1979 in film

The year 1979 in film involved many significant events.

Highest-grossing films

United States and Canada

The top ten 1979 released films by North American gross are as follows:

Rank	Title	Distributor	Box-office gross
1	Kramer vs. Kramer	Columbia	$106,260,000
2	The Amityville Horror	American International	$86,432,520
3	Rocky II	United Artists	$85,182,160
4	Apocalypse Now	United Artists	$83,471,511
5	Star Trek: The Motion Picture	Paramount	$82,258,456
6	Alien	20th Century Fox	$80,931,801
7	The Muppet Movie	Universal / Associated Film	$76,657,000
8	10	Warner Bros.	$74,865,517
9	The Jerk	Universal	$73,691,419
10	Moonraker	United Artists	$70,308,099

Major events

March 2 – Buena Vista release their first film since the advent of U.S. movie ratings to not be G-rated, Take Down.
March 5 – Production begins on The Empire Strikes Back.
March – Frank Price becomes president of Columbia Pictures.
May 25 – Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released.
May 29 - Mary Pickford, a silent screen legend and Hollywood pioneer who was, at the height of her career, the most famous woman in the world, dies of a stroke.
May 31 – The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature-length motion pictures, is released in United Kingdom.
June 11 – John Wayne, a famous Western movie actor, dies at the age of 72 from stomach cancer.
June 27 – 20th Century Fox Pictures president Alan Ladd Jr. and vice-presidents Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan agree to leave Fox.
June 29 – Moonraker, the 11th film in the James Bond franchise, is released in the United States and goes on to become the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide.
August 15 – Apocalypse Now is released to worldwide critical acclaim and box office success. Heralded as one of the greatest films ever made to this day.
September 19 – Don Bluth and a group of fellow animators resign from The Walt Disney Company's animation department to set up a rival studio, Don Bluth Productions.
October 1 – Alan Ladd Jr., Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan who agreed to leave Fox earlier in the year formally announce the creation of The Ladd Company.
October 3 – producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan purchase the film rights of Batman from DC Comics. It would be another ten years, before a Batman feature film would be fully realized.
November 1 – Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
December 7 – Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts in the United States to mixed reviews but blockbuster box office, launching a film franchise that leads to 9 sequels and 3 reboots over the next 37 years. It also leads to the creation of five spin-off television series based upon Gene Roddenberry's creation.
Allied Artists files for bankruptcy.

Awards

Palme d'Or :
'''Golden Bear :'''

1979 films

By country/region

By genre/medium

List of action films of 1979
List of animated feature films of 1979
List of avant-garde films of 1979
List of comedy films of 1979
List of drama films of 1979
List of horror films of 1979
List of [science fiction films of the 1970s#1979fc|List of science fiction films of 1979]
List of thriller films of 1979
List of western films of 1979

