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:
RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross
1Rain ManMGM$354,825,435
2Who Framed Roger RabbitBuena Vista$329,803,958
3Coming to AmericaParamount$288,752,301
4Crocodile Dundee IIParamount$239,606,210
5TwinsUniversal$216,614,388
6Rambo IIITriStar / Carolco$189,015,611
7A Fish Called WandaMGM$188,597,000
8CocktailBuena Vista$171,504,781
9Big20th Century Fox$151,668,774
10Die Hard20th 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