1988 in film

Years in film
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Top grossing films (U.S.)

Box office results courtesy of Box Office Mojo.^[1]

Awards

Academy Awards

Best Picture: Rain Man - Mirage Entertainment, Star Partners II, United Artists

Best Director: Barry Levinson - Rain Man

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man

Best Actress: Jodie Foster - The Accused

Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Kline - A Fish Called Wanda

Best Supporting Actress: Geena Davis - The Accidental Tourist

Best Foreign Language Film: Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren), directed by Bille August, Denmark

Golden Globe Awards

Drama

Best Picture: Rain Man

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man

Best Actress (tie): Jodie Foster - The Accused

Best Actress (tie): Sigourney Weaver - Gorillas in the Mist

Musical or comedy

Best Picture: Working Girl

Best Actor: Tom Hanks - Big

Best Actress: Melanie Griffith - Working Girl

Other

Best Director: Clint Eastwood - Bird

Best Foreign Language Film: Pelle the Conqueror, Denmark

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival)

Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren), directed by Bille August, Denmark

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)

La leggenda del santo bevitore (The Legend of the Holy Drinker), directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy / France

Golden Bear (Berlin International Film Festival)

Red Sorghum (Hong gao liang), directed by Zhang Yimou, China

Golden Raspberry Awards

Worst Picture: Cocktail (Touchstone)

Worst Actor: Sylvester Stallone in Rambo III

Worst Actress: Liza Minnelli in Arthur 2: On the Rocks and Rent-A-Cop

Worst Supporting Actor: Dan Aykroyd in Caddyshack II

Worst Supporting Actress: Kristy McNichol in Two Moon Junction

Worst Director: Blake Edwards for Sunset, and Stewart Raffill for Mac and Me (tie)

Worst Screenplay: Cocktail, screenplay by Heywood Gould, based on his book

Worst New Star: Ronald McDonald (as himself) in Mac and Me

Worst Original Song: "Jack Fresh" from Caddyshack II, written and performed by Full Force

Films released in 1988

U.S.A. unless stated

Numerals and A-B

• 18 Again!, starring George Burns
• 1969, starring Robert Downey, Jr., Kiefer Sutherland and Winona Ryder

A

• Above the Law, starring Steven Seagal and Pam Grier
• The Accidental Tourist, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Bill Pullman
• The Accused, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis - (Canada)
• Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Eric Idle and Uma Thurman - (U.K.)
• Akira - (Japan)
• Alice (Něco z Alenky) - (Czechoslovakia)
• Alien Nation, starring James Caan and Mandy Patinkin
• Amsterdamned - (Netherlands)
• And God Created Woman, starring Rebecca De Mornay
• Another Woman, directed by Woody Allen, starring Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, Ian Holm, Gene Hackman
• Appointment With Death, starring Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Piper Laurie, Hayley Mills, Carrie Fisher
• Ariel, directed by Aki Kaurismäki - (Finland)
• Arthur 2: On the Rocks, starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli
• As Tears Go By (Wong gok Kaa mun), directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung - (Hong Kong)

B

• Bad Dreams, directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Jennifer Rubin
• Bat*21, starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover
• Beaches, starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey
• The Bear (L'Ours), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud - (France)
• Bear Ye One Another's Burden (Einer trage des anderen Last) - (East Germany)
• The Beast, starring George Dzundza and Jason Patric
• Beetlejuice, directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder
• Betrayed, directed by Costa-Gavras, starring Debra Winger and Tom Berenger
• Big, directed by Penny Marshall, starring Tom Hanks
• The Big Blue, directed by Luc Besson, starring Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno - (France/U.S.A./Italy)
• Big Business, directed by Jim Abrahams, starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin
• Big Time, a musical starring Tom Waits
• Big Top Pee-wee, starring Paul Reubens, Valeria Golino, Penelope Ann Miller, Kris Kristofferson
• Biloxi Blues, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken
• Bird, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Forest Whitaker and Diane Venora
• Black Eagle, starring Sho Kosugi and Jean-Claude Van Damme
• Blind Justice, aka Hold My Hand I'm Dying starring Oliver Reed, directed by Terence Ryan
• The Blob, starring Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith
• Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Forest Whitaker
• La Bohème, by Luigi Comencini
• The Boost starring James Woods and Sean Young
• Braddock: Missing in Action III, starring Chuck Norris
• Bright Lights, Big City, directed by James Bridges, starring Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Dianne Wiest
• Bull Durham, directed by Ron Shelton, starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins
• Bulletproof, starring Gary Busey
• Burning Secret, starring Klaus Maria Brandauer and Faye Dunaway - (U.K./West Germany)
• Buster, starring Phil Collins and Julie Walters - (U.K.)