Births

January 1 – Vidya Balan, Indian actress
January 2 - Erica Hubbard, American actress
January 6 – Cristela Alonzo, American comedian, actress, writer and producer
January 8
*Ashraf Barhom, Israeli-Arab actor
*Sarah Polley, Canadian actress
January 10 - Maximilian Brückner, German actor
January 13 - Katy Brand, English actress, comedian and writer
January 16 – Aaliyah, American actress and singer
January 24 – Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer
January 25 - Christine Lakin, American actress
January 26 – Sara Rue, American actress
January 27 – Rosamund Pike, English actress and producer
January 28
*Adam Bartley, American actor
*Angelique Cabral, American actress
January 29 – Andrew Keegan, American actor
February 1 – Rachelle Lefevre, Canadian actress
February 2 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
February 3 – Costa Ronin, Australian actor and cinematographer
February 7 - Cerina Vincent, American actress
February 8 - Josh Keaton, American actor and musician
February 9 – Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress and dancer
February 11 – Brandy Norwood, American actress and singer
February 12 - Angus Sampson, Australian actor and filmmaker
February 13 – Mena Suvari, American actress
February 19 - Andrew Buchan, English actor and writer
February 21
*Tituss Burgess, American actor and singer
*Maryke Hendrikse, Bahamian-born Canadian voice actress
*Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and singer
*Jordan Peele, American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer
March 3
*Bonnie Mbuli, South African actress
*Patrick Renna, American actor
March 5 – Riki Lindhome, American actress, comedian and musician
March 9 – Oscar Isaac, Guatemalan-American actor
March 10
*Edi Gathegi, Kenyan-American actor
*Danny Pudi, American actor
March 12 - Rhys Coiro, American actor
March 14 - Chris Klein, American actor
March 17 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian actor, music producer and stand-up comedian
March 18 – Adam Levine, American singer, songwriter, musician and actor
March 19 - Abby Brammell, American actress
March 20
*Freema Agyeman, British actress
*Bianca Lawson, American actress
March 24 – Lake Bell, American actress, director and screenwriter
March 25 – Lee Pace, American actor
March 28 – Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, producer, singer, film organiser and media personalities
March 29 – De'Angelo Wilson, American actor and rapper
March 30
*Jose Pablo Cantillo, American actor
*Pete Holmes, American comedian, actor, writer, producer and podcaster
April 4
* Bunko Kanazawa, Japanese actress
* Heath Ledger, Australian actor
* Natasha Lyonne, American actress
April 5 – Josh Boone, American filmmaker
April 7 - Nico Santos, Filipino-American actor
April 9 - Edward Bennett, English actor
April 10 - Paul Fox, English actor
April 11 – Josh Server, American actor
April 12
*Claire Danes, American actress
*Jennifer Morrison, American actress, director and producer
*Paul Nicholls, English actor
April 15
*Karen David, Canadian actress and singer-songwriter
*Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer
April 17
*Mylene Dinh-Robic, Canadian actress
*Ken Duken, German actor and director
*Tate Ellington, American actor
April 19 – Kate Hudson, American actress
April 21 – James McAvoy, Scottish actor
April 23 – Jaime King, American actress
April 26 – Klára Issová, Czech actress
April 27 - Tom Davis, English actor and comedian
May 5 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
May 6 - Kerry Ellis, English actress and singer
May 7 – Yōsuke Kubozuka, Japanese actor
May 9 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
May 11 - Mary Elizabeth Ellis, American actress
May 12 – Aaron Yoo, Korean-American actor
May 17 - Lyne Renée, Belgian actress
May 19 – Bérénice Marlohe, French actress
May 20 - Jana Pallaske, German actress and singer
May 22 – Maggie Q, American actress
May 23 – Josh Cooley, American animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor
May 24 - Panos Mouzourakis, Greek singer-songwriter and actor
May 25 - Corbin Allred, American actor
May 28
*Jesse Bradford, American actor
*Monica Keena, American actress
May 30
*Jenny Mollen, American actress and writer
*Tadhg Murphy, Irish actor
June 2
*Morena Baccarin, Brazilian actress
*James Ransone, American actor
June 7 – Anna Torv, Australian actress
June 12 - Wil Horneff, American former child actor
June 17 – Young Maylay, American rapper, producer and voice actor
June 20 - Sarah Stiles, American singer and actress
June 21 – Chris Pratt, American actor
June 24 – Mindy Kaling, American writer and actress
June 25
*Hong Chau, American actress
*Busy Philipps, American actress
June 27
*Martin Bourboulon, French film director and screenwriter
*Benjamin Speed, Australian film composer
June 28 - Elaine Tan, English actress
June 30 - Rick Gonzalez, American actor and musician
July 3 – Ludivine Sagnier, French actress
July 5 – Eva Maria Daniels, Icelandic film producer
July 6
*Kevin Hart, American actor
*Abdul Salis, British actor
July 7 - Benjamin Mitchell, New Zealand actor
