The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.
Events February 6 – David Begelman resigns as president of Columbia Pictures. March 1 – Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial. After recovery a few weeks later, the casket is sealed in a concrete vault prior to reburial. March – Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for The Empire Strikes Back, but dies only two weeks later. June – Daniel Melnick becomes head of Columbia Pictures after the David Begelman scandal. June 4 – Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, has its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. It becomes the highest-grossing musical ever and Paramount Pictures' highest-grossing film. July 20 – Alan Hirschfield is fired as president and CEO of Columbia Pictures. He is replaced by Francis T. Vincent. August – Production begins on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. September – George Lucas purchases Bulltail Ranch, on Lucas Valley Road, for the development of Skywalker Ranch. October 25 – Halloween is released. November 17 – A Star Wars Holiday Special is broadcast on CBS in the United States. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the forthcoming sequel, but the special received negative reviews upon airing. December 10 – Superman premieres at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C., and has a European Royal Charity Premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London three days later in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and the then Prince Andrew, Duke of York (later Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor).
Awards
Category/Organization 36th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 27, 1979 32nd BAFTA AwardsMarch 22, 1979 51st Academy AwardsApril 9, 1979 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film Midnight Express Heaven Can Wait Julia The Deer Hunter Best Director Michael CiminoThe Deer Hunter Alan ParkerMidnight Express Michael CiminoThe Deer Hunter Best Actor Jon VoightComing Home Warren BeattyHeaven Can Wait Richard DreyfussThe Goodbye Girl Jon VoightComing Home Best Actress Jane FondaComing Home Ellen BurstynSame Time, Next YearMaggie SmithCalifornia Suite Jane FondaJulia Jane FondaComing Home Best Supporting Actor John HurtMidnight Express Christopher WalkenThe Deer Hunter Best Supporting Actress Dyan CannonHeaven Can Wait Geraldine PageInteriors Maggie SmithCalifornia Suite Best Screenplay, Adapted Oliver StoneMidnight Express Alvin SargentJulia Oliver StoneMidnight Express Best Screenplay, Original Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt and Robert C. JonesComing Home Best Original Score Giorgio MoroderMidnight Express John WilliamsStar Wars Giorgio MoroderMidnight ExpressJoe RenzettiThe Buddy Holly Story Best Original Song "Last Dance"Thank God It's Friday N/A "Last Dance"Thank God It's Friday Best Foreign Language Film Autumn Sonata N/A Get Out Your Handkerchiefs Best Documentary N/A N/A The Silent Witness Scared Straight!
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'Albero degli zoccoli), directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): Ascensor, directed by Tomás Muñoz, Spain Trout (Las Truchas), directed by José Luis García Sánchez, Spain What Max Said (Las Palabras de Max), directed by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro, Spain
People's Choice Award (Toronto International Film Festival): Girlfriends, directed by Claudia Weill, United States
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1978 released films by box office gross in the United States and Canada are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1978 Rank Title Distributor Box-office gross 1 Grease Paramount $159,978,870 2 Superman Warner Bros. $134,218,018 3 National Lampoon's Animal House Universal $120,091,123 4 Every Which Way but Loose Warner Bros. $85,196,485 5Heaven Can Wait Paramount $81,640,278 6 Hooper Warner Bros. $78,000,000 7 Jaws 2 Universal $77,737,272 8 Revenge of the Pink Panther United Artists $49,579,269 9 The Deer Hunter Universal $48,979,328 10 Halloween Compass International $47,000,000
1978 films By country/region List of American films of 1978 List of Argentine films of 1978 List of Australian films of 1978 List of Bangladeshi films of 1978 List of British films of 1978 List of Canadian films of 1978 List of French films of 1978 List of Hong Kong films of 1978 List of Indian films of 1978 List of Hindi films of 1978 List of Kannada films of 1978 List of Malayalam films of 1978 List of Marathi films of 1978 List of Tamil films of 1978 List of Telugu films of 1978 List of Japanese films of 1978 List of Mexican films of 1978 List of Pakistani films of 1978 List of South Korean films of 1978 List of Soviet films of 1978 List of Spanish films of 1978
By genre/medium List of action films of 1978 List of animated feature films of 1978 List of avant-garde films of 1978 List of comedy films of 1978 List of drama films of 1978 List of horror films of 1978 List of science fiction films of 1978 List of thriller films of 1978 List of western films of 1978
Births January 1 – Christian Tessier, Canadian actor January 2 Raghda Khateb, Syrian voice actress Megumi Toyoguchi, Japanese voice actress January 3 – Kimberley Locke, American singer-songwriter and model January 5 Clarine Harp, American voice actress January Jones, American actress and model America Olivo, American actress and singer January 6 – Tara Spencer-Nairn, Canadian actress January 8 – Scott Whyte, American actor January 9 AJ McLean, American musician, singer, dancer, actor, and entertainer Adam Sztykiel, American producer and screenwriter January 10 – Antonio Cupo, Canadian film and television actor January 11 - Adepero Oduye, American actress, director, singer and writer January 15 Eddie Cahill, American actor Jamie Clayton, American actress, model January 17 Pampita, Argentine model, actress, television personality Takatoshi Kaneko, Japanese actor Ricky Wilson, English actor, singer January 20 – Omar