The year 1990 in film involved many significant events as shown below. Universal Pictures celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1990, despite its actual 75th anniversary taking place in 1987.
Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 1990 by worldwide gross are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1990RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross 1 Ghost Paramount $505,702,588 2 Home Alone 20th Century Fox $476,684,675 3 Pretty Woman Touchstone $463,406,268 4 Dances With Wolves Orion $424,208,848 5 Total Recall Tri-Star $261,317,921 6 Back to the Future Part III Universal $244,527,583 7 Die Hard 2 20th Century Fox $240,031,094 8 Presumed Innocent Warner Bros. $221,303,188 9 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles New Line $202,084,756 10 Kindergarten Cop Universal $201,957,688
Events March 2 – The Hunt for Red October is released. It is the first film in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan franchise and is met with critical and blockbuster commercial success. March 23 – Pretty Woman is released and grosses $463 million, making Julia Roberts a worldwide star. March 30 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is released to massive box office success. At the time, it is the highest-grossing independent film in history. May 25 – Universal Pictures unveils a new opening logo with music composed by James Horner, which debuts on Back to the Future Part III. It is the first change to the Universal opening logo in 27 years. June 1 – CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall. June 15 – Following a massive media and marketing blitz, Dick Tracy is released. Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg expressed disappointment in a studio memo that noted that the film had cost about $100 million in total to produce, market and promote and with its disappointing performance claimed "We made demands on our time, talent and treasury that, upon reflection, may not have been worth it". June 22 – The use of real-time computer graphics or "digital puppetry" to create a character in a motion picture is performed, in RoboCop 2. July 4 – The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2. July 13 – Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, is released and grosses $506 million, making it the third highest-grossing movie at the time. November 9 – Kevin Costner's directorial debut, Dances with Wolves, is released. It later earns twelve Academy Award nominations and wins seven, including Best Picture and Best Director for Costner. November 16 Home Alone is released. It spends twelve consecutive weeks at number one on the United States box office, becoming both the highest-grossing film of the year and the highest-grossing comedy of all-time. The Rescuers Down Under is considered as the first fully digital film ever made. December 24 – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman marry. Buchwald v. Paramount decided, a leading case on the financial rewards due to writers of film treatments.
Awards Category/Organization 48th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 19, 1991 44th BAFTA Awards March 17, 1991 63rd Academy AwardsMarch 25, 1991 Drama Musical or Comedy Best Film Dances with Wolves Green Card Goodfellas Dances with Wolves Best Director Kevin CostnerDances with Wolves Martin ScorseseGoodfellasKevin CostnerDances with Wolves Best Actor Jeremy IronsReversal of Fortune Gérard DepardieuGreen Card Philippe NoiretCinema Paradiso Jeremy IronsReversal of Fortune Best Actress Kathy BatesMisery Julia RobertsPretty Woman Jessica TandyDriving Miss DaisyKathy BatesMisery Best Supporting Actor Bruce DavisonLongtime Companion Salvatore CascioCinema Paradiso Joe PesciGoodfellas Best Supporting Actress Whoopi GoldbergGhost Best Screenplay, Adapted Michael BlakeDances with Wolves Martin Scorsese and Nicholas PileggiGoodfellas Michael BlakeDances with Wolves Best Screenplay, Original Giuseppe TornatoreCinema Paradiso Bruce Joel RubinGhost Best Original Score The Sheltering SkyRyuichi Sakamoto and Richard Horowitz Cinema ParadisoEnnio Morricone and Andrea Morricone Dances with WolvesJohn Barry Best Original Song "Blaze of Glory"Young Guns II N/A "Sooner or Later"Dick Tracy Best Foreign Language Film Cyrano de Bergerac Cinema Paradiso Journey of Hope
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival) Wild at Heart, directed by David Lynch, United States
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, directed by Tom Stoppard, United Kingdom / United States
Golden Bear (Berlin International Film Festival) Larks on a String (Skřivánci na niti), directed by Jiří Menzel, Czechoslovakia Music Box, directed by Costa-Gavras, United States
People's Choice Award (Toronto International Film Festival): Cyrano de Bergerac , directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, France
1990 films By country/region List of American films of 1990 List of Argentine films of 1990 List of Australian films of 1990 List of Bangladeshi films of 1990 List of British films of 1990 List of Canadian films of 1990 List of French films of 1990 List of Hong Kong films of 1990 List of Indian films of 1990 List of Hindi films of 1990 List of Kannada films of 1990 List of Malayalam films of 1990 List of Marathi films of 1990 List of Tamil films of 1990 List of Telugu films of 1990 List of Japanese films of 1990 List of Mexican films of 1990 List of Pakistani films of 1990 List of Soviet films of 1990 List of South Korean films of 1990 List of Spanish films of 1990
By genre/medium List of action films of 1990 List of animated feature films of 1990 List of avant-garde films of 1990 List of crime films of 1990 List of comedy films of 1990 List of drama films of 1990 List of horror films of 1990 List of science fiction films of 1990 List of thriller films of 1990 List of western films of 1990
Births January 1 – Tom Ackerley, British producer and former assistant director January 7 – Liam Aiken, American actor January 13 – Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor January 14 – Grant Gustin, American actor and singer January 15 Sidney Franklin, American actor Chris Warren, American actor January 18 – Zeeko Zaki, Egyptian-born American actor January 19 – Shaunette Renée Wilson, Guyanese-born American actress January 21 Kelly Rohrbach, American actress Jacob Smith, American actor January 22 – Phil Wang, British-Malaysian stand-up comedian, writer and actor January 23 – Joel Basman, Swiss actor January 25 – Dustin Ingram, American actor and musician January 26 – Christopher Massey, American actor, comedian and rapper January 29 – François Civil, French actor January 30 Eiza González, Mexican actress and singer Jake Thomas, American actor and voice actor January 31 – Siobhán Cullen, Irish actress February 1 – Toby Onwumere, Nigerian-American actor February 2 – Julia Fox, Italian-American actress February 4 – Will Denton, American actor February 5 Charlbi Dean, South African actress and model (died 2022) Anthony Ingruber, Dutch-Australian actor and impressionist February 8 Christian Madsen, American actor Ben Schnetzer, American actor February 9 – Tyson Houseman, Canadian actor February 10 – Trevante Rhodes, American actor February 11 – Q'orianka Kilcher, American actress February 15 Isabella Giovinazzo, Australian actress Callum Turner, British actor and model February 16 – The Weeknd, Canadian singer-songwriter February 20 – Sean Sagar, British actor February 21 – Flavio Aquilone, Italian voice actor February 28 Alice Kremelberg, American actress and writer Georgina Leonidas, British actress March 1 – Harry Eden, British actor March 2 – Tiger Shroff, Indian actor March 5 - Matt Rogers, American comedian, actor, writer and television host March 11 – Reiley McClendon, American actor March 12 – Jörgen Liik, Estonian actor March 13 – Sasha Clements, Canadian actress March 20 – Stacy Martin, French actress March 24 – Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress March 25 – Kiowa Gordon, American actor of Hualapai descent March 26 – Choi Woo-shik, Korean-Canadian actor March 27 - Michael Vlamis, American actor, screenwriter, director and producer March 28 – Laura Harrier, American actress March 29 – Josh Blaylock, American actor March 30 – Chelsea Harris, American actress April 5 – Haruma Miura, Japanese actor (died 2020) April 6 – Charlie McDermott, American actor and musician April 9 – Kristen Stewart, American actress April 10 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor and model April 12 Jamie Muscato, English actor and singer Eline Powell, Belgian actress April 15 – Emma Watson, English actress April 16 – Lorraine Nicholson, American actress April 17 – Gia Mantegna, American actress April 18 – Britt Robertson, American actress April 23 – Dev Patel, British actor April 25 – Meghann Fahy, American actress April 27 - Lou de Laâge, French actress May 1 – Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress and singer May 2 – Kay Panabaker, American retired actress May 3 – Harvey Guillén, American actor May 6 – Moses Storm, American writer, actor and comedian May 9 - Maya Eshet, Israeli actress May 14 Rea Lest-Liik, Estonia actress Sasha Spielberg, American actress, daughter of producer/director Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw May 15 – Sophie Cookson, English actress May 16 Deniz Akdeniz, Australian actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster, British actor Marc John Jefferies, American actor May 17 Ross Butler, American actor Leven Rambin, American actress May 18 – Luke Kleintank, American actor May 20 – Josh O'Connor, British actor May 24 – Félix Moati, French actor, director and screenwriter May 26 – Madeleine Mantock, British actress May 27 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer May 30 Sai Bennett, English actress Im Yoon-ah, South Korean actress Mason Lee, Taiwanese-American actor May 31 – Phillipa Soo, American actress and singer June 2 Brittany Curran, American actress Jack Lowden, Scottish actor June 13 – Aaron Taylor-Johnson, British actor June 15 – Denzel Whitaker, American actor June 17 – Monica Barbaro, American actress June 18 – Jeremy Irvine, English actor June 20 – Jacob Wysocki, American actor and comedian June 26 – Brandon Sklenar, American actor July 2 – Margot Robbie, Australian actress July 4 Melissa Barrera, Mexican actress and singer David Kross, German actor July 5 - Rosalind Ross, American screenwriter and director July 6 – Jeremy Suarez, American actor July 11 – Connor Paolo, American actor July 12 – Rachel Brosnahan, American-British actress July 13 – Nomzamo Mbatha, South African actress and television personality July 15 Olly Alexander, British musician, actor and screenwriter Alexander Calvert, Canadian actor July 16 Eddie Hassell, American actor (died 2020) James Maslow, American actor July 19 – Steven Anthony Lawrence, American actor July 24 – Daveigh Chase, American actress (died 2026) July 27 – Indiana Evans, Australian actress and singer-songwriter July 29 – Matt Prokop, American actor July 30 – Eliot Sumner, English singer-songwriter and actor July 31 – Ruby Modine, American actress, model and singer August 1 – Jack O'Connell, English actor August 4 – Chet Hanks, American actor and musician August 8 - Aiysha Hart, British-Saudi actress August 9 Bill Skarsgård, Swedish actor Emily Tennant, Canadian actress Adelaide Kane, Australian actress and model August 10 – Lucas Till, American actor August 15 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress August 17 – Rachel Hurd-Wood, British actress August 20 – Win Morisaki, Burmese singer and actor August 21 - Bo Burnham, American actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker August 23 – Wesley Singerman, American record producer, songwriter and guitarist, and voice actor August 24 – Elizabeth Debicki, Australian actress August 29 Nicole Gale Anderson, American actress Erika Harlacher, American voice actress September 1 – Aisling Loftus, English actress September 3 – Bianca Bin, Brazilian actress September 9