art Director
January	25	Colleen Moore	88	US	Actress
February	1	Marcel Bozzuffi	58	French	Actor
February	1	Heather O'Rourke	12	US	Actress
February	5	Emeric Pressburger	85	Hungary	Screenwriter, Director
February	8	Allan Cuthbertson	67	Australia	Actor
February	14	Frederick Loewe	86	Germany	Composer
February	28	Asakazu Nakai	86	Japan	Cinematographer
February	29	Sidney Harmon	80	US	Producer, Screenwriter
March	1	Joe Besser	80	US	Actor
March	3	Lois Wilson	93	US	Actress
March	5	Alberto Olmedo	54	Argentina	Actor, Comedian
March	6	Jeanne Aubert	82	France	Actress
March	7	Divine	42	US	Actor
March	7	Robert Livingston	83	US	Actor
March	12	DeWitt Bodeen	79	US	Screenwriter
March	12	Karen Steele	56	US	Actress
March	13	Steno	71	Italy	Director, Screenwriter
March	13	John Holmes	43	US	Actor
March	13	Olive Carey	92	US	Actress
March	16	Dorothy Adams	88	US	Actress
March	27	Renato Salvatori	55	Italy	Actor
March	31	Manuel Silos	82	Philippines	Actor, Director
April	1	Jim Jordan	91	US	Actor
April	5	Alf Kjellin	68	Sweden	Actor, Director
April	6	John Clements	77	UK	Actor
April	7	Albert S. Rogell	86	US	Director
April	11	Jeff Donnell	66	US	Actress
April	11	Jesse L. Lasky Jr.	77	US	Screenwriter
April	15	Kenneth Williams	62	UK	Actor
April	21	I. A. L. Diamond	67	Moldovia	Screenwriter
April	22	Irene Rich	96	US	Actress
April	28	Andrew Cruickshank	80	UK	Actor
May	1	Paolo Stoppa	81	Italy	Actor
May	4	Tom Overton	58	US	Sound Engineer
May	5	George Rose	68	UK	Actor
May	12	Paul Osborn	86	US	Screenwriter
May	15	Andrew Duggan	64	US	Actor
May	15	Greta Nissen	82	Norway	Actress
May	18	Daws Butler	71	US	Voice Actor
May	18	Anthony Forwood	72	UK	Actor
May	18	Christopher Gore	43	US	Screenwriter
May	21	Barbara Laage	67	France	Actress
May	22	Tom Adair	74	US	Lyricist
May	29	Vladimír Menšík	59	Czech Republic	Actor
May	30	Ella Raines	67	US	Actress
June	2	Raj Kapoor	63	India	Actor, Director, Producer
June	16	Kim Milford	37	US	Actor
June	18	Wilford Leach	58	US	Director, Screenwriter
June	19	Teru Shimada	82	Japan	Actor
June	22	Dennis Day	77	US	Singer, Actor
June	22	Stuart Randall	78	US	Actor
July	1	Alice Nunn	60	US	Actress
July	2	Aldo Tonti	78	Italy	Cinematographer
July	7	Jimmy Edwards	68	UK	Actor
July	12	Joshua Logan	79	US	Director, Screenwriter
July	22	Milton Krasner	84	US	Cinematographer
July	22	Patrick Newell	56	UK	Actor
July	25	Judith Barsi	10	US	Actress
July	25	Douglas Hickox	59	UK	Director
July	27	Larry Clemmons	81	US	Animator, Screenwriter
July	31	Trinidad Silva	38	US	Actor
August	1	Florence Eldridge	86	US	Actress
August	2	Robert Emmet Smith	73	US	Art Director
August	5	Colin Higgins	47	France	Director, Producer, Screenwriter
August	5	Ralph Meeker	65	US	Actor
August	7	Wilfred Jackson	82	US	Animator
August	8	Alan Napier	85	UK	Actor
August	10	Adela Rogers St. Johns	94	US	Screenwriter
August	11	Anne Ramsey	59	US	Actress
August	17	Victoria Shaw	53	Australia	Actress
August	19	Don Haggerty	74	US	Actor
August	23	Jack Sher	75	US	Screenwriter, Director
August	24	Leonard Frey	49	US	Actor
August	26	Milton Sperling	76	US	Screenwriter
August	27	Charles Farrell	88	Ireland	Actor
September	1	Hugh Hunt	86	US	Set Decorator
September	5	Gert Fröbe	75	Germany	Actor
September	6	Harold Rosson	93	US	Cinematographer
September	12	Stephen B. Grimes	61	UK	Production Designer
September	14	Louis Quinn	73	US	Actor
September	15	Samuel E. Beetley	74	US	Film Editor
September	20	Roy Kinnear	54	UK	Actor
September	21	Henry Koster	83	Germany	Director, Screenwriter
September	21	Christine Norden	63	UK	Actress
September	30	Chick Chandler	83	US	Actor
October	1	Lucien Ballard	84	US	Cinematographer
October	1	Pavle Vuisić	62	Serbia	Actor
October	4	Margaret Lacey	76	UK	Actress
October	6	Don Terry	86	US	Actor
October	9	Edward Chodorov	84	US	Screenwriter
October	11	Morgan Farley	90	US	Actor
October	11	Bonita Granville	65	US	Actress
October	12	Ken Murray	85	US	Actor, Producer
October	13	Melvin Frank	75	US	Screenwriter, Director
October	14	Mary Morris	72	Fiji	Actress
October	19	Lawrence W. Butler	80	US	Special Effects Artist
October	24	Valerie Taylor	85	UK	Actress
October	25	Eric Larson	83	US	Animator
October	27	Charles Hawtrey	73	UK	Actor
October	31	John Houseman	86	Romania	Actor, Producer
November	1	George J. Folsey	90	US	Cinematographer
November	2	Lukas Heller	58	Germany	Screenwriter
November	3	Sidney Carroll	75	US	Screenwriter
November	6	John Hubbard	74	US	Actor
November	9	Billy Curtis	79	US	Actor
November	15	Mona Washbourne	84	UK	Actress
November	27	Angela Aames	32	US	Actress
November	27	John Carradine	82	US	Actor
December	7	Christopher Connelly	47	US	Actor
December	7	Dorothy Jordan	82	US	Actress
December	8	Anne Seymour	79	US	Actress
December	15	Maria De Matteis	90	Italy	Costume Designer
December	10	Richard S. Castellano	55	US	Actor
December	10	Dennis Arundell	90	UK	Actor, Composer
December	17	Jerry Hopper	81	US	Director
December	21	Bob Steele	81	US	Actor
December	22	Tucker Smith	52	US	Actor, Dancer
December	24	Noel Willman	70	Ireland	Actor
December	26	Julanne Johnston	88	US	Actress
December	26	John Loder	90	UK	Actor
December	27	Hal Ashby	59	US	Director, Film Editor
December	-	-	-	-	-	-
December	-	-	-	-	-	-
December	-	-	-	-	-	-
December	-	-	-	-	-	-