Sy, French actor January 24 Mark Hildreth, Canadian actor, voice actor Kristen Schaal, American actress, comedian and writer January 25 – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian actor and politician January 26 - Kelly Stables, American actress January 27 – Jake Pavelka, American pilot, television personality January 28 – Stephen Farrelly, Irish actor and professional wrestler February 7 – Ashton Kutcher, American actor February 10 - Don Omar, Puerto Rican singer, rapper and actor February 12 – Paul Anderson, British actor Gethin Jones, Welsh television presenter February 14 – Danai Gurira, actress, playwright February 17 Ashton Holmes, American actor Rory Kinnear, English actor and playwright February 20 Lauren Ambrose, American actress Jay Hernandez, American actor Julia Jentsch, German actress Chelsea Peretti, American comedian, actress, television writer and singer-songwriter February 23 – Kris Lemche, Canadian actor February 24 – Nicole Lyn, Canadian actress February 28 - Geoffrey Arend, American actor March 1 – Jensen Ackles, American actor March 3 – Aarti Mann, Indian-American actress March 5 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress, dancer, director March 8 – Nick Zano, American actor March 9 – Katherine Parkinson, English actress March 10 - Harley Cross, American actor and producer March 12 - Camille Anderson, American actress and television host March 16 – Sophie Hunter, English actress and singer March 17 – Patrick Seitz, American voice actor March 21 Kevin Federline, American rapper, DJ, actor, television personality, professional wrestler, and fashion model Rani Mukerji, Indian actress March 23 – Nicholle Tom and David Tom, American actress and actor March 24 – Amanda Brugel, Canadian actress March 25 – Teddy Lussi-Modeste, French film director, screenwriter and literature teacher March 31 – Daniel Mays, English actor April 2 – Deon Richmond, American actor April 3 – Matthew Goode, English actor April 6 - Lauren Ridloff, deaf American actress April 7 Duncan James, English actor, television presenter and singer Scott McGillivray, Canadian television host April 8 – Paola Núñez, Mexican actress and producer April 12 – Riley Smith, American actor April 13 – Kyle Howard, American actor April 14 - Michelle Duncan, Scottish-Canadian actress April 16 – Lara Dutta, Indian actress April 17 – Ido Mosseri, Israeli actor, singer and musician April 19 James Franco, American actor Joanna Gaines, American designer, businesswoman, entrepreneur, television personality April 20 Matt Austin, Canadian actor Clayne Crawford, American actor April 23 – Ian Brennan, American writer, actor, producer April 26 Stana Katic, Canadian-American actress, producer Pablo Schreiber, Canadian actor April 28 Nate Richert, American actor, musician Drew Scott, Canadian actor, realtor, and entrepreneur Jonathan Scott, Canadian reality television personality, contractor, illusionist, and television and film producer April 29 – Tyler Labine, Canadian actor April 30 – Sandra Huller, German actress May 2 - Kumail Nanjiani, Pakistani-American comedian, actor and screenwriter May 4 – Daisuke Ono, Japanese voice actor and singer May 5 – Santiago Cabrera, Venezuelan-born Chilean actor May 8 Matthew Davis, American actor Ana Maria Lombo, American musician and television personality Josie Maran, American model, actress, and entrepreneur May 9 – Daniel Franzese, American actor, comedian and activist May 10 – Kenan Thompson, American actor, comedian May 11 – Warren Brown, English actor and former professional Thai boxer May 12 Aaron Abrams, Canadian actor, writer Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian actress Jason Biggs, American actor May 15 Caroline Dhavernas, Canadian actress David Krumholtz, American actor May 16 – Jim Sturgess, English actor May 17 Gabriel Hogan, Canadian-born American actor Kat Foster, American actress May 18 – Chad Donella, Canadian actor May 21 – Chris Santos, American actor May 22 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress May 24 – Bryan Greenberg, American actor May 28 – Jake Johnson, actor, comedian May 29 – Adam Rickitt, English actor, singer and model June 2 Dominic Cooper, English actor Nikki Cox, American actress Justin Long, American actor June 4 Josh McDermitt, American film and television actor and comedian Robin Lord Taylor, American actor June 5 Nick Kroll, American actor, comedian, writer and producer Jeff Schroeder, American television and online talk show host June 6 - Judith Barsi, American child actress (d. 1988) June 7 Bill Hader, American actor, comedian Anna Torv, Australian actress June 8 – Maria Menounos, American actress June 9 – Michaela Conlin, American actress June 10 DJ Qualls, American actor Shane West, American actor Marko Zaror, Chilean martial artist and actor June 11 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor June 12 - Timothy Simons, American actor and comedian June 13 – Ethan Embry, American actor June 14 - Diablo Cody, Canadian writer June 16 – Daniel Brühl, German actor June 18 – Tara Platt, American voice actress June 19 Mía Maestro, Argentine actress and singer-songwriter Zoe Saldaña, American actress June 20 Quinton Jackson, American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler Mike Birbiglia, American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer June 21 – Erica Durance, Canadian actress June 27 – Courtney Ford, American actress June 28 – Ha Ji-won, South Korean actress June 29 – Luke Kirby, Canadian actor Nicole Scherzinger, American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress and television personality July 2 – Owain Yeoman, Welsh actor July 3 – Ian Anthony Dale, American actor July 4 Becki Newton, American actress July 6 Adam Busch, American actor, film director and singer Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, American actresses July 9 – Kyle Davis, American actor July 11 Dustin Demri-Burns, English actor, comedian, and writer Jonjo O'Neill, Irish actor Thomas Stone, Hungarian pornographic actor July 12