1978 in film

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The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California.
• March 1 - Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial.
• March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for The Empire Strikes Back.
• June 4 - Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, has its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
• September - George Lucas purchases Bulltail Ranch, on Lucas Valley Road, for the development of Skywalker Ranch.
• November 17 - The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming sequel.
• The first Sundance Film Festival is held.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Rank	Title	Studio	Actors	Director(s)	Gross Worldwide	Gross Domestic
1.	Grease	Paramount	John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John	Randal Kleiser	$394,589,888	$188,389,888
2.	Superman	Warner Bros.	Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder	Richard Donner	$300,218,018	$134,218,018
3.	Animal House	Universal	John Belushi and Tim Matheson	John Landis	$141,600,000	$120,091,123
4.	Every Which Way but Loose	Warner Bros.	Clint Eastwood	James Fargo	Unknown	$85,196,485
5.	Heaven Can Wait	Paramount	Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Jack Warden, Dyan Cannon and Vincent Gardenia	Warren Beatty and Buck Henry	Unknown	$81,640,278
6.	Jaws 2	Universal	Roy Scheider	Jeannot Szwarc	$187,884,007	$77,737,272
7.	The Deer Hunter	Universal	Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep	Michael Cimino	Unknown	$48,979,328
8.	Halloween	Compass	Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis	John Carpenter	Unknown	$47,000,000
9.	Foul Play	Paramount	Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith, Dudley Moore and Rachel Roberts	Colin Higgins	Unknown	$44,999,621
10.	California Suite	Columbia Pictures	Jane Fonda, Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby	Herbert Ross	Unknown	$42,913,571

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: The Deer Hunter - EMI Films/Cimino, Universal

Best Director: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter

Best Actor: Jon Voight - Coming Home

Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Coming Home

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken - The Deer Hunter

Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith - California Suite

Best Foreign Language Film: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Preparez vos mouchoirs), directed by Bertrand Blier, France

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Midnight Express

Best Actor: Jon Voight - Coming Home

Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Coming Home

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Heaven Can Wait

Best Actor: Warren Beatty - Heaven Can Wait

Best Actress (tie): Ellen Burstyn - Same Time, Next Year

Best Actress (tie): Maggie Smith - California Suite

Other

Best Director: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter

Best Foreign Language Film: Autumn Sonata, Sweden

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):

Trout (Las Truchas), directed by José Luis García Sánchez, Spain

What Max Said (Las Palabras de Max), directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro, Spain

Films released in 1978

• The Adventures of Jody Shanan
• Almost Summer
• American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - directed by Martin Scorsese (documentary)
• American Hot Wax, a biopic of Alan Freed, starring Tim McIntire, Fran Drescher, Laraine Newman, Jay Leno
• L'Argent des autres (Other People's Money)
• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
• Autumn Sonata - directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Liv Ullman

• The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, starring Tony Curtis and Jackie Earle Haley
• Battlestar Galactica (Canada and most European countries only; released in U.S. theatres the following year)
• The Betsy, starring Laurence Olivier, Tommy Lee Jones, Katharine Ross, Kathleen Beller, Lesley-Anne Down, Robert Duvall
• The Big Fix, starring Richard Dreyfuss
• The Big Sleep, starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Oliver Reed, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, James Stewart
• Big Wednesday
• Blue Collar, directed by Paul Schrader, starring Richard Pryor, Yaphet Kotto, Harvey Keitel
• The Boys from Brazil, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason
• The Boys in Company C
• Bread and Chocolate
• The Brink's Job, directed by William Friedkin, starring Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Peter Boyle, Paul Sorvino, Warren Oates
• The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey
• Bye Bye Monkey
• Barracuda directed by Harry Kerwin and Wayne Crawford

