1980 in film

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The following is an overview of events in 1980 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.

Contents

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1980 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1980 [1]
RankTitleDistributorBox-office gross
1 The Empire Strikes Back 20th Century Fox $209,398,025
2 9 to 5 $103,290,500
3 Stir Crazy Columbia $101,300,000
4 Airplane! Paramount $83,453,539
5 Any Which Way You Can Warner Bros. $70,687,344
6 Private Benjamin $69,847,348
7 Coal Miner's Daughter Universal $67,182,787
8 Smokey and the Bandit II $66,132,626
9 The Blue Lagoon Columbia$58,853,106
10 The Blues Brothers Universal$57,229,890

Worldwide gross revenue

The following table lists known worldwide gross revenue figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1980. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1980.

TitleGrossSourceCountry
The Empire Strikes Back $538,375,067 [2] United States
The Gods Must Be Crazy $200,000,000 [3] South Africa
Airplane! $130,000,000 [4] United States
The Blues Brothers $115,229,890 [5]

Events

Context

Industry professionals predicted comedy films and upbeat entertainment to dominate theaters in 1980. This was a response to poor morale in a nation suffering through economic recession, which generally increased theatrical visits as audiences sought escapism and ignored romantic films and depictions of blue-collar life. [6] [7] The financial success and low cost of production cost of comedies such as Blazing Saddles (1974) and Animal House (1978), had further driven demand for comedies; Airplane! , The Blues Brothers , Caddyshack , and The Jerk , were all scheduled for release that year. The average cost of making films had risen to $6 million which had reduced the number of films being made for niche audiences. Some studios continued to release a wide variety of films, hoping that few significant successes would compensate for other failures. [7]

A surge of interest in science-fiction following Star Wars' release had led to many low-budget entries in the genre attempting to profit by association, and big budget entries such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Black Hole , both of which were released in late 1979, just months before The Empire Strikes Back. [8]

Awards

Category/Organization 38th Golden Globe Awards
January 31, 1981		 34th BAFTA Awards
March 22, 1981		 53rd Academy Awards
March 31, 1981
DramaMusical or Comedy
Best Film Ordinary People Coal Miner's Daughter The Elephant Man Ordinary People
Best Director Robert Redford
Ordinary People 		Akira Kurosawa
Kagemusha 		Robert Redford
Ordinary People
Best Actor Robert De Niro
Raging Bull 		Ray Sharkey
The Idolmaker 		John Hurt
The Elephant Man 		Robert De Niro
Raging Bull
Best Actress Mary Tyler Moore
Ordinary People 		Sissy Spacek
Coal Miner's Daughter 		Judy Davis
My Brilliant Career 		Sissy Spacek
Coal Miner's Daughter
Best Supporting Actor Timothy Hutton
Ordinary People 		N/A Timothy Hutton
Ordinary People
Best Supporting Actress Mary Steenburgen
Melvin and Howard 		N/A Mary Steenburgen
Melvin and Howard
Best Screenplay, Adapted William Peter Blatty
The Ninth Configuration 		Jerzy Kosinski
Being There 		Alvin Sargent
Ordinary People
Best Screenplay, Original Bo Goldman
Melvin and Howard
Best Original Score Dominic Frontiere
The Stunt Man 		John Williams
The Empire Strikes Back 		Michael Gore
Fame
Best Original Song"Fame"
Fame 		N/A"Fame"
Fame
Best Foreign Language Film Tess N/A Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

All That Jazz , directed by Bob Fosse, United States
Kagemusha, 影武者 (Shadow Warrior), directed by Akira Kurosawa, Japan

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Atlantic City , directed by Louis Malle, US / Canada / France
Gloria , directed by John Cassavetes, United States

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Heartland , directed by Richard Pearce, United States
Palermo or Wolfsburg (Palermo oder Wolfsburg), directed by Werner Schroeter, West Germany