C-G

C

• Caddyshack II, starring Jackie Mason, Dyan Cannon, Robert Stack, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd
• Call Me, starring Patricia Charbonneau
• Camille Claudel, starring Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu - (France)
• Candy Mountain - (Switzerland/Canada/France)
• Celia - (Australia)
• Chicken and Duck Talk (Gai tung aap gong) - (Hong Kong)
• Child's Play, starring Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent
• Chilsu and Mansu (칠수와 만수), directed by Park Kwang-su - (South Korea)
• Chocolat, directed by Claire Denis - (France)
• The Chocolate War
• A Chorus of Disapproval, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jeremy Irons - (U.K.)
• Cinema Paradiso, starring Philippe Noiret - (Italy) - winner of Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for best foreign language film
• Clara's Heart, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Neil Patrick Harris
• Clean and Sober, starring Michael Keaton, Morgan Freeman, Kathy Baker
• Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue
• Cocoon: The Return, starring Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Courteney Cox, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon
• Colors, directed by Dennis Hopper, starring Robert Duvall and Sean Penn
• Coming to America, starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones
• Consuming Passions, starring Jonathan Pryce - (U.K.)
• Cop, starring James Woods and Lesley Ann Warren
• The Couch Trip, starring Dan Aykroyd, Charles Grodin, Donna Dixon, Walter Matthau
• "Crocodile" Dundee II, starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski - (Australia)
• Crossing Delancey, starring Amy Irving and Peter Riegert
• A Cry in the Dark (aka Evil Angels), directed by Fred Schepisi, starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill - (Australia/U.S.A.)

D

• Da, starring Barnard Hughes and Martin Sheen
• Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
• Damnation (Karhozat), directed by Béla Tarr - (Hungary)
• Dancing in the Dust - Ivory Coast polygyny film
• Dangerous Liaisons, directed by Stephen Frears, starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer
• The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins - (U.K.)
• Dead Heat, starring Treat Williams
• The Dead Pool, starring Clint Eastwood, Liam Neeson, Patricia Clarkson, Jim Carrey
• Dead Ringers, directed by David Cronenberg, starring Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold - (Canada/U.S.A.)
• Dead Solid Perfect, starring Randy Quaid, Kathryn Harrold, Corinne Bohrer
• The Deceivers, starring Pierce Brosnan, Saeed Jaffrey and Shashi Kapoor - (India)
• The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, starring Aerosmith, Kiss, Motörhead and Ozzy Osbourne
• Die Hard, directed by John McTiernan, starring Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, directed by Frank Oz, starring Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly
• Distant Thunder, starring John Lithgow and Ralph Macchio
• Distant Voices, Still Lives, starring Pete Postlethwaite - (U.K.)
• D.O.A., starring Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan
• Doin' Time on Planet Earth
• Dominick and Eugene, starring Tom Hulce, Ray Liotta, Jamie Lee Curtis
• Dragons Forever (Fei lung maang jeung), starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• Dream Demon - (U.K.)
• Drowning by Numbers, directed by Peter Greenaway, starring Joan Plowright and Joely Richardson - (U.K.)

E

• Earth Girls Are Easy, directed by Julien Temple, starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, Jim Carrey
• Eight Men Out, directed by John Sayles, starring John Cusack, David Strathairn, John Mahoney, D. B. Sweeney, Charlie Sheen
• Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
• Ernest Saves Christmas
• The Everlasting Secret Family
• Everybody's All-American, directed by Taylor Hackford, starring Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange, Timothy Hutton, John Goodman

F

• Far North, directed by Sam Shepard, starring Jessica Lange
• Feds, starring Rebecca De Mornay and Mary Gross
• The First Kangaroos - (U.K./Australia)
• A Fish Called Wanda, directed by Charles Crichton, starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• Frantic, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Harrison Ford
• Fresh Horses, starring Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy
• Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
• Fright Night II, starring William Ragsdale and Roddy McDowall
• The Fruit Machine - (U.K.)
• Full Moon in Blue Water
• Fun Down There
• Funny Farm, starring Chevy Chase

G

• Ghosts… of the Civil Dead - (Australia)
• The Good Mother, starring Diane Keaton
• Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, directed by Michael Apted, starring Sigourney Weaver
• Gotham (aka) The Dead Can't Lie, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Virginia Madsen
• Grave of the Fireflies - (Japan)
• The Great Outdoors, starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy

H-M

H

• Hairspray, starring Ricki Lake, Divine, Jerry Stiller, Sonny Bono and Deborah Harry
• Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
• A Handful of Dust, starring James Wilby and Kristin Scott Thomas - (U.K.)
• Hanna's War, starring Ellen Burstyn
• Hanussen, directed by István Szabó, starring Klaus Maria Brandauer - (Hungary)
• Hatya, starring Govinda and Neelam - (India)
• Hawks, starring Timothy Dalton and Anthony Edwards - (U.K.)
• Heartbreak Hotel, directed by Chris Columbus
• Hellbound: Hellraiser II - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• Hero and the Terror, starring Chuck Norris
• High Hopes, directed by Mike Leigh - (U.K.)
• High Spirits, directed by Neil Jordan, starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Guttenberg and Daryl Hannah
• Hold My Hand I'm Dying aka Blind Justice, starring Oliver Reed, directed by Terence Ryan
• Hot to Trot, starring Bobcat Goldthwait and Dabney Coleman
• Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (Hôtel Terminus: Klaus Barbie, sa vie et son temps), directed by Marcel Ophüls - (France)
• The House on Carroll Street, directed by Peter Yates, starring Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels

I

• I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans
• Iron Eagle II
• It Couldn't Happen Here, starring Pet Shop Boys - (U.K.)

J

• Johnny Be Good, starring Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey, Jr. and Uma Thurman

K

• Kansas, starring Matt Dillon
• Keaton's Cop
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space
• The Kiss, starring Joanna Pacula and Meredith Salenger - (U.S.A./Canada)

L

• The Land Before Time
• Landscape in the Mist (Topio stin omichli) - (Greece)
• The Last Temptation of Christ, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel and Barbara Hershey
• La Leggenda del Santo Bevitore (The Legend Of The Holy Drinker), starring Rutger Hauer - (Italy/France) - Golden Lion award
• License to Drive, starring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman
• Light Years (Gandahar) - (France)
• The Little Devil (Il Piccolo Diavolo), starring Walter Matthau, Roberto Benigni (also director) - (Italy)
• Little Dorrit, starring Derek Jacobi and Alec Guinness - (U.K.)

M

• Mac and Me
• Madame Sousatzka, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Shirley MacLaine - (U.K.)
• Maison Ikkoku: The Final Chapter - (Japan)
• Married to the Mob, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine and Dean Stockwell
• Masquerade, starring Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly
• Men Behind the Sun (hēi tài yáng) - (Hong Kong)
• Midnight Run, directed by Martin Brest, starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin
• The Milagro Beanfield War, directed by Robert Redford
• Miles from Home, starring Richard Gere
• Mio in the Land of Faraway (U.S. release)
• Miracle Mile, starring Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards
• Mississippi Burning, directed by Alan Parker, starring Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe and Frances McDormand
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (Kidō Senshi Gandamu: Gyakushū no Shā) - (Japan)
• The Moderns, starring Keith Carradine, Linda Fiorentino and John Lone
• Monkey Shines, directed by George A. Romero
• Moon over Parador, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raúl Juliá and Sônia Braga
• Moonwalker, starring Michael Jackson
• Moscow Elegy - (U.S.S.R.)
• Moving, starring Richard Pryor
• The Music Teacher (Le maître de musique) - (Belgium)
• My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) - (Japan)
• My Stepmother Is an Alien, directed by Richard Benjamin, starring Kim Basinger, Dan Aykroyd and Alyson Hannigan
• Mystic Pizza, starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts and Lili Taylor

N-Z

N

• The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, directed by David Zucker, starring Leslie Nielsen and Priscilla Presley
• Necromancer
• Never on Tuesday
• The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking - (Sweden/U.S.A.)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

O

• Off Limits, starring Willem Dafoe and Gregory Hines
• Oliver & Company

P

• Painted Faces (Cat siu fuk), starring Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• Paperhouse - (U.K.)
• Pascali's Island, starring Ben Kingsley and Helen Mirren - (U.K.)
• Patty Hearst, starring Natasha Richardson
• Plain Clothes
• Platoon Leader
• Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach
• Poltergeist 3, starring Heather O'Rourke, Tom Skerritt and Nancy Allen
• Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw
• The Presidio, starring Sean Connery, Mark Harmon and Meg Ryan
• Prison, starring Viggo Mortensen
• Punchline, directed by David Seltzer, starring Sally Field and Tom Hanks

Q

• Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (From Disaster to Disaster) - (India)
• Quelques Jours avec Moi (A Few Days with Me)

R

• Rain Man, directed by Barry Levinson, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise - Academy and Golden Globe (drama) Awards for Best Picture and Golden Bear (for 1989)
• Rambo III, starring Sylvester Stallone and Richard Crenna
• Rattle and Hum, a rockumentary featuring U2
• Red Heat, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi
• The Rescue
• Return to Snowy River - (Australia)
• Rouge (Jin Zi Kau), starring Leslie Cheung - (Hong Kong)
• Running on Empty, starring Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch, River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton

S

• Salaam Bombay!, directed by Mira Nair - (India/U.K.)
• Salome's Last Dance, directed by Ken Russell - (U.K.)
• Sathya - (Sri Lanka)
• Screwball Hotel
• Scrooged, starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Carol Kane, Alfre Woodard, Bobcat Goldthwait and Robert Mitchum
• The Secret of the Sahara, directed by Alberto Negrin, starring Michael York and Andie MacDowell
• Shakedown aka Blue Jean Cop, starring Peter Weller and Sam Elliott
• She's Having a Baby, starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern
• Shoot to Kill aka Deadly Pursuit, starring Sidney Poitier and Tom Berenger
• Short Circuit 2
• A Short Film About Killing (Krótki film o zabijaniu) - (Poland)
• A Short Film About Love (Krótki film o miłości), directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski - (Poland)
• Soursweet, directed by Mike Newell - (U.K.)
• Space Mutiny by David Winters - (South Africa) - (considered the worst sci fi space action film made in the English language)
• Spike of Bensonhurst
• Stand and Deliver, starring Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips
• Stars and Bars, starring Daniel Day-Lewis
• Stealing Heaven, starring Derek de Lint and Kim Thomson
• Story of Women (Une affaire de femmes), directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Isabelle Huppert - (France)
• Strike Commando 2 (Trappola diabolica) - (Italy)
• Sur (South) - (Argentina)

T

• Taffin, starring Pierce Brosnan and Ray McAnally - (Ireland)
• Talk Radio, directed by Oliver Stone, starring Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene and Alec Baldwin
• Tapeheads, starring John Cusack and Tim Robbins
• Ten Zan: The Ultimate Mission - (North Korea/Italy)
• Tequila Sunrise, starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell
• They Live, starring Roddy Piper
• Time of the Gypsies (Dom za vešanje) - (Yugoslavia)
• To Kill a Priest (Le Complot), starring Christopher Lambert and Ed Harris - (France)
• Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller - (Canada)
• Torch Song Trilogy, starring Harvey Fierstein, Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin
• Tougher Than Leather, starring D.M.C.
• Traxx
• Tucker: The Man and His Dream, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen and Martin Landau
• Twins, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito

U

• The Unbearable Lightness of Being, directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin
• Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter - (Japan)