• La Cage aux Folles, directed by Edouard Molinaro, starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault
• California Suite, starring Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Walter Matthau
• Capricorn One, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Elliott Gould, James Brolin, O.J. Simpson, Sam Waterston, Brenda Vaccaro
• The Cat from Outer Space
• La chambre verte (The Green Room), directed by and starring François Truffaut
• The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, directed by Fred Schepisi
• The Cheap Detective, starring Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Marsha Mason, Sid Caesar
• China 9, Liberty 37
• Coma, directed by Michael Crichton, starring Geneviève Bujold and Michael Douglas
• Comes a Horseman, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Jane Fonda, James Caan, Jason Robards
• Coming Home, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Jane Fonda, Bruce Dern, Jon Voight
• Convoy, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw
• Corvette Summer, starring Mark Hamill
• Cosi' come sei (aka Stay as you are) starring Marcello Mastoianni and Nastassja Kinski

• The Dain Curse, mini-series for TV, starring James Coburn and Jean Simmons
• Damien: Omen II, starring William Holden and Lee Grant
• Dawn of the Dead (Italy), directed by George A. Romero
• Days of Heaven, directed by Terrence Malick, starring Richard Gere and Brooke Adams
• Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin, starring Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Olivia Hussey
• Debbie Does Dallas, iconic adult comedy
• The Deer Hunter, directed by Michael Cimino, starring Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep
• The Driver, directed by Walter Hill, starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani
• Drunken Master, starring Jackie Chan

• Empire of Passion (Ai no Bōrei), directed by Nagisa Oshima
• The End - directed by and starring Burt Reynolds with Dom DeLuise, Joanne Woodward, Pat O'Brien, Sally Field
• Enter the Fat Dragon - starring Sammo Hung
• Every Which Way but Loose - directed by James Fargo, starring Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis
• Eyes of Laura Mars - directed by Irvin Kershner, starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones

• Fedora, directed by Billy Wilder, starring William Holden and Marthe Keller
• Fingers, starring Harvey Keitel
• F.I.S.T., directed by Norman Jewison, starring Sylvester Stallone, Melinda Dillon, Rod Steiger
• FM
• Force 10 from Navarone, starring Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, Harrison Ford
• Foul Play, directed by Colin Higgins, starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase
• The Fury, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Andrew Stevens, Amy Irving

• Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Preparez vos mouchoirs), aka Get Your Handkerchiefs Ready
• Girlfriends, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner
• Go Tell the Spartans, starring Burt Lancaster
• Gray Lady Down, starring Charlton Heston and David Carradine
• Grease - directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing, Eve Arden, Edd Byrnes

• Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence
• Harper Valley PTA, starring Barbara Eden
• Heaven Can Wait, starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Jack Warden, James Mason
• The Herd (Sürü)
• Hooper, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jan-Michael Vincent, Robert Klein, Brian Keith
• Hot Lead and Cold Feet, starring Karen Valentine
• House Calls, directed by Howard Zieff, starring Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Richard Benjamin, Art Carney

• I Wanna Hold Your Hand, directed by Robert Zemeckis
• Ice Castles, starring Lynn-Holly Johnson
• In Praise of Older Women, starring Tom Berenger, Karen Black, Helen Shaver
• In a Year with 13 Moons (In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• Interiors, directed by Woody Allen, starring Geraldine Page, Diane Keaton, E.G. Marshall, Mary Beth Hurt
• International Velvet, starring Tatum O'Neal, Nanette Newman, Anthony Hopkins
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers, remake of 1956 movie starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum

• Jaws 2, starring Roy Scheider
• Kondura, directed by Shyam Benegal

• Lady on the Bus
• The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring The Band
• Law of the Sixgun
• The Lord of the Rings - animated film by Ralph Bakshi

• Magic, directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret
• Max's Words Golden Bear winner -(not found in searches under this title)
• Midnight Express, directed by Alan Parker, starring Brad Davis, Randy Quaid, John Hurt
• Movie Movie, starring George C. Scott, Harry Hamlin, Barry Bostwick, Trish Van Devere, Red Buttons, Art Carney

