The following is an overview of events in 1984 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
The year's highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada was Beverly Hills Cop. Ghostbusters overtook it, however, with a re-release the following year. It was the first time in five years that the top-grossing film did not involve George Lucas or Steven Spielberg although Spielberg directed and Lucas executive produced/co-wrote the third placed Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; Spielberg also executive produced the fourth placed Gremlins.
U.S. box office grosses reached $4 billion for the first time and it was the first year that two films had returned over $100 million to their distributors with both Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom achieving this. Beverly Hills Cop made it three for films released in 1984 after its performance during 1985 took it to rentals of $108 million. Other popular films included The NeverEnding Story, which was the most expensive film produced in West Germany, The Karate Kid and Romancing the Stone. A high number of sci-fi/fantasy films were released in 1984.
Highest-grossing films United States
The top ten 1984 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1984 Rank Title Distributor Box-office gross 1Beverly Hills Cop Paramount $234,760,478 2 Ghostbusters Columbia $229,242,989 3Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Paramount $179,870,271 4 Gremlins Warner Bros. $153,083,102 5 The Karate Kid Columbia $90,815,558 6Police Academy Warner Bros. $81,198,894 7 Footloose Paramount $80,035,402 8 Romancing the Stone 20th Century Fox $76,572,238 9 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Paramount $76,471,076 10 Splash Buena Vista $69,821,334
International International market Title Director Production country Revenue Admissions Source(s) Brazil Gremlins Joe Dante United States $1,505,985 France Marche à l'ombre Michel Blanc France 6,168,425 Hong Kong Aces Go Places 3 Tsui Hark Hong Kong India Tohfa K. Raghavendra Rao India Italy Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Steven Spielberg United States 838,309 Japan Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Steven Spielberg United States South Korea Project A Jackie Chan Hong Kong ₩ 396,436 Soviet Union Disco Dancer Babbar Subhash India $75,900,000 60,900,000 Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin, page 211, Indiana University Press, 2005 Spain Gremlins Joe Dante United States $4,255,642 3,202,047 United States and Canada Beverly Hills Cop Martin Brest United States $234,760,478 67,150,000 West Germany Police Academy Hugh Wilson United States 5,187,443
Events February 15 - The Walt Disney Studios establishes Touchstone Pictures to release films with more mature subject matter than the traditional Walt Disney Pictures banner. March 30 - Romancing the Stone is released and propels Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis to super-stardom. The film also gave Zemeckis his first box office hit, which gave Universal Pictures confidence to allow him to direct his next film, Back to the Future. April 6 - Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film, Where the Boys Are '84. May 4 - The first of the year's breakdancing musicals is released, Breakin'. It is soon followed by Beat Street and its sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. June 8 - Ghostbusters and Gremlins were released. July 1 - The Motion Picture Association of America institutes the PG-13 rating, as a response to violent horror films such as Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. July 9 - Joe Wizan leaves as president of 20th Century Fox Productions. Lawrence Gordon replaces him the following day. July 27 - Prince's first film Purple Rain is released. August 25 - Ghostbusters becomes the biggest grossing comedy film of all time in the United States exceeding Tootsie $177.2 million going on to gross $229.2 million in its initial run. It is overtaken by Beverly Hills Cop in summer 1985 but regains the record after its re-release in August 1985. It also became the biggest grossing film released by Columbia Pictures. September - Lawrence Gordon is promoted to president and chief operating officer of the Fox Entertainment Group September 22 - Michael Eisner leaves Paramount Pictures to become head of Walt Disney Productions, while Frank Wells became chief operating officer and Jeffrey Katzenberg was later named chairman. October 8 - Ned Tanen becomes president of Paramount Pictures motion picture group. December 5 - Beverly Hills Cop is released. It will go on to become the 6th highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. at the time, the highest grossing comedy of all time at the time, as well as the highest grossing R-Rated film of all time, a record it would hold for 19 years. December 14 - Dune is released after over a year of hype and anticipation. Annie's Coming Out wins 3 Australian Film Institute Awards including the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film.
