The year 1979 in film involved many significant events.
Highest-grossing films
United States and Canada
The top ten 1979 released films by North American gross are as follows:
International
Major events
March 2 – Buena Vista release their first film since the advent of U.S. movie ratings to not be G-rated, Take Down. March 5 – Production begins on The Empire Strikes Back. March – Frank Price becomes president of Columbia Pictures. May 25 – Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released. May 29 - Mary Pickford, a silent screen legend and Hollywood pioneer who was, at the height of her career, the most famous woman in the world, dies of a stroke. May 31 – The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature-length motion pictures, is released in United Kingdom. June 11 – John Wayne, a famous Western movie actor, dies at the age of 72 from stomach cancer. June 27 – 20th Century Fox Pictures president Alan Ladd Jr. and vice-presidents Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan agree to leave Fox. June 29 – Moonraker, the 11th film in the James Bond franchise, is released in the United States and goes on to become the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide. August 15 – Apocalypse Now is released to worldwide critical acclaim and box office success. Heralded as one of the greatest films ever made to this day. September 19 – Don Bluth and a group of fellow animators resign from The Walt Disney Company's animation department to set up a rival studio, Don Bluth Productions. October 1 – Alan Ladd Jr., Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan who agreed to leave Fox earlier in the year formally announce the creation of The Ladd Company. October 3 – producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan purchase the film rights of Batman from DC Comics. It would be another ten years, before a Batman feature film would be fully realized. November 1 – Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark. December 7 – Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts in the United States to mixed reviews but blockbuster box office, launching a film franchise that leads to 9 sequels and 3 reboots over the next 37 years. It also leads to the creation of five spin-off television series based upon Gene Roddenberry's creation. Allied Artists files for bankruptcy.
Awards
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, United States The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): David, directed by Peter Lilienthal, West Germany
Notable films released in 1979
United States unless stated
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10, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek, Robert Webber, Brian Dennehy 1941, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Nancy Allen, Toshiro Mifune, Treat Williams, Warren Oates, Robert Stack
A
The Actress, the Dollars and the Transylvanians (Artista, dolarii şi ardelenii) – (Romania) L'adolescente (The Adolescent), directed by Jeanne Moreau, starring Simone Signoret – (France) The Adventure of Sudsakorn, the first and only cel-animated feature film from Thailand Adventures of Sinbad Agatha, directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman – (U.K.) Ah! Nomugi Toge (Nomugi Pass) – (Japan) Air Crew (Ekipazh) – (U.S.S.R.) Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto – (US/UK) All Quiet on the Western Front, a TV film directed by Delbert Mann, starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine All That Jazz, directed by Bob Fosse, starring Roy Scheider, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer, Ben Vereen, John Lithgow, Jessica Lange An Almost Perfect Affair, starring Keith Carradine and Monica Vitti Americathon, starring John Ritter and Harvey Korman The Amityville Horror, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger ...And Justice for All, directed by Norman Jewison, starring Al Pacino, John Forsythe, Jack Warden, Christine Lahti, Craig T. Nelson, Jeffrey Tambor Anti-Clock, directed by Jane Arden – (U.K.) Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forrest The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway Arabian Adventure, starring Christopher Lee and Emma Samms – (U.K.) Ashanti, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Michael Caine and Peter Ustinov Autumn Marathon (Osenniy marafon) – (U.S.S.R.)