• National Lampoon's Animal House - directed by John Landis, starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Karen Allen, John Vernon
• A Night Full of Rain - directed by Lina Wertmuller, starring Giancarlo Giannini and Candice Bergen

• The One and Only, directed by Carl Reiner, starring Henry Winkler and Kim Darby

• Paradise Alley, starring Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Anne Archer
• Passion Flower Hotel
• Piranha, directed by Joe Dante
• Pretty Baby - directed by Louis Malle, starring Keith Carradine, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields

• Rabbit Test - directed by Joan Rivers, starring Billy Crystal
• Remember My Name, starring Geraldine Chaplin
• Renaldo and Clara - directed by and starring Bob Dylan
• Return from Witch Mountain - starring Bette Davis and Christopher Lee
• Revenge of the Pink Panther - starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom and Dyan Cannon
• Rockers, a Jamaican film featuring Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth and others

• Same Time Next Year, starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn
• Sextette, starring Mae West
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees with music by The Beatles
• The Shout, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, starring Alan Bates, John Hurt, Susannah York
• The Silent Partner, starring Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York
• The Small One
• Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (Shé xíng diāo shǒu), starring Jackie Chan
• So Much Warm
• Somebody Killed Her Husband, starring Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges
• Stevie, starring Glenda Jackson and Trevor Howard
• Straight Time, directed by Ulu Grosbard, starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Busey
• Superman, directed by Richard Donner, starring Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Susannah York
• The Swarm, starring Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Katharine Ross, Michael Caine

• Thank God It's Friday, starring Debra Winger, Donna Summer, Jeff Goldblum
• The Tree of Wooden Clogs - directed by Ermanno Olmi - Palme d'Or winner
• Las Truchas (The Trout) Golden Bear winner
• Two Solitudes

• An Unmarried Woman - directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, Michael Murphy
• Up In Smoke, starring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong

• The Water Babies - directed by Lionel Jeffries, starring James Mason, Bernard Cribbins, Billie Whitelaw
• Watership Down - animated film directed by Martin Rosen, with voices of John Hurt and Richard Briers
• A Wedding - directed by Robert Altman, starring Desi Arnaz Jr., Carol Burnett, Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Dooley, Mia Farrow
• Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, starring George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset
• Who'll Stop the Rain, directed by Karel Reisz, starring Nick Nolte
• The Wild Geese, starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris
• The Wiz - directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson

• You Are Not Alone

• Zero to Sixty

Births

• March 1 - Jensen Ackles, actor
• April 19- James Franco, actor, author, film director, screenwriter, producer
• June 6 - Judith Barsi, actress (d. 1988)
• June 7 - Bill Hader, actor
• June 19 - Zoe Saldana, actress
• November 9 - Sisqó, singer/actor/songwriter
• November 17 - Rachel McAdams, actress
• November 24 - Katherine Heigl, actress
• December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe, actor
• December 18 - Katie Holmes, actress

Deaths

• January 5 - Sally Eilers, actress
• January 29 - Tim McCoy, cowboy actor, soldier
• March 25 - Hanna Ralph, actress
• March 24 - Leigh Brackett, science fiction writer and screenwriter (The Big Sleep)
• August 24 - Louis Prima, bandleader, voice actor ("King Louie of the Apes" in The Jungle Book)
• August 26 - Charles Boyer, actor
• August 28 - Robert Shaw, actor
• September 3 - Karin Molander, actress
• September 9 - Jack Warner, Hollywood studio founder
• September 30 - Edgar Bergen, actor
• October 16 - Dan Dailey, actor
• October 19 - Gig Young, actor

Film debuts

• Kevin Bacon
• Jamie Lee Curtis
• Liam Neeson
• Jim Broadbent
• Steve Martin
• Alfre Woodard
• Daryl Hannah
• Karen Allen
• Mary Steenburgen
• Ann Reinking
• Cheech Marin
• Mark Harmon
• Billy Crystal
• Jake Busey