Births

Deaths

MonthDateNameAgeCountryProfessionNotable films
January1 Adolph Deutsch 82USComposer, Arranger
3 Ivan Triesault 81EstoniaActor
14 Robert Ardrey 71USScreenwriter
17 Barbara Britton 59USActress
18 Cecil Beaton 76UKCostume Designer, Production Designer
22 Iris Meredith 64USActress
23 Leonard Strong 71USActor
24 Lil Dagover 92GermanyActress
24 James Poe 58USScreenwriter
27 Peppino De Filippo 76ItalyActor
28 Erle C. Kenton 83USDirector
29 Jimmy Durante 86USActor, Singer
February1 Romolo Valli 54ItalyActor
3 Ray Heindorf 71USComposer
9 Renée Houston 77UKActress
13 David Janssen 48USActor
17 Jerry Fielding 57USComposer
17 Ed Graves 62USArt Director
18 Gale Robbins 58USActress, Singer
26 Mario Mattoli 81ItalyDirector, Screenwriter
27 George Tobias 78USActor
March5 Jay Silverheels 67CanadaActor
8 Frank McDonald 80USDirector
17 Farciot Edouart 85USSpecial Effects Artist
27 Philip W. Anderson 64USFilm Editor
27 Steve Fisher 67USScreenwriter
28 Dick Haymes 61ArgentinaActor, Singer
30 David Sharpe 70USStuntman, Actor
April3 Mary McCarty 56USActress
6 John Collier 78UKScreenwriter
9 Kathleen Burke 66USActress
10 Kay Medford 65USActress
11 Charlotte Henry 66USActress
14 Tom Fadden 85USActor
15 Raymond Bailey 75USActor
17 Alf Sjöberg 76SwedenDirector
19 Tony Beckley 50UKActor
25 Mario Bava 65ItalyDirector, Screenwriter, Cinematographer
26 Cicely Courtneidge 87AustraliaActress, Singer
29 William Clemens 74USDirector
29 Alfred Hitchcock 80UKDirector
May1 Henry Levin 70USDirector
1 Gene Markey 84USScreenwriter
2 George Pal 72HungaryProducer, Director
4 Kay Hammond 71UKActress
12 Lillian Roth 69USActress
14 Hugh Griffith 67UKActor
15 Gordon E. Sawyer 74USSound Engineer
16 José Calvo 64SpainActor
19 Ray Rennahan 84USCinematographer
21 Ida Kamińska 80UkraineActress
26 Franz Bachelin 84GermanyArt Director
June4 Gloria Saunders 52USActress
12 Milburn Stone 75USActor
18 Terence Fisher 76UKDirector
22 Monang Carvajal 82PhilippinesActress
23 John Laurie 83UKActor
23 Odile Versois 50FranceActress
24 Boris Kaufman 73PolandCinematographer
28 José Iturbi 84SpainConductor, Actor
30 Thomas Browne Henry 72USActor
July6 Frank Cordell 62UKComposer
6 Gail Patrick 69USActress
7 Reginald Gardiner 77UKActor
7 Dore Schary 74USProducer, Screenwriter, Executive
11 Peggy Knudsen 57USActress
24 Peter Sellers 54UKActor
30 Charles McGraw 66USActor
31 Bobby Van 51USActor, Dancer
August1 Strother Martin 61USActor
2 Donald Ogden Stewart 85USScreenwriter
9 Elliot Nugent 83USDirector
14 Dorothy Stratten 20CanadaActress
17 Harold Adamson 73USLyricist
24 Yootha Joyce 53UKActress
25 Gower Champion 59USActor, Dancer, Director
25 Lester Dorr 87USActor
26 Tex Avery 72USAnimator, Director
27 Douglas Kenney 33USScreenwriter
September3 Barbara O'Neil 70USActress
4 Duncan Renaldo 76RomaniaActor
5 Barbara Loden 48USActress, Director
12 Lillian Randolph 81USActress
17 Michael Strong 62USActor
19 Sol Lesser 90USProducer
25 Lewis Milestone 84MoldovaDirector
October6 Hattie Jacques 58UKActress
10 Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas 49USActor
28 Leon Janney 63USActor
November4 Noel Langley 68South AfricaScreenwriter
7 Emilio Cigoli 70ItalyActor
7 Steve McQueen 50USActor
9 Carmel Myers 81USActress
9 Victor Sen Yung 65USActor
14 Nick Dennis 76USActor
15 Bill Lee 64USActor, Singer
16 Imogen Hassall 38UKActress
22 Mae West 87USActress, Screenwriter
24 Nancy Hsueh 38USActress
24 George Raft 79USActor
26 Conrad A. Nervig 91USFilm Editor
26 Rachel Roberts 53UKActress
28 Sarah Y. Mason 84USScreenwriter
29 Edith Evanson 84USActress
December8 John Lennon 40UKSinger, Actor
12 Urie McCleary 75USArt Director
16 Peter Collinson 44UKDirector
20 Ben Sharpsteen 85USDirector, Producer
21 Marc Connelly 90USActor, Screenwriter
22 Lesser Samuels 86USScreenwriter
23 Memmo Carotenuto 72ItalyActor
28 Sam Levene 75USActor
31 Raoul Walsh 93USDirector, Actor

Film debuts

See also

By country/region

By genre/medium

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ "1980 Domestic Grosses". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 7 April 2014.
    2. ↑ "The Empire Strikes Back (1980)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved May 13, 2013.
    3. ↑ Gorelik, Boris (12 July 2014). "Jamie se treffer: Met Uys, ja – die wêreld in". Rapport . Media24. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
    4. ↑ 1980 in film at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
    5. ↑ "The Blues Brothers". Box Office Mojo . Internet Movie Database . Retrieved December 16, 2008.
    6. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (January 19, 1981). "What Were 1980's Most Popular Movie?" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
    7. 1 2 Harmetz, Aljean (August 5, 1979). "Hollywood Is Taking Aim At The Funny Bone" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
    8. ↑ Lewin, David (December 2, 1979). "Can the Makers of 'Star Wars' Do It Again?" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
    9. ↑ "Lin-Manuel Biography (1980–)". Biography.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
    10. ↑ Editors of Chase's (30 September 2018). Chase's Calendar of Events 2019: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 90. ISBN   978-1-64143-264-1.
    11. ↑ Contemporary; Sandra Whiteley (1999). The Teacher's Calendar, 1999-2000: The Day-by-day Directory to Holidays, Historic Events, Birthdays and Special Days, Weeks and Months. Contemporary Books. p. 115. ISBN   978-0-8092-2662-7.
    12. ↑ Chase's Editors; Contemporary Books (September 2002). Chase's Calendar of Events 2003. McGraw-Hill. p. 131. ISBN   978-0-07-139098-9.
    13. ↑ "The birth of Jason Ritter". californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
    14. ↑ Aubusson, Kate (20 May 2015). "Rebel Wilson's birth date revealed in ASIC documents". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 19 May 2015. Business records filed with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) list the date of birth for a "Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson" as March 2, 1980
    15. ↑ "Person Details for Katherine B Waterston, "United States Public Records, 1945-2009"". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
    16. ↑ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly . No. 1255/1256. 2013. p. 31.
    17. ↑ "Ellie Kemper". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
    18. ↑ Owen, Catrin. "Pua Magasiva's life in the spotlight and the 'demons' behind it". Stuff . Retrieved 18 December 2019.
    19. ↑ Paul T. Hellmann (14 February 2006). Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Routledge. p. 783. ISBN   1-135-94859-3.
    20. ↑ Editors of Chase's (30 September 2018). Chase's Calendar of Events 2019: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 428. ISBN   978-1-64143-264-1.
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