1989 in film

The year 1989 involved many significant films.

Highest-grossing films
See also: List of 1989 box office number-one films in the United States

The top ten films released in 1989 by worldwide gross are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1989[1]

Rank

Title

Studio

Worldwide gross

1. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Paramount Pictures / Lucasfilm $474,171,806 2. Batman Warner Bros. / PolyGram $411,348,924 3. Back to the Future Part II Universal Pictures $331,950,002 4. Look Who's Talking TriStar Pictures $296,999,813 5. Dead Poets Society Touchstone Pictures $235,860,116 6. Lethal Weapon 2 Warner Bros. $227,853,986 7. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Walt Disney Pictures $222,724,172 8. Ghostbusters II Columbia Pictures $215,394,738 9. The Little Mermaid Walt Disney Pictures $184,155,863 10. Born on the Fourth of July Universal Pictures $161,001,698

Events
Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million. (Basinger would lose the town to her partner in the deal, the pension fund of Chicago-based Ameritech Corp., in 1993 after being forced to file for bankruptcy when a California judge ordered her to pay $7.4 million for refusing to honor a verbal contract to star in the film Boxing Helena.) April 23 - Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Burt Lancaster, is released, striking an emotional chord in men and fans of baseball. May 24 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is released. It is the third installment of the Indiana Jones series. June 13 - The James Bond film Licence to Kill is released. Unknown to anyone at the time, it would be followed by years of legal wrangling over the future of the popular series. The next Bond film, GoldenEye, is not released until 1995. June 16 - Ghostbusters II is released. June 23 - Batman is released, going on to gross more than $410 million worldwide, and establishing the public and critical attention of director Tim Burton. June 23 - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is released and marks the directorial debut of visual effects supervisor Joe Johnston, who later went on to direct The Rocketeer, Jumanji, October Sky, Jurassic Park III, and Captain America: The First Avenger. July 7 - Lethal Weapon 2 is released and becomes the highest grossing film in the franchise. As well as the highest grossing R-rated film of the year at the domestic box office. July 11 - Screen, stage, and Shakespearian legend Laurence Olivier died peacefully in his home in England, after appearing in his last filmed role as an old soldier in War Requiem. August 2 - Ron Howard's family comedy Parenthood, starring Steve Martin, Tom Hulce, and Rick Moranis, is released. September 28 - Columbia Pictures and Tri-Star Pictures are sold to Sony. November 17 - The Little Mermaid becomes a critical and commercial success and brings new life to Walt Disney Feature Animation. The Little Mermaid also reinvigorated public and critical interest in The Walt Disney Company, which would become one of the most prestigious corporations of the 1990s. November 22 - Back to the Future Part II is released.

Awards
Years in film

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Category/Organization

47th Golden Globe Awards January 20, 1990

62nd Academy Awards March 26, 1990

43rd BAFTA Awards 1990

Drama

Musical or Comedy

Best Film Born on the Fourth of July Driving Miss Daisy Dead Poets Society Best Director Oliver Stone Born on the Fourth of July Kenneth Branagh Henry V Best Actor Tom Cruise Born on the Fourth of July Morgan Freeman Driving Miss Daisy Daniel Day-Lewis My Left Foot Best Actress Michelle Pfeiffer The Fabulous Baker Boys Jessica Tandy Driving Miss Daisy Pauline Collins Shirley Valentine Best Supporting Actor Denzel Washington Glory Ray McAnally My Left Foot Best Supporting Actress Julia Roberts Steel Magnolias Brenda Fricker My Left Foot Michelle Pfeiffer Dangerous Liaisons Best Screenplay, Adapted Ron Kovic and Oliver Stone Born on the Fourth of July Alfred Uhry Driving Miss Daisy Christopher Hampton Dangerous Liaisons Best Screenplay, Original Tom Schulman Dead Poets Society Nora Ephron When Harry Met Sally... Best Original Score The Little Mermaid Alan Menken Dead Poets Society Maurice Jarre Best Original Song "Under the Sea" The Little Mermaid N/A Best Foreign Language Film Cinema Paradiso Life and Nothing But

Notable films released in 1989

 * 1) Batman

Film debuts
Adrien Brody - New York Stories Vincent Cassel - Les cigognes n'en font qu'à leur tête Michael Chiklis - Wired Kirsten Dunst - New York Stories Ron Eldard - True Love Neil Flynn - Major League Vivica A. Fox - Born on the Fourth of July Carla Gugino - Troop Beverly Hills Rebecca Harrell - Prancer Jared Harris - The Rachel Papers Teri Hatcher - The Big Picture Bryce Dallas Howard - Parenthood Jason Isaacs - The Tall Guy Allison Janney - Who Shot Patakango? Martin Lawrence - Do the Right Thing Rosie Perez - Do the Right Thing John C. Reilly - Casualties of War Sam Rockwell - Clownhouse Rene Russo - Major League Adam Sandler - Going Overboard Annabella Sciorra - True Love Molly Shannon - The Phantom of the Opera Tom Sizemore - Blue Steel Emma Thompson - The Tall Guy Elijah Wood - Back to the Future Part II Michael Jai White - The Toxic Avenger Part II Lydia Zimmermann - Moon Child