The year 1968 in film involved some significant events, notably the releases of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Franklin J. Schaffner's Planet of the Apes, as well as two highly successful musical films, Funny Girl and Oliver!, the former earning Barbra Streisand the Academy Award for Best Actress (an honour she shared with Katharine Hepburn for her role in The Lion in Winter) and the latter winning both the Best Picture and Best Director awards.
Events June 12 – Roman Polanski's controversial horror film Rosemary's Baby is released in the United States. October – Popular manga series Golgo 13 is launched in Japan, eventually resulting in two live-action feature films, an anime film, an original video animation, an anime television series and six video games. November 1 – The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.
Awards Category/Organization 26th Golden Globe AwardsFebruary 24, 1969 41st Academy AwardsApril 14, 1969 22nd BAFTA AwardsApril 14, 1969 Drama Comedy or Musical Best Film The Lion in Winter Oliver! The Graduate Best Director Paul NewmanRachel, Rachel Carol ReedOliver! Mike NicholsThe Graduate Best Actor Peter O'TooleThe Lion in Winter Ron MoodyOliver! Cliff RobertsonCharly Spencer TracyGuess Who's Coming to Dinner Best Actress Joanne WoodwardRachel, Rachel Barbra StreisandFunny Girl Katharine HepburnThe Lion in WinterBarbra StreisandFunny Girl Katharine HepburnGuess Who's Coming to DinnerThe Lion in Winter Best Supporting Actor Daniel MasseyStar Jack AlbertsonThe Subject Was Roses Ian HolmThe Bofors Gun Best Supporting Actress Ruth GordonRosemary's Baby Billie WhitelawTwisted NerveCharlie Bubbles Best Screenplay, Adapted Stirling SilliphantCharly James GoldmanThe Lion in Winter Buck Henry and Calder WillinghamThe Graduate Best Screenplay, Original Mel BrooksThe Producers Best Original Score Alex NorthThe Shoes of the Fisherman John BarryThe Lion in WinterJohnny GreenOliver! John BarryThe Lion in Winter Best Original Song "The Windmills of Your Mind"The Thomas Crown Affair N/A Best Foreign Language Film War and Peace N/A Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): canceled due to events of May 1968
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos (Artists under the Big Top: Perplexed), directed by Alexander Kluge, West Germany
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): Ole dole doff (Who Saw Him Die?), directed by Jan Troell, Sweden
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1968 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1968 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 Funny Girl Columbia $24,900,000 2 2001: A Space Odyssey MGM $21,500,000 3 The Odd Couple Paramount $20,000,000 4 Bullitt Warner Bros. $19,000,000 5 Oliver! Columbia $16,800,000 6 Planet of the Apes 20th Century Fox $15,000,000 7 Rosemary's Baby Paramount $15,000,000 8Romeo and Juliet Paramount $14,500,000 9 Yours, Mine and Ours United Artists $11,500,000 10 The Lion in Winter AVCO Embassy $10,006,000Top 20 Films of 1968 by Domestic Revenue
1968 films By country/region List of American films of 1968 List of Argentine films of 1968 List of Australian films of 1968 List of Bangladeshi films of 1968 List of British films of 1968 List of Canadian films of 1968 List of French films of 1968 List of Hong Kong films of 1968 List of Indian films of 1968 List of Hindi films of 1968 List of Kannada films of 1968 List of Malayalam films of 1968 List of Marathi films of 1968 List of Tamil films of 1968 List of Telugu films of 1968 List of Japanese films of 1968 List of Mexican films of 1968 List of Pakistani films of 1968 List of South Korean films of 1968 List of Soviet films of 1968 List of Spanish films of 1968
By genre/medium List of action films of 1968 List of animated feature films of 1968 List of avant-garde films of 1968 List of comedy films of 1968 List of drama films of 1968 List of horror films of 1968 List of science fiction films of 1968 List of thriller films of 1968 List of western films of 1968
Short film series Looney Tunes (1930–1969) Merrie Melodies (1931–1969) Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968) Daffy Duck (1937–1968) Cool Cat (1967–1969) Merlin the Magic Mouse (1967–1969)
Births January 1 - Tom DeSanto, American producer and screenwriter January 2 Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor Evan Parke, Jamaican-born American actor January 5 - Carrie Ann Inaba, American actress and singer January 6 – John Singleton, American director and writer (d. 2019) January 9 – Joey Lauren Adams, American actress January 12 Farrah Forke, American actress (d. 2022) Rachael Harris, American actor and comedian January 14 – LL Cool J, American rapper, actor January 15 Rosanne Sorrentino, American former child actress Chad Lowe, American actor January 17 - Louis Lombardi, American actor January 18 - David Ayer, American filmmaker January 19 – Matt Hill, Canadian actor, voice actor, comedian January 20 Chris Miller, American voice actor, animator, director, screenwriter and storyboard artist Melissa Rivers, American television host and actress January 29 – Edward Burns, American actor and producer January 31 - Matt King, English actor, DJ and comedian February 1 – Pauly Shore, American actor February 8 - Gary Coleman, American actor and comedian (d. 2010) February 12 Josh Brolin, American actor Chynna Phillips, American singer and actress February 13 - