1987 in film
The following is an overview of events in 1987 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths. Paramount Pictures celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1987.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1987 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:Rank | Title | Distributor | Box-office gross |
1 | Three Men and a Baby | Buena Vista/Touchstone Pictures | $167,780,960 |
2 | Fatal Attraction | Paramount Pictures | $156,645,693 |
3 | Beverly Hills Cop II | Paramount Pictures | $153,665,036 |
4 | Good Morning, Vietnam | Buena Vista/Touchstone Pictures | $123,922,370 |
5 | Moonstruck | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $80,640,528 |
6 | The Untouchables | Paramount Pictures | $76,270,454 |
7 | The Secret of My Success | Universal Pictures | $66,995,000 |
8 | Stakeout | Buena Vista/Touchstone Pictures | $65,673,23 |
9 | Lethal Weapon | Warner Bros. | $65,207,127 |
10 | The Witches of Eastwick | Warner Bros. | $63,766,510 |
Events
- January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records.
- May 23 - Starlog Salutes Star Wars is held in Los Angeles, California, the first officially sponsored Star Wars convention to commemorate the franchise's 10th anniversary.
- June 29 - The James Bond franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary and premieres its 15th film, The Living Daylights
- July 17 - Walt Disney's classic masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is re-released worldwide for its 50th anniversary.
- 1987 - Paramount Pictures launches a new on-screen logo to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
Awards
Golden Globe Awards:
Palme d'Or :
Golden Lion :
Golden Bear :
Wide-release films
January–March
April–June
July–September
October–December
Notable films released in 1987
unless stated#
- 84 Charing Cross Road, directed by David Jones, starring Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, Judi Dench -
A
- AAj, directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Kumar Gaurav, Smita Patil, Raj Babbar, and Raj Kiran
- Adventures in Babysitting, directed by Chris Columbus, starring Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, and Maia Brewton.
- Aenigma, directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Jared Martin
- Aha Naa Pellanta, directed by Jandhyala Subramanya Sastry, starring Rajendra Prasad, and Rajani
- The Allnighter, directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs, starring Susanna Hoffs, Dedee Pfeiffer, Joan Cusack, James Anthony Shanta, John Terlesky, and Michael Ontkean
- Amazing Grace and Chuck, directed by Mike Newell, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, William Petersen, Alex English, Gregory Peck
- Amazon Women on the Moon, compilation film co-directed by five directors: Joe Dante, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Horton, John Landis, and Robert K. Weiss. Starring Arsenio Hall, Griffin Dunne, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rosanna Arquette, Steve Guttenberg, Steve Forrest
- , directed by Sam Firstenberg, starring Michael Dudikoff, Steve James, and Larry Poindexter
- Angel Heart, directed by Alan Parker, starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet
- Anguish, directed by Bigas Luna, starring Zelda Rubinstein -
- Anna, directed by Yurek Bogayevicz, starring Sally Kirkland and Paulina Porizkova
- Aria, anthology film consisting of ten short films by ten different directors: Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, Bill Bryden, Jean-Luc Godard, Derek Jarman, Franc Roddam, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Charles Sturridge, and Julien Temple. Starring Theresa Russell, Buck Henry, Beverly D'Angelo, John Hurt, Anita Morris, and Bridget Fonda.
- Assassination, directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Stephen Elliott, Jan Gan Boyd, Randy Brooks, Michael Ansara, and William Prince.
- Au revoir les enfants, directed by Louis Malle, starring Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Philippe Morier-Genoud, and Francine Racette. Golden Lion award -
- An Autumn's Tale, directed by Mabel Cheung, starring Chow Yun-fat, Cherie Chung, and Danny Chan
B
- Babette's Feast, directed by Gabriel Axel, starring Stephane Audran - Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film -
- Baby Boom, directed by Charles Shyer, starring Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard, Harold Ramis
- Back to the Beach, directed by Lyndall Hobbs, starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Lori Loughlin, Tommy Hinkley, Connie Stevens, Don Adams, Bob Denver, and Pee-wee Herman
- Bad Taste, written and directed by Peter Jackson, starring Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Peter Jackson, Mike Minett, and Craig Smith.
- Bagdad Café, aka Out of Rosenheim, directed by Percy Adlon, starring Marianne Sägebrecht, C. C. H. Pounder, and Jack Palance. Golden Space Needle award -
- The Barbarians, directed by Ruggero Deodato, starring Peter Paul, David Paul, Richard Lynch, and Eva La Rue
- Barfly, directed by Barbet Schroeder, starring Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige
- Batteries Not Included, directed by Matthew Robbins, starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy
- Beatrice, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, starring Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Julie Delpy, Monique Chaumette, Robert Dhéry, Michèle Gleizer, Nils Tavernier, Maxime Leroux, and Jean-Claude Adelin
- The Bedroom Window, directed by Curtis Hanson, starring Steve Guttenberg, Isabelle Huppert, Elizabeth McGovern
- The Believers, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Martin Sheen, Helen Shaver, Robert Loggia, Richard Masur, Harley Cross, and Jimmy Smits
- Bellman and True, directed by Richard Loncraine, starring Bernard Hill, Derek Newark, Richard Hope, Ken Bones, Frances Tomelty, and Kieran O'Brien.
- The Belly of an Architect, directed by Peter Greenaway, starring Brian Dennehy, Chloe Webb -
- Benji the Hunted, directed by Joe Camp, starring Red Steagall, and Frank Inn
- Best Seller, directed by John Flynn, starring James Woods and Brian Dennehy
- A Better Tomorrow II, directed by John Woo, starring Chow Yun-fat -
- Beauty and the Beast, directed by Eugene Marner, starring John Savage, and Rebecca De Mornay
- Beverly Hills Cop II, directed by Tony Scott, starring Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox, John Ashton, Brigitte Nielsen, Allen Garfield, Dean Stockwell, and Paul Reiser
- Beyond Therapy, directed by Robert Altman, starring Julie Hagerty, Jeff Goldblum, Glenda Jackson
- The Big Easy, directed by Jim McBride, starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Ned Beatty
- Big Shots, directed by Robert Mandel, starring Darius McCrary, Robert Prosky, Paul Winfield
- The Big Town, co-directed by two directors: Harold Becker and Ben Bolt. Starring Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones, Suzy Amis, Lee Grant, Bruce Dern
- Black Widow, directed by Bob Rafelson, starring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell
- Blind Chance, directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, starring Bogusław Linda
- Blind Date, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger
- Blue Monkey, directed by William Fruet, starring Steve Railsback
- Born in East L.A., directed by Cheech Marin, starring Cheech Marin
- Boyfriends and Girlfriends, directed by Éric Rohmer, starring Emmanuelle Chaulet and Sophie Renoir
- The Brave Little Toaster, directed by Jerry Rees, starring Deanna Oliver, Timothy E. Day, Jon Lovitz, Timothy Stack, Thurl Ravenscroft, Wayne Kaatz, Colette Savage, Phil Hartman, Joe Ranft, and Jim Jackman
- Broadcast News, directed by James L. Brooks, starring William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, Lois Chiles, Robert Prosky, Joan Cusack
- Burglar, directed by Hugh Wilson, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Bobcat Goldthwait, G. W. Bailey, and Lesley Ann Warren
- Business as Usual, directed by Lezli-An Barrett, starring Glenda Jackson and John Thaw -
- Buy & Cell, directed by Robert Boris, starring Robert Carradine, Randall "Tex" Cobb, Imogene Coca, and Malcolm McDowell
C
- Can't Buy Me Love, directed by Steve Rash, starring Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson
- Captain Khorshid, directed by Nasser Taghvai, starring Dariush Arjmand and Ali Nassirian
- The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, directed by Raymond Jafelice, starring Bob Dermer, Eva Almos, Dan Hennessey, Jim Henshaw, Marla Lukofsky, Luba Goy, Keith Knight, Tracey Moore, Colin Fox, John Stocker, Don McManus, Elizabeth Hanna, Alan Fawcett, Keith Hampshire, and Alyson Court
- Cherry 2000, directed by Steve De Jarnatt, starring Melanie Griffith, David Andrews, Tim Thomerson, and Pamela Gidley
- A Chinese Ghost Story, directed by Ching Siu-tung, starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, and Wu Ma
- The Chipmunk Adventure, directed by Janice Karman, starring Ross Bagdasarian Jr., Janice Karman, Dody Goodman, Susan Tyrrell, Anthony De Longis, Frank Welker, Ken Sansom, and Nancy Cartwright
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold, directed by Francesco Rosi, starring Rupert Everett, Ornella Muti, Gian Maria Volonté -
- City on Fire, directed by Ringo Lam, starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, Sun Yueh, Carrie Ng, and Roy Cheung
- Coast to Coast, directed by Sandy Johnson, starring Lenny Henry, and John Shea -
- Cobra Verde, directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski -
- Cold Steel, directed by Dorothy Ann Puzo, starring Brad Davis and Sharon Stone
- Crazy Love, directed by Dominique Deruddere, starring Josse De Pauw, and Gene Bervoets
- Creepshow 2, directed by Michael Gornick, starring Lois Chiles, George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour, and Tom Savini
- Critical Condition, directed by Michael Apted, starring Richard Pryor
- Cross My Heart, directed by Armyan Bernstein, starring Martin Short, Annette O'Toole, Paul Reiser
- Cry Freedom, directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Kevin Kline and Denzel Washington -
- The Cry of the Owl, directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Christophe Malavoy, Mathilda May, and Virginie Thévenet
- The Curse, directed by David Keith, starring Wil Wheaton, Claude Akins, Malcolm Danare, Cooper Huckabee, and John Schneider
- The Cyclist, directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, starring Moharram Zaynalzadeh
D
- Dark Eyes, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, starring Marcello Mastroianni, Marthe Keller, Yelena Safonova, Pina Cei, Vsevolod Larionov, and Innokenti Smoktunovsky
- Dark Tower, directed by Freddie Francis and Ken Wiederhorn, starring Michael Moriarty, Jenny Agutter, Carol Lynley
- Date with an Angel, directed by Tom McLoughlin, starring Michael E. Knight, Phoebe Cates, Emmanuelle Béart, and David Dukes
- Daughter of the Nile, directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, starring Lin Yang, Jack Kao, and Li Tian-lu
- Days to Remember, directed by Jeanine Meerapfel, starring Barbara Sukowa -
- The Dead, directed by John Huston, starring his daughter, Anjelica Huston -
- Dead of Winter, directed by Arthur Penn, starring Mary Steenburgen, Roddy McDowall, Jan Rubeš, and William Russ
- Deadline, directed by Nathaniel Gutman, starring Christopher Walken, and Hywel Bennett
- Deadly Illusion, directed by Larry Cohen and William Tannen, starring Billy Dee Williams
- ', aka Dear America, directed by Bill Couturié, documentary film about the Vietnam War
- Death Before Dishonor, directed by Terry Leonard, starring Fred Dryer, Brian Keith, Joanna Pacuła, and Paul Winfield
- ', directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Charles Bronson and Kay Lenz
- Desyat Negrityat, film adaptation of the novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Directed by Stanislav Govorukhin, starring Vladimir Zeldin, Tatyana Drubich, Alexander Kaidanovsky, Aleksei Zharkov, Anatoli Romashin, and Lyudmila Maksakova
- Diary for My Lovers, directed by Márta Mészáros, starring Ágnes Csere
- Dirty Dancing, directed by Emile Ardolino, starring Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Jerry Orbach
- Disorderlies, directed by Michael Schultz, starring The Fat Boys, Ralph Bellamy, Tony Plana, and Anthony Geary
- Dolls, directed by Stuart Gordon, starring Stephen Lee, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, and Bunty Bailey
- Down Twisted, directed by Albert Pyun, starring Carey Lowell, Charles Rocket, Trudy Dotchterman, Norbert Weisser, Linda Kerridge, Nicholas Guest, Thom Mathews, Courteney Cox, and Galyn Görg
- Dragnet, directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Harry Morgan, Alexandra Paul, Dabney Coleman, Christopher Plummer
- , directed by Daisuke Nishio, starring Masako Nozawa, Hiromi Tsuru, Mayumi Tanaka, Tōru Furuya, Mami Koyama, Kōhei Miyauchi, Naoki Tatsuta, Naoko Watanabe, and Shōzō Iizuka
- Dudes, directed by Penelope Spheeris, starring Jon Cryer, Daniel Roebuck, Catherine Mary Stewart, Flea, Lee Ving, Billy Ray Sharkey, and Glenn Withrow
E
- Eastern Condors, directed by Sammo Hung, starring Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Joyce Godenzi, Yuen Wah, Lam Ching-ying, Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen, and Billy Chow
- Eat the Rich, directed by Peter Richardson, starring Nosher Powell, Ronald Allen, Nigel Planer, and Miranda Richardson
- Eddie Murphy Raw, performance documentary, directed by Robert Townsend, starring Eddie Murphy
- Eien no 1/2, directed by Kichitaro Negishi, starring Saburō Tokitō, and Shinobu Otake
- The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, documentary film about World War II, directed by Kazuo Hara
- Empire of the Sun, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson
- End of the Line, directed by Jay Russell, starring Kevin Bacon, Wilford Brimley, Mary Steenburgen, Holly Hunter
- Enemy Territory, directed by Peter Manoogian, starring Gary Frank, Ray Parker, Jr., Frances Fisher
- Ernest Goes to Camp, directed by John R. Cherry III, starring Jim Varney
- Escape from Sobibor, directed by Jack Gold, starring Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacuła, Rutger Hauer -
- Evil Dead II, directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, and Kassie DePaiva
- Extreme Prejudice, directed by Walter Hill, starring Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, María Conchita Alonso, Rip Torn
F
- The Family, directed by Ettore Scola, starring Vittorio Gassman and Stefania Sandrelli -
- Family Viewing, directed by Atom Egoyan, starring David Hemblen, Aidan Tierney, Gabrielle Rose, and Arsinée Khanjian
- Fatal Attraction, directed by Adrian Lyne, starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer
- Fatal Beauty, directed by Tom Holland, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Sam Elliott, Rubén Blades, Harris Yulin, John P. Ryan, and Jennifer Warren
- Five Corners, directed by Tony Bill, starring Tim Robbins, Jodie Foster, John Turturro
- Flowers in the Attic, directed by Jeffrey Bloom, starring Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson, Louise Fletcher, and Jeb Stuart Adams
- Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle, directed by Éric Rohmer, starring Joëlle Miquel, Jessica Forde, Philippe Laudenbach, and Marie Rivière
- The Fourth Protocol, directed by John Mackenzie, starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan -
- Freckled Max and the Spooks, directed by Juraj Jakubisko, starring Martin Hreben
- From the Hip, directed by Bob Clark, starring Judd Nelson, Elizabeth Perkins, John Hurt
- Full Metal Jacket, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Adam Baldwin, Arliss Howard
G
- , directed by Don Jurwich, starring Don Johnson and Burgess Meredith
- The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, directed by Rod Amateau, starring Anthony Newley, Mackenzie Astin, and Katie Barberi
- Gardens of Stone, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring James Caan, Anjelica Huston, D.B. Sweeney, James Earl Jones
- The Gate, directed by Tibor Takács, starring Stephen Dorff
- The Glass Menagerie, directed by Paul Newman, starring Joanne Woodward and John Malkovich
- Going Bananas, directed by Boaz Davidson, starring Dom DeLuise, Jimmie Walker, David Mendenhall, Deep Roy, Warren Berlinger, and Herbert Lom
- Good Morning, Babylon, directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, starring Vincent Spano and Greta Scacchi -
- Good Morning, Vietnam, directed by Barry Levinson, starring Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, J. T. Walsh, Bruno Kirby
- Gor, directed by Fritz Kiersch, starring Urbano Barberini, Rebecca Ferratti, and Oliver Reed
- The Grand Highway, directed by Jean-Loup Hubert, starring Richard Bohringer, and Anémone
- Da Grande, directed by Franco Amurri, starring Renato Pozzetto
- Ground Zero, directed by Bruce Myles and Michael Pattinson, starring Colin Friels and Jack Thompson -
H
- Hamburger Hill, directed by John Irvin, starring Dylan McDermott
- Hamlet Goes Business, directed by Aki Kaurismäki, starring Pirkka-Pekka Petelius
- Hangmen, directed by J. Christian Ingvordsen, starring Sandra Bullock
- The Hanoi Hilton, directed by Lionel Chetwynd, starring Michael Moriarty
- Happy New Year, directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Peter Falk, Charles Durning, Wendy Hughes, Tom Courtenay
- Hard Ticket to Hawaii, directed by Andy Sidaris, starring Ronn Moss, Dona Speir, and Cynthia Brimhall
- Harry and the Hendersons, directed by William Dear, starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, Lainie Kazan, and Kevin Peter Hall
- Hello Again, directed by Frank Perry, starring Shelley Long, Corbin Bernsen, Judith Ivey, Sela Ward, Gabriel Byrne
- ', directed by Bruce Pittman, starring Michael Ironside, Wendy Lyon, Louis Ferreira, Lisa Schrage, and Richard Monette
- Hellraiser, directed by Clive Barker, starring Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, and Ashley Laurence
- The Hidden, directed by Jack Sholder, starring Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri
- Hidden City, directed by Stephen Poliakoff, starring Charles Dance -
- Hiding Out, directed by Bob Giraldi, starring Jon Cryer, and Annabeth Gish
- High Season, directed by Clare Peploe, starring Jacqueline Bisset, James Fox, Irene Papas, Kenneth Branagh, Lesley Manville, Robert Stephens, and Sebastian Shaw
- High Tide, directed by Gillian Armstrong, starring Judy Davis -
- Hollywood Shuffle, directed by and starring Robert Townsend
- Hope and Glory, directed by John Boorman, starring Sammi Davis, Sarah Miles - Golden Globe Award for Best Picture -
- Hot Pursuit, directed by Steven Lisberger, starring John Cusack, Robert Loggia, Wendy Gazelle, and Jerry Stiller
- ', directed by Ethan Wiley, starring Arye Gross, Jonathan Stark, Royal Dano, Lar Park Lincoln, and John Ratzenberger
- House of Games, directed by David Mamet, starring Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse
- Housekeeping, directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Christine Lahti
- A Hungarian Fairy Tale, directed by Gyula Gazdag, starring Eszter Csákányi
- Hunk, directed by Lawrence Bassoff, starring John Allen Nelson, Steve Levitt, and James Coco
I
- Innerspace, directed by Joe Dante, starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan
- In the Mood, directed by Phil Alden Robinson, starring Patrick Dempsey and Beverly D'Angelo
- Intervista, directed by and starring Federico Fellini -
- Iron Earth, Copper Sky, directed by O. Z. Livaneli, starring Rutkay Aziz
- Ironweed, directed by Héctor Babenco, starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep
- Ishtar, directed by Elaine May, starring Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Adjani, Charles Grodin
- , directed by Larry Cohen, starring Michael Moriarty, Karen Black, Laurene Landon, James Dixon, Gerrit Graham, Macdonald Carey, and Neal Israel
- I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, directed by Patricia Rozema, starring Sheila McCarthy, Paule Baillargeon, and Ann-Marie MacDonald
J
- , directed by Joseph Sargent, starring Lorraine Gary and Michael Caine
- Julia and Julia, directed by Peter Del Monte, starring Kathleen Turner, Gabriel Byrne, and Sting
K
- Kaash, directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Jackie Shroff, and Dimple Kapadia
- Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, directed by Santhana Bharathi, starring Sathyaraj, Geetha, Jeevitha, Kamal Haasan, Nassar, Delhi Ganesh, Kamala Kamesh, Nalini, Sivachandran, V.K.Ramasamy, Malaysia Vasudevan, and Major Sundararajan
- Kelid, directed by Ebrahim Forouzesh, starring Mahnaz Ansarian
- The Kindred, directed by Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter, starring David Allen Brooks, Amanda Pays, Talia Balsam, Kim Hunter, and Rod Steiger
- King Lear, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Peter Sellars, Burgess Meredith, Molly Ringwald
- King of the Children, directed by Chen Kaige, starring Chen Shaohua, and Xie Yuan
- Kingsajz, directed by Juliusz Machulski, starring Jacek Chmielnik
- The Kreutzer Sonata, directed by Mikhail Schweitzer, starring Oleg Yankovskiy, and Aleksandr Trofimov
L
- La Bamba, directed by Luis Valdez, starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales
- Lady Beware, directed by Karen Arthur, starring Diane Lane
- The Last Emperor, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring John Lone and Joan Chen - Academy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture -
- The Last of England, directed by Derek Jarman, starring Tilda Swinton and Nigel Terry -
- Late Summer Blues, directed by Renen Schorr, starring Yoav Tzafir, Dor Zweigenbom, Shahar Segal, Noa Goldberg, and Omri Dolev
- Laughter and Grief by the White Sea, directed by Leonid Nosyrev, starring Tatyana Vasilyeva, Klara Rumyanova, and Yevgeniy Leonov
- Law of Desire, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Antonio Banderas, Carmen Maura -
- Leonard Part 6, directed by Paul Weiland, starring Bill Cosby, Tom Courtenay, and Joe Don Baker. The film won three Razzie Awards for Worst Picture, Actor and Screenplay
- Less Than Zero, directed by Marek Kanievska, starring Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, Robert Downey, Jr., James Spader
- Lethal Weapon, directed by Richard Donner, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover
- Light of Day, directed by Paul Schrader, starring Michael J. Fox, Joan Jett, Gena Rowlands
- The Lighthorsemen, directed by Simon Wincer, starring Jon Blake, Peter Phelps, Tony Bonner, Bill Kerr, John Walton, Gary Sweet, Tim McKenzie, Sigrid Thornton, and Anthony Andrews
- Like Father Like Son, directed by Rod Daniel, starring Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron
- Lionheart, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, starring Eric Stoltz and Gabriel Byrne
- The Living Daylights, directed by John Glen, starring Timothy Dalton, with Maryam d'Abo, Joe Don Baker -
- The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, directed by Jack Clayton, starring Maggie Smith and Bob Hoskins -
- Long Gone, directed by Martin Davidson, starring William Petersen, Virginia Madsen, Dermot Mulroney
- The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher, starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Dianne Wiest
- Love at Stake, directed by John Moffitt, starring Patrick Cassidy, Kelly Preston, Barbara Carrera
- Love is a Fat Woman, directed by Alejandro Agresti, starring Elio Marchi, and Sergio Poves Campos
- Loyalties, directed by Anne Wheeler, starring Kenneth Welsh, and Susan Wooldridge
- , directed by Vicente Aranda, starring Imanol Arias, and Victoria Abril
M
- Macbeth, an opera, directed by Claude d'Anna, starring Leo Nucci
- Made in Heaven, directed by Alan Rudolph, starring Timothy Hutton and Kelly McGillis
- Maid to Order, directed by Amy Holden Jones, starring Ally Sheedy, Beverly D'Angelo, Michael Ontkean, Valerie Perrine, Dick Shawn, and Tom Skerritt
- Making Mr. Right, directed by Susan Seidelman, starring Ann Magnuson and John Malkovich
- Malone, directed by Harley Cokeliss, starring Burt Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, Kenneth McMillan, Lauren Hutton, Cynthia Gibb
- A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines, directed by Alla Surikova, starring Andrei Mironov, Aleksandra Yakovleva, Nikolai Karachentsov, Oleg Tabakov, Mikhail Boyarsky, and Igor Kvasha
- A Man in Love, directed by Diane Kurys, starring Peter Coyote, and Greta Scacchi
- Man On Fire, directed by Élie Chouraqui, starring Scott Glenn, Brooke Adams, Danny Aiello, Joe Pesci, Paul Shenar, and Jonathan Pryce
- The Man Who Planted Trees, directed by Frédéric Back, starring Philippe Noiret, and Christopher Plummer
- Mannequin, directed by Michael Gottlieb, starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall
- Masks, directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Philippe Noiret -
- Masters of the Universe, directed by Gary Goddard, starring Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Courteney Cox
- Matewan, directed by John Sayles, starring Chris Cooper, Will Oldham, David Strathairn
- Maurice, directed by James Ivory, starring James Wilby, Hugh Grant and Ben Kingsley -
- Miami Connection, directed by Richard Park and Y.K. Kim, starring Y.K. Kim
- Mio in the Land of Faraway, directed by Vladimir Grammatikov, starring Christopher Lee and Christian Bale -
- The Monster Squad, directed by Fred Dekker, starring Andre Gower, Duncan Regehr, Stephen Macht, Stan Shaw, and Tom Noonan
- A Month in the Country, directed by Pat O'Connor, starring Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh and Natasha Richardson -
- Moonstruck, directed by Norman Jewison, starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello
- Morgan Stewart's Coming Home, directed by Alan Smithee, Paul Aaron, and Terry Winsor, starring Jon Cryer, Viveka Davis, Paul Gleason, Nicholas Pryor, Lynn Redgrave, and Savely Kramarov
- Morning Patrol, directed by Nikos Nikolaidis, starring Michele Valley, Takis Spiridakis, Liana Hatzi, Nikos Hatzis, V. Kabouri, Takis Loukatos, H. Mavros, Panos Thanassoulis, and Rania Trivela
- The Mother of Kings, directed by Janusz Zaorski, starring Magda Teresa Wójcik. Produced in 1982 but not released until 1987 -
- Mr. India, directed by Shekhar Kapur, starring Anil Kapoor and Sridevi -
- Mr. Muhsin, directed by Yavuz Turgul, starring Şener Şen, and Uğur Yücel
- Mr. Nice Guy, directed by Henry Wolfond, starring Mike MacDonald and Jan Smithers
- My Best Friend Is a Vampire, directed by Jimmy Huston, starring Robert Sean Leonard, Cheryl Pollak, René Auberjonois, Evan Mirand, Fannie Flagg, Paul Willson, Cecilia Peck, and David Warner
- My Demon Lover, directed by Charlie Loventhal, starring Scott Valentine, Michele Little, Robert Trebor, Alan Fudge, Gina Gallego, and Arnold Johnson
- My Life as a Dog, directed by Lasse Hallström, starring Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen. The film won a Golden Space Needle award -
N
- Nadine, directed by Robert Benton, starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger
- Nayakan, directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Kamal Haasan, Saranya Ponvannan, and Karthika
- Near Dark, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, starring Adrian Pasdar, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton
- Nekromantik, directed by Jörg Buttgereit, starring Daktari Lorenz, Beatrice Manowski, and Harald Lundt
- Neo Tokyo, anthology film, co-directed by Rintaro, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Katsuhiro Otomo. Starring Hideko Yoshida, Masane Tsukayama, and Yū Mizushima
- Night Zoo, directed by Jean-Claude Lauzon, starring Gilles Maheu, Lynne Adams, and Roger Lebel
- , directed by Chuck Russell, starring Craig Wasson and Heather Langenkamp
- No Man's Land, directed by Peter Werner, starring Charlie Sheen, D. B. Sweeney, Randy Quaid
- No Way Out, directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, Will Patton, Iman
- North Shore, directed by William Phelps, starring Matt Adler, Nia Peeples, John Philbin, Gerry Lopez, and Gregory Harrison
- Nowhere to Hide, directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi, starring Amy Madigan and Michael Ironside
- Nukie, directed by Sias Odendaal and Michael Pakleppa, starring Steve Railsback, and Glynis Johns
- Number One with a Bullet, directed by Jack Smight, starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams
- Nuts, directed by Martin Ritt, starring Barbra Streisand, Richard Dreyfuss, Karl Malden, Maureen Stapleton, Eli Wallach, James Whitmore
O
- O.C. and Stiggs, directed by Robert Altman, starring Daniel H. Jenkins, Neill Barry, Martin Mull, Jane Curtin, Dennis Hopper
- Opera, directed by Dario Argento, starring Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, and William McNamara
- Orphans, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Matthew Modine, Kevin Anderson, Albert Finney
- Outrageous Fortune, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Bette Midler and Shelley Long
- Over the Top, directed by Menahem Golan, starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, David Mendenhall
- Overboard, directed by Garry Marshall, starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn
P–Q
- Partition, directed by Ken McMullen, starring Saeed Jaffrey -
- Pathfinder, directed by Nils Gaup, starring Mikkel Gaup, Nils Utsi, and Helgi Skúlason
- Pelle the Conqueror, directed by Bille August, starring Max von Sydow - Academy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film -
- Personal Services, directed by Terry Jones, starring Julie Walters -
- The Pick-up Artist, directed by James Toback, starring Robert Downey, Jr., Molly Ringwald, Danny Aiello, Dennis Hopper
- Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, directed by Hal Sutherland, starring Scott Grimes, Tom Bosley, Edward Asner, Frank Welker, Jonathan Harris, James Earl Jones, William Windom, Don Knotts, and Rickie Lee Jones
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles, directed by John Hughes, starring Steve Martin and John Candy
- , directed by Jim Drake, starring Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow, David Graf, Tim Kazurinsky, Sharon Stone, Marion Ramsey, Lance Kinsey, Leslie Easterbrook, Colleen Camp, G. W. Bailey, Bobcat Goldthwait, and George Gaynes
- A Prayer for the Dying, directed by Mike Hodges, starring Mickey Rourke, Bob Hoskins, Alan Bates, and Liam Neeson
- Predator, directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers
- Prick Up Your Ears, directed by Stephen Frears, starring Gary Oldman, a biopic of playwright Joe Orton -
- Prince of Darkness, directed by John Carpenter, starring Donald Pleasence, Jameson Parker, Victor Wong
- The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant
- The Principal, directed by Christopher Cain, starring James Belushi and Louis Gossett, Jr.
- Prison on Fire, directed by Ringo Lam, starring Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung -
- Project A Part II, directed by and starring Jackie Chan, starring Maggie Cheung -
- Project X, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt
- Promised Land, directed by Michael Hoffman, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Meg Ryan, Jason Gedrick, and Tracy Pollan
- Queenie'', television miniseries, directed by Larry Peerce, starring Mia Sara
R
- Radio Days, directed by Woody Allen, starring Dianne Wiest, Mia Farrow, Michael Tucker, Julie Kavner, Wallace Shawn
- Raising Arizona, directed by the Coen Brothers, starring Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter
- Rampage, directed by William Friedkin, starring Michael Biehn
- Real Men, directed by Dennis Feldman, starring James Belushi and John Ritter
- Red Sorghum, directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Gong Li and Jiang Wen - Golden Bear award -
- Reflections, directed by Goran Marković, starring Mustafa Nadarević, Anica Dobra, Milorad Mandić, Bogdan Diklić, and Gordana Gadžić
- Rent-a-Cop, directed by Jerry London, starring Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli, Dionne Warwick
- Return to Horror High, directed by Bill Froehlich, starring George Clooney, and Vince Edwards
- A Return to Salem's Lot, directed by Larry Cohen, starring Michael Moriarty, Andrew Duggan, Samuel Fuller, Evelyn Keyes, and June Havoc
- ', directed by Joe Roth, starring Robert Carradine and Courtney Thorne-Smith
- Rita, Sue and Bob Too, directed by Alan Clarke, starring Michelle Holmes, Siobhan Finneran, George Costigan, and Lesley Sharp
- RoboCop, directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Peter Weller and Nancy Allen
- Robot Carnival, anthology film, co-directed by Atsuko Fukushima, Katsuhiro Otomo, Koji Morimoto, Hidetoshi Omori, Yasuomi Umetsu, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Mao Lamdo, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, and Takashi Nakamura. Starring Kohji Moritsugu
- Roxanne, directed by Fred Schepisi, starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah
- ', directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga, starring Leo Morimoto, and Mitsuki Yayoi
- The Running Man, directed by Paul Michael Glaser, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, and Richard Dawson
- Russkies, directed by Rick Rosenthal, starring Whip Hubley, Joaquin Phoenix, and Peter Billingsley
S
- Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, directed by Stephen Frears, starring Shashi Kapoor and Claire Bloom -
- Satyamev Jayate, directed by Raj N. Sippy, starring Vinod Khanna, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Madhavi, and Anita Raj
- The Secret of My Success, directed by Herbert Ross, starring Michael J. Fox and Helen Slater
- September, directed by Woody Allen, starring Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Sam Waterston, Jack Warden, Elaine Stritch
- Shy People, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, starring Barbara Hershey and Jill Clayburgh
- The Sicilian, directed by Michael Cimino, starring Christopher Lambert
- Siesta, directed by Mary Lambert, starring Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne, Isabella Rossellini, Martin Sheen, Jodie Foster
- Sign 'o' the Times, directed by Prince and Albert Magnoli, a concert film starring Prince
- Sister, Sister, directed by Bill Condon, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judith Ivey, Eric Stoltz
- Slam Dance, directed by Wayne Wang, starring Virginia Madsen, Tom Hulce, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
- Sleeping Beauty, directed by David Irving, starring Tahnee Welch, Kenny Baker, and Morgan Fairchild
- Snow White, directed by Michael Berz, starring Diana Rigg, Sarah Patterson, Billy Barty, and Nicola Stapleton
- Some Kind of Wonderful, directed by Howard Deutch, starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Lea Thompson, Craig Sheffer
- Someone to Love, directed by and starring Henry Jaglom, with Orson Welles
- Someone to Watch Over Me, directed by Ridley Scott, starring Tom Berenger, Mimi Rogers, Lorraine Bracco
- Spaceballs, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, with John Candy, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga, Bill Pullman, Joan Rivers
- Square Dance, directed by Daniel Petrie, starring Winona Ryder, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, and Rob Lowe
- The Squeeze, directed by Roger Young, starring Michael Keaton, Rae Dawn Chong, and Joe Pantoliano
- Stage Fright, directed by Michele Soavi, starring David Brandon, and Barbara Cupisti
- Stakeout, directed by John Badham, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Madeleine Stowe
- Steel Dawn, directed by Lance Hool, starring Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Christopher Neame, Brett Hool, Brion James, and Anthony Zerbe
- The Stepfather, directed by Joseph Ruben, starring Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen, and Shelley Hack
- Storm, directed by David Winning, starring David Palffy, Stan Kane, Tom Schioler, Harry Freedman, and Lawrence Elion
- Straight to Hell, directed by Alex Cox, starring Courtney Love and Joe Strummer -
- Street Smart, directed by Jerry Schatzberg, starring Christopher Reeve, Kathy Baker and Morgan Freeman
- Street Trash, directed by J. Michael Muro, starring Mike Lackey, R. L. Ryan, James Lorinz, and Vic Noto
- Strike Commando, directed by Bruno Mattei, starring Reb Brown
- Subway to the Stars, directed by Carlos Diegues and Tereza Gonzalez, starring Guilherme Fontes
- Summer Camp Nightmare, directed by Bert L. Dragin, starring Chuck Connors, Charlie Stratton, and Harold Pruett
- Summer School, directed by Carl Reiner, starring Mark Harmon and Kirstie Alley
- , directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer
- Surrender, directed by Jerry Belson, starring Sally Field, Michael Caine, Steve Guttenberg, Peter Boyle
- The Surrogate Woman, directed by Im Kwon-taek, starring Kang Soo-yeon
- Suspect, directed by Peter Yates, starring Cher, Dennis Quaid, John Mahoney, Joe Mantegna, Liam Neeson
- Swimming to Cambodia, directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Spalding Gray
T
- A Taxing Woman, directed by Juzo Itami, starring Nobuko Miyamoto, and Tsutomu Yamazaki
- Teen Wolf Too, directed by Christopher Leitch, starring Jason Bateman, Kim Darby, John Astin, Paul Sand, James Hampton, Mark Holton, Estee Chandler, and Stuart Fratkin
- Three for the Road, directed by Bill L. Norton, starring Charlie Sheen, Alan Ruck, Kerri Green, Sally Kellerman, and Blair Tefkin
- Three Men and a Baby, directed by Leonard Nimoy, starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson, Nancy Travis
- Three O'Clock High, directed by Phil Joanou, starring Casey Siemaszko, Anne Ryan, Richard Tyson, Jeffrey Tambor, Philip Baker Hall, and John P. Ryan
- Throw Momma from the Train, directed by Danny DeVito, starring Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Anne Ramsey, Kate Mulgrew
- A Tiger's Tale, directed by Peter Douglas, starring Ann-Margret, C. Thomas Howell, Kelly Preston
- Timestalkers, directed by Michael Schultz, starring William Devane, Klaus Kinski, and Lauren Hutton
- Tin Men, directed by Barry Levinson, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, Barbara Hershey, John Mahoney, Jackie Gayle
- Tough Guys Don't Dance, directed by Norman Mailer, starring Ryan O'Neal, Isabella Rossellini, Lawrence Tierney
- Train of Dreams directed by John N. Smith, starring Jason St. Amour, Christopher Neil, and Fred Ward
- Travelling North, directed by Carl Schultz, starring Leo McKern, Julia Blake, and Graham Kennedy
- Tropic of Ice, directed by Lauri Törhönen, starring Tor Planting
- The Trouble with Spies, directed by Burt Kennedy, starring Donald Sutherland and Lucy Gutteridge
- Twilight of the Cockroaches, directed by Hiroaki Yoshida, starring Kaoru Kobayashi
U–V
- The Umbrella Woman, aka The Good Wife, directed by Ken Cameron, starring Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, Sam Neill
- Under the Sun of Satan, directed by Maurice Pialat, starring Gérard Depardieu and Sandrine Bonnaire. The film won a Palme d'Or award.
- The Untouchables, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy García, Charles Martin Smith, Patricia Clarkson
- Vincent, directed by Paul Cox, documentary film about Vincent van Gogh
W
- Waiting for the Moon, directed by Jill Godmilow, starring Linda Hunt, and Linda Bassett
- Walk Like a Man, directed by Melvin Frank, starring Howie Mandel
- Walker, directed by Alex Cox, starring Ed Harris -
- Wall Street, directed by Oliver Stone, starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Terence Stamp, Martin Sheen
- , directed by Gary Sherman, starring Rutger Hauer, Gene Simmons, and Robert Guillaume
- Weeds, directed by John D. Hancock, starring Nick Nolte
- The Whales of August, directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price
- Where Is the Friend's Home?, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, starring Babak Ahmadpour, and Ahmad Ahmadpour
- White Apache, directed by Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso, starring Sebastian Harrison, and Lola Forner
- White Mischief, directed by Michael Radford, starring Greta Scacchi, Charles Dance, Joss Ackland, Trevor Howard, John Hurt -
- White of the Eye, directed by Donald Cammell, starring Cathy Moriarty and David Keith -
- White Water Summer, directed by Jeff Bleckner, starring Kevin Bacon, Sean Astin, Jonathan Ward, and Matt Adler
- Who's That Girl, directed by James Foley, starring Madonna and Griffin Dunne
- Why?, directed by Karel Smyczek, starring Jiří Langmajer
- Wicked City, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, starring Yūsaku Yara, Toshiko Fujita, Ichirō Nagai, and Takeshi Aono
- Wild Thing, directed by Max Reid, starring Robert Knepper, and Kathleen Quinlan
- Wings of Desire, directed by Wim Wenders, starring Bruno Ganz and Peter Falk -
- Wish You Were Here, directed by David Leland, starring Emily Lloyd and Tom Bell -
- The Witches of Eastwick, directed by George Miller, starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer
- Withnail and I, directed by Bruce Robinson, starring Paul McGann, Richard E. Grant, Richard Griffiths -
XYZ
- The Year My Voice Broke, directed by John Duigan, starring Noah Taylor, Loene Carmen, and Ben Mendelsohn
- Yeelen, directed by Souleymane Cissé, starring Issiaka Kane, Aoua Sangare, and Niamanto Sanogo
- Zegen, directed by Shohei Imamura, starring Mitsuko Baisho
Births
- January 5 - Fabiola Guajardo, Mexican actress and model
- January 7 - Lyndsy Fonseca, actress
- January 16 - Carrie Keranen, voice actress
- February 5 - Darren Criss, actor
- February 9 - Michael B. Jordan, actor
- February 21
- * Ashley Greene, actress
- * Ellen Page, Canadian actress
- April 4 - Sarah Gadon, actress
- April 9 - Jesse McCartney, actor, singer-songwriter and voice actor
- April 19 - Oksana Akinshina, actress
- April 27 - William Moseley, English actor
- June 22 - Joe Dempsie, English actor
- June 27 - Ed Westwick, English film and television actor
- July 11 - Cristina Vee, voice actress
- July 26 - Miriam McDonald, Canadian actress
- July 27 - Mara Wilson, actress and writer
- August 8 - Katie Leung, Scottish film, television and stage actress
- August 25 - Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
- September 7 - Evan Rachel Wood, actress
- September 11 - Tyler Hoechlin, actor
- September 22 - Tom Felton, English actor
- September 28 - Hilary Duff, actress
- September 29 - Anaïs Demoustier, actress
- October 18 - Zac Efron, actor and singer
- November 12 - Kengo Kora, Japanese actor
- November 23 - Vallo Kirs, Estonian actor
- December 28 - Adam Gregory, actor
Notable deaths
Film debuts
- Patricia Arquette - '
- Alec Baldwin - Forever, Lulu
- Jason Bateman - Teen Wolf Too
- Kenneth Branagh - A Month in the Country
- Sandra Bullock - Hangmen
- Patricia Clarkson - The Untouchables
- George Clooney - Return to Horror High
- Chris Cooper - Matewan
- Courteney Cox - Down Twisted
- Stephen Dorff - The Gate
- Edie Falco - Sweet Lorraine
- Gong Li - Red Sorghum
- Richard E. Grant - Withnail and I
- Anthony LaPaglia - Cold Steel
- Nathan Lane - Ironweed
- Penelope Ann Miller - Hotshot
- Brad Pitt - No Man's Land
- Chris Rock - Beverly Hills Cop II
- David Spade - '
- Ben Stiller - Empire of the Sun
- Nancy Travis - Three Men and a Baby
- Courtney B. Vance - Hamburger Hill
- Jesse Ventura - Predator
- Robin Wright - The Princess Bride