Awards Category/Organization 42nd Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 27, 1985 38th BAFTA AwardsMarch 5, 1985 57th Academy AwardsMarch 25, 1985 Drama Comedy or Musical Best Film Amadeus Romancing the Stone The Killing Fields Amadeus Best Director Miloš FormanAmadeus Wim WendersParis, Texas Miloš FormanAmadeus Best Actor F. Murray AbrahamAmadeus Dudley MooreMicki & Maude Haing S. NgorThe Killing Fields F. Murray AbrahamAmadeus Best Actress Sally FieldPlaces in the Heart Kathleen TurnerRomancing the Stone Maggie SmithA Private Function Sally FieldPlaces in the Heart Best Supporting Actor Haing S. NgorThe Killing Fields Denholm ElliottA Private Function Haing S. NgorThe Killing Fields Best Supporting Actress Peggy AshcroftA Passage to India Liz SmithA Private Function Peggy AshcroftA Passage to India Best Screenplay, Adapted AmadeusPeter Shaffer The Killing FieldsBruce Robinson AmadeusPeter Shaffer Best Screenplay, Original Broadway Danny RoseWoody Allen Places in the HeartRobert Benton Best Original Score Maurice JarreA Passage to India Ennio MorriconeOnce Upon a Time in America Maurice JarreA Passage to IndiaPrincePurple Rain Best Original Song "I Just Called to Say I Love You"The Woman in Red "Ghostbusters"Ghostbusters "I Just Called to Say I Love You"The Woman in Red Best Foreign Language Film A Passage to IndiaUnited Kingdom CarmenFrance Dangerous Moves Switzerland
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): Paris, Texas, directed by Wim Wenders, France / West Germany
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): A Year of the Quiet Sun (Rok spokojnego slonca), directed by Krzysztof Zanussi, Poland
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): Love Streams, directed by John Cassavetes, United States
People's Choice Award (Toronto International Film Festival): Places in the Heart, directed by Robert Benton, United States
1984 films By country/region List of American films of 1984 List of Argentine films of 1984 List of Australian films of 1984 List of Bangladeshi films of 1984 List of British films of 1984 List of Canadian films of 1984 List of French films of 1984 List of Hong Kong films of 1984 List of Indian films of 1984 List of Hindi films of 1984 List of Kannada films of 1984 List of Malayalam films of 1984 List of Marathi films of 1984 List of Tamil films of 1984 List of Telugu films of 1984 List of Japanese films of 1984 List of Mexican films of 1984 List of Pakistani films of 1984 List of South Korean films of 1984 List of Soviet films of 1984 List of Spanish films of 1984
By genre/medium List of action films of 1984 List of animated feature films of 1984 List of avant-garde films of 1984 List of comedy films of 1984 List of drama films of 1984 List of horror films of 1984 List of science fiction films of 1984 List of thriller films of 1984 List of western films of 1984
Births January 1 Amara Karan, English actress Kollam Sudhi, Indian actor and comedian (d. 2023) January 6 Priit Loog, Estonian actor Kate McKinnon, American actress, comedian and writer January 7 - Max Riemelt, German actor January 8 - Steven Kanumba, Tanzanian actor and director (d. 2012) January 12 Taraneh Alidoosti, Iranian actress Sam Richardson, American actor, comedian, writer and producer January 15 - Victor Rasuk, American actor January 21 Luke Grimes, American actor and musician Richard Gutierrez, Filipino actor and model January 24 - Justin Baldoni, American actor and director January 25 - Kaiji Tang, voice actor January 30 - Kid Cudi, American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer January 31 – Michael Aloni, Israeli actor February 1 Abbi Jacobson, American comedian, writer, actress and illustrator Lee Thompson Young, American actor (d. 2013) February 6 - Brandon Hammond, American former child actor February 8 - Cecily Strong, American actress February 12 - Alexandra Dahlström, Swedish actress February 13 - Brina Palencia, voice actress February 18 - Genelle Williams, Canadian actress February 19 - Josh Trank, American director, screenwriter and editor February 20 - Trevor Noah, South African comedian, writer, producer, actor and television host February 21 - Karina, Japanese model and actress February 24 - Nicholas Saputra, Indonesian actor February 28 - Melanie Chandra, American actress February 29 - Rakhee Thakrar, English actress March 2 Blake Anderson, American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter John Bernecker, American stunt performer (d. 2017) Ian Sinclair, voice actor March 7 - Brandon T. Jackson, American stand-up comedian, rapper, actor, and writer March 8 - Nora-Jane Noone, Irish actress March 10 - Olivia Wilde, American actress March 12 - Jaimie Alexander, American actress March 13 Rachael Bella, retired American actress Noel Fisher, Canadian actor March 14 - Liesel Pritzker Simmons, American former actress March 20 - Christy Carlson Romano, American stage and film actress and singer March 25 - Katharine McPhee, American singer and actress March 27 Emily Ann Lloyd, American actress Jon Paul Steuer, American actor and musician (d. 2018) April 2 Ashley Peldon, American actress Shawn Roberts, Canadian actor Deep Sidhu, Indian actor (d. 2022) April 3 - Chrissie Fit, American actress and singer April 4 - Carolina Gaitán, Colombian actress and singer April 5 - Jae Suh Park, American actress April 8 Taran Noah Smith, American actor Kirsten Storms, American actress April 10 Cara DeLizia, American actress Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress April 11 - Kelli Garner, American actress April 16 - Claire Foy, British actress April 18 - America Ferrera, Honduran-American actress April 25 - Jillian Bell, American comedian, actress and screenwriter April 26 - Ryan O'Donohue, American actor April 28 - Ana Cruz Kayne, American actress April 29 - Firass Dirani, Australian actor May 1 - Kerry Bishe, American actress May 3 - Marama Corlett, Maltese actress May 7 - Mark O'Brien, Canadian actor and director May 12 - Emily Beecham, British actress May 13 - Hannah New, English actress May 14 - Olly Murs, English singer-songwriter, presenter, voice actor and director May 17 Alejandro Edda, Mexican-American actor Lena Waithe, American actress, producer and screenwriter May 21 Jon Beavers, American actor Marnie Schulenburg, American actress (d. 2022) May 23 - Adam Wylie, American actor May 29 - Kaycee Stroh, American actress and singer May 30 - DeWanda Wise, American actress June 1 - Taylor Handley, American actor June 3 - Anne Yatco, American voice actor June 5 - Joel Smallbone, Australian-American singer and actor June 6 - Atandwa Kani, South African actor June 10 - Betsy Sodaro, American actress and voice actress June 13 - Phillip Van Dyke, American actor June 15 - Ray Santiago, American actor June 19 - Paul Dano, American actor