V

• The Vanishing (Spoorloos) - (Netherlands/France)
• Vchera (Yesterday) - (Bulgaria)
• Verónico Cruz - (Argentina)
• Vibes, starring Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper
• Vice Versa, starring Judge Reinhold, Fred Savage, and Corinne Bohrer

W

• War and Remembrance, TV miniseries, starring Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Victoria Tennant and Hart Bochner
• War Party
• Watchers, starring Corey Haim - (Canada/U.S.A.)
• Waxwork, starring Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, David Warner, Michelle Johnson and Dana Ashbrook
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit, starring Bob Hoskins, Joanna Cassidy and Christopher Lloyd
• Willow, directed by Ron Howard, starring Val Kilmer, Warwick Davis, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh and Billy Barty
• Without a Clue, starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley - (U.K.)
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios), directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas - (Spain)
• Working Girl, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver - Golden Globe Award for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
• A World Apart, directed by Chris Menges, starring Barbara Hershey and Jodhi May - (U.K./Zimbabwe)
• World Gone Wild, starring Bruce Dern

Y

• Young Einstein, directed by and starring Yahoo Serious - (Australia)
• Young Guns, starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney and Casey Siemaszko

Wide-release films

January–March

• January 1988
  • January 1 - And God Created Woman
  • January 8 - Cop
  • January 15 - The Couch Trip
  • January 22 - Braddock: Missing in Action III
• February 1988
  • February 5
    • She's Having a Baby
    • The Unbearable Lightness of Being
  • February 12
    • Action Jackson
    • Shoot to Kill
  • February 16 - Hairspray
  • February 26
    • Bloodsport
    • Frantic
• March 1988
  • March 4
    • Moving
    • Prison
  • March 10 - The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
  • March 11
    • Masquerade
    • Off Limits
    • Stand and Deliver
  • March 18
    • D.O.A.
    • The Milagro Beanfield War
    • Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach
    • Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw
    • Stars and Bars
  • March 25
    • Biloxi Blues
    • Johnny Be Good
  • March 30 - Beetlejuice

April–June

• April 1988
• April 1 - Bright Lights, Big City
  • April 8
    • 18 Again!
    • Above the Law
    • Bad Dreams
  • April 15
    • Appointment with Death
    • Colors
    • The Moderns
    • Plain Clothes
• May 1988
  • May 4 - The House on Carroll Street
  • May 6
    • Dead Heat
    • Shakedown
  • May 13 - Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
  • May 20
    • Call Me
    • "Crocodile" Dundee II (Australia; North America 25 May 1988; UK 23 Jun 1988)
    • Willow
  • May 25 - Rambo III
  • May 27 - Killer Klowns from Outer Space
• June 1988
  • June 3
    • Big
    • Funny Farm
  • June 10
    • Big Business
    • Poltergeist III
    • The Presidio
  • June 15 - Bull Durham
  • June 17
    • The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
    • The Great Outdoors
    • Red Heat
    • Waxwork
  • June 22 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • June 29 - Coming to America

July–September

• July 1988
  • July 6
    • License to Drive
    • Short Circuit 2
  • July 8
    • Arthur 2: On the Rocks
    • It Couldn't Happen Here
  • July 13 - The Dead Pool
  • July 15
    • Die Hard
    • A Fish Called Wanda
  • July 20 - Midnight Run
  • July 22
    • Big Top Pee-wee
    • Caddyshack II
  • July 29
    • Cocktail
    • Monkey Shines
• August 1988
  • August 4 -
  • August 5
    • The Blob
    • The Rescue
    • Vibes
  • August 10 - Clean and Sober
  • August 12
    • The Last Temptation of Christ
    • Mac and Me
    • Tucker: The Man and His Dream
    • Young Guns
  • August 19
    • Married to the Mob
    • A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
  • August 24 - Crossing Delancey
  • August 26
    • Betrayed
    • Hero and the Terror
    • Hot to Trot
• September 1988
  • September 2
    • The Deceivers
    • Eight Men Out
  • September 8 - Earth Girls are Easy
  • September 9
    • Moon over Parador
    • Running on Empty
  • September 12 - Miles from Home
  • September 16 - Tougher Than Leather (NYC premiere)
  • September 23
    • Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey
    • Kansas
    • Patty Hearst
  • September 30
    • Bird
    • Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
    • Heartbreak Hotel