July 10 – Gong Yoo, South Korean actor
July 12 – Omid Abtahi, Iranian-American actor
July 14 – Scott Porter, American actor
July 16
*Jayma Mays, American actress
*Gerard Monaco, British actor
July 17 – Mike Vogel, American actor and former model
July 18 = Jason Weaver, American actor and singer
July 19 – David Sakurai, Danish-Japanese actor, director and scriptwriter
July 24 - Rose Byrne, Australian actress
July 25 - Juan Pablo Di Pace, Argentine actor, director, singer and musician
July 26 - Mageina Tovah, American actress
July 30 - Lucas Babin, American actor
July 31
*Dana Gourrier, American actress
*B. J. Novak, American writer and actor
August 1 – Jason Momoa, American actor and filmmaker
August 3 – Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress
August 6 – Dayahang Rai, Nepalese actor
August 10 – JoAnna Garcia Swisher, American actress
August 12 - Keith Powell, American actor, writer and director
August 13 - Kasia Smutniak, Polish-Italian actress and model
August 14 - Jamie Parker, English actor and singer
August 21 - Kevin Janssens, Belgian actor
August 22 – Brandon Adams, American actor
August 23 – Claire Grant, American actress, model and producer
August 24 – Fabienne Carat, French actress and singer
August 25 – Şebnem Bozoklu, Turkish actress
August 26 – Erik Valdez, American actor
August 27 – Aaron Paul, American actor
August 28 - Melody Kay, American actress
August 29 – Dan Harris, American screenwriter and director
August 31 – Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian film composer
September 1 - Camille Chen, American actress
September 4 - Max Greenfield, American actor
September 8 – Pink, American singer and actress
September 11
*Ariana Richards, American actress
*Cameron Richardson, American actress and producer
*Hu Ting-ting, English-born Taiwanese actress
September 17
*Neill Blomkamp, South African and Canadian director and screenwriter
*Kat Coiro, American director
*Billy Miller, American actor
September 18 – Alison Lohman, American former actress
September 19 – Noémie Lenoir, French model and actress
September 20 – Chris Tardio, American actor
September 22 – MyAnna Buring, Swedish-born British actress
September 23 – Lisa Loven Kongsli, Norwegian actress
September 25 - Stephen Rider, American actor
September 26
*Mark Famiglietti, American actor, screenwriter and producer
*Susanne Wuest, Austrian actress
September 27 – Jad Saxton, American voice actress
* Alicyn Packard, American actress, singer, and writer
September 30 – Jonathan Kasdan, American screenwriter, director, producer and actor
October 1 – Marielle Heller, American film director
October 4
*Caitríona Balfe, Irish actress
*Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
October 6 – Sareh Bayat, Iranian actress
October 7
*Tang Wei, Chinese actress
*Aaron Ashmore and Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actors
October 8 – Kristanna Loken, American actress
October 9
*Alex Greenwald, American musician and actor
*Chris O'Dowd, Irish actor and comedian
*Brandon Routh, American actor
*Zachary Ty Bran, American actor
October 20
*Nargis Fakhri, American actress
*John Krasinski, American actor and filmmaker
October 22 - Tony Denman, American actor
October 28 – Natina Reed, American singer-songwriter, rapper and actress
October 29 – Maya Karin, Malaysian actress
October 30 - James A. Woods, Canadian actor
October 31 – Erica Cerra, Canadian actress
November 2 - Jon M. Chu, American director, producer and screenwriter
November 5 - Leonardo Nam, Australian actor
November 8 – Dania Ramirez, Dominican actress
November 9
*Cory Hardrict, American actor
*Matt McCarthy, American comedian, actor and writer
November 13 – Riccardo Scamarcio, Italian actor and producer
November 14 – Olga Kurylenko, Ukrainian-French actress
November 19 – Barry Jenkins, American film director
November 20 - Jacob Pitts, American actor
November 22
*Andrew Knott, British actor
*Leeanna Walsman, Australian actress
November 23 – Jonathan Sadowski, American actor
November 25
*Jerry Ferrara, American actor
*Joel Kinnaman, Swedish-American actor
November 28 – Daniel Henney, American actor and model
November 29 - Timo Vuorensola, Finnish director, singer and actor
November 30 - Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Irish actress
December 3 – Tiffany Haddish, American comedian and actress
December 5 – Nick Stahl, American actor
December 7
* Eric Bauza, Canadian-born American voice actor, stand-up comedian and animation artist
* Sara Bareilles, American actress and singer
December 11 – Rider Strong, American actor
December 15 – Adam Brody, American actor, writer, musician and producer
December 17 - Lil Rel Howery, American actor and comedian
December 19 - Tara Summers, English actress
December 20 - Ramón Rodríguez, Puerto Rican actor
December 21 - Daniel Brocklebank, British actor
December 23 – Summer Altice, American model and actress
December 26 – Chris Daughtry, American actor and singer
December 28
*André Holland, American actor
*Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress
December 29 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor, director and producer