1979 in film

Events

• March 5 - Production begins on The Empire Strikes Back, the sequel to Star Wars.
• November 3 - Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Top Grossing Films of 1979

North America

1. Superman
2. Every Which Way But Loose
3. Rocky II, starring Sylvester Stallone
4. Alien
5. tie, The Amityville Horror and Star Trek: The Motion Picture
6. Moonraker starring Roger Moore
7. The Muppet Movie
8. California Suite
9. The Deer Hunter

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer - Jaffe, Columbia
• Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer
• Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae

Births

• February 9 - Mena Suvari, actress
• April 23 - Jaime King, actress
• December 23 - Summer Altice, model and actress

Deaths

• February 12 - Jean Renoir, director
• March 1 - Dolores Costello, actress
• May 29 - Mary Pickford, actress, movie studio founder
• June 11 - John Wayne, actor
• August 17, Vivian Vance, actress
• September 8 - Jean Seberg, actress

Other Movies Released

• 10, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore
• Being There, starring Peter Sellers
• Breaker Morant
• Caligula, by Gore Vidal and Bob Guccione
• The Electric Horseman, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda
• Hardcore, starring George C. Scott
• Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson
• 1941, starring Dan Aykroyd
• Rock 'n' Roll High School, produced by Roger Corman, featuring The Ramones
• Tess, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Nastassja Kinski
• Zulu Dawn
• Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, both of whom won Oscars for their performances
• Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Palme d'Or winner
• Love at First Bite, starring George Hamilton
• Meatballs, starring Bill Murray
• The Jerk, starring Steve Martin
• The China Syndrome
• Escape From Alcatraz
• The In-Laws
• Manhattan
• Monty Python's Life of Brian
• David, Golden Bear winner
• The Tin Drum, Palm d'Or winner
• Vengeance is Mine
• Norma Rae
• Escape From Alcatraz
• La Cage aux Folles
• The Marriage of Maria Braun
• Nosferatu the Vampyre
• The Rose
• All That Jazz
• The Black Stallion
• Soldier of Orange
• Siberiade
• Alexandria - Why?