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.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

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

More information Rank, Title ...
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
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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.

More information Title, Gross ...
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]
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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

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

People's Choice Award (Toronto International Film Festival):

Bad Timing, directed by Nicolas Roeg, United Kingdom

Births

Deaths

More information Month, Date ...
MonthDateNameAgeCountryProfessionNotable films
January 1Adolph Deutsch82USComposer, Arranger
3Ivan Triesault81EstoniaActor
14Robert Ardrey71USScreenwriter
17Barbara Britton59USActress
18Cecil Beaton76UKCostume Designer, Production Designer
22Iris Meredith64USActress
23Leonard Strong71USActor
24Lil Dagover92GermanyActress
24James Poe58USScreenwriter
27Peppino De Filippo76ItalyActor
28Erle C. Kenton83USDirector
29Jimmy Durante86USActor, Singer
February 1Romolo Valli54ItalyActor
3Ray Heindorf71USComposer
9Renée Houston77UKActress
13David Janssen48USActor
17Jerry Fielding57USComposer
17Ed Graves62USArt Director
18Gale Robbins58USActress, Singer
26Mario Mattoli81ItalyDirector, Screenwriter
27George Tobias78USActor
March 5Jay Silverheels67CanadaActor
8Frank McDonald80USDirector
17Farciot Edouart85USSpecial Effects Artist
27Philip W. Anderson64USFilm Editor
27Steve Fisher67USScreenwriter
28Dick Haymes61ArgentinaActor, Singer
30David Sharpe70USStuntman, Actor
April 3Mary McCarty56USActress
6John Collier78UKScreenwriter
9Kathleen Burke66USActress
10Kay Medford65USActress
11Charlotte Henry66USActress
14Tom Fadden85USActor
15Raymond Bailey75USActor
17Alf Sjöberg76SwedenDirector
19Tony Beckley50UKActor
25Mario Bava65ItalyDirector, Screenwriter, Cinematographer
26Cicely Courtneidge87AustraliaActress, Singer
29William Clemens74USDirector
29Alfred Hitchcock80UKDirector
May 1Henry Levin70USDirector
1Gene Markey84USScreenwriter
2George Pal72HungaryProducer, Director
4Kay Hammond71UKActress
12Lillian Roth69USActress
14Hugh Griffith67UKActor
15Gordon E. Sawyer74USSound Engineer
16José Calvo64SpainActor
19Ray Rennahan84USCinematographer
21Ida Kamińska80UkraineActress
26Franz Bachelin84GermanyArt Director
June 4Gloria Saunders52USActress
12Milburn Stone75USActor
18Terence Fisher76UKDirector
22Monang Carvajal82PhilippinesActress
23John Laurie83UKActor
23Odile Versois50FranceActress
24Boris Kaufman73PolandCinematographer
28José Iturbi84SpainConductor, Actor
30Thomas Browne Henry72USActor
July 6Frank Cordell62UKComposer
6Gail Patrick69USActress
7Reginald Gardiner77UKActor
7Dore Schary74USProducer, Screenwriter, Executive
11Peggy Knudsen57USActress
24Peter Sellers54UKActor
30Charles McGraw66USActor
31Bobby Van51USActor, Dancer
August 1Strother Martin61USActor
2Donald Ogden Stewart85USScreenwriter
9Elliot Nugent83USDirector
14Dorothy Stratten20CanadaActress
17Harold Adamson73USLyricist
24Yootha Joyce53UKActress
25Gower Champion59USActor, Dancer, Director
25Lester Dorr87USActor
26Tex Avery72USAnimator, Director
27Douglas Kenney33USScreenwriter
September 3Barbara O'Neil70USActress
4Duncan Renaldo76RomaniaActor
5Barbara Loden48USActress, Director
12Lillian Randolph81USActress
17Michael Strong62USActor
19Sol Lesser90USProducer
25Lewis Milestone84MoldovaDirector
October 6Hattie Jacques58UKActress
10Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas49USActor
28Leon Janney63USActor
November 4Noel Langley68South AfricaScreenwriter
7Emilio Cigoli70ItalyActor
7Steve McQueen50USActor
9Carmel Myers81USActress
9Victor Sen Yung65USActor
14Nick Dennis76USActor
15Bill Lee64USActor, Singer
16Imogen Hassall38UKActress
22Mae West87USActress, Screenwriter
24Nancy Hsueh38USActress
24George Raft79USActor
26Conrad A. Nervig91USFilm Editor
26Rachel Roberts53UKActress
28Sarah Y. Mason84USScreenwriter
29Edith Evanson84USActress
December 8John Lennon40UKSinger, Actor
12Urie McCleary75USArt Director
16Peter Collinson44UKDirector
20Ben Sharpsteen85USDirector, Producer
21Marc Connelly90USActor, Screenwriter
22Lesser Samuels86USScreenwriter
23Memmo Carotenuto72ItalyActor
28Sam Levene75USActor
31Raoul Walsh93USDirector, Actor
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Film debuts

See also

Notes

References

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