October–December

• October 1988
  • October 7
    • Alien Nation
    • Clara's Heart
    • Punchline
  • October 14
    • The Accused
    • The Kiss
  • October 21
    • Bat*21
    • Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
    • Mystic Pizza
    • Tapeheads
  • October 28 - Feds
  • October 29 - Moonwalker
• November 1988
  • November 4
    • Everybody's All-American
    • The Good Mother
    • Rattle and Hum (U.S.)
    • They Live
  • November 9 - Child's Play
  • November 11
    • Distant Thunder
    • Ernest Saves Christmas
  • November 18
    • 1969
    • Another Woman
    • The Chocolate War
    • Fresh Horses
    • High Spirits
    • The Land Before Time
    • Oliver & Company
  • November 23
    • Buster
    • Cocoon: The Return
    • Hanna's War
    • Scrooged
• December 1988
  • December 2
    • The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
    • Tequila Sunrise
    • Watchers
  • December 9
    • Mississippi Burning
    • My Stepmother Is an Alien
    • Twins
  • December 14
    • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
    • I'm Gonna Get You Sucka
    • Torch Song Trilogy
  • December 16
    • Dangerous Liaisons
    • Rain Man
  • December 21
    • Beaches
    • Talk Radio
    • Working Girl
  • December 23
    • The Accidental Tourist
    • Dominick and Eugene
    • Hellbound: Hellraiser II
  • December 28 - The Boost

Births

• March 27 - Brenda Song, American actress, singer and model
• April 10 - Haley Joel Osment, American actor
• April 25 - Sara Paxton, American singer/actress
• May 17 - Nikki Reed, American actress/writer
• June 7 - Michael Cera, American actor
• June 9 - Mae Whitman, American actress
• August 16 - Rumer Willis, American actress
• August 24 - Rupert Grint, English actor
• August 27 - Alexa Vega, American actress
• November 6 - Emma Stone, American actress
• November 9 - Nikki Blonsky, American singer and actress
• December 14 - Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer

Deaths

• January 7 - Michel Auclair, actor (b. 1922)
• January 7 - Trevor Howard, actor
• January 25 - Colleen Moore, actress
• February 1 - Heather O'Rourke, actress
• March 6 - Jeanne Aubert, French actress
• April 21 - I. A. L. Diamond, screenwriter
• April 15 - Kenneth Williams, actor
• May 30 - Ella Raines, actress
• July 12 - Joshua Logan, director
• July 25 - Judith Barsi, actress
• August 4 - Florence Eldridge, actress
• September 5 - Gert Fröbe, actor
• October 1 - Lucien Ballard, cinematographer
• October 27 - Charles Hawtrey, actor
• October 31 - John Houseman, actor
• November 27 - John Carradine, actor
• December 27 - Hal Ashby, director

Film debuts

• Annette Bening - The Great Outdoors
• Matt Damon - Mystic Pizza
• David Duchovny - Working Girl
• Cuba Gooding, Jr. - Coming to America
• Danielle Harris - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
• Neil Patrick Harris - Clara's Heart
• Bonnie Hunt - Rain Man
• David Hyde Pierce - Bright Lights, Big City
• Michael Imperioli
• Milla Jovovich - Two Moon Junction
• Juliette Lewis - My Stepmother Is an Alien
• Dermot Mulroney
• Bill Nunn - School Daze
• Alan Rickman - Die Hard
• Stephen Root - "Crocodile" Dundee II
• David Schwimmer - Biloxi Blues
• Steven Seagal - Above the Law
• Gary Sinise
• Uma Thurman - Johnny Be Good
• Benicio del Toro - Big Top Pee-wee

References

See also

• List of American films of 1988
• British films of 1988
• French films of 1988
• List of German films: 1980s
• Bollywood films of 1988
• Italian films of 1988
• Japanese films of 1988
• Swedish films of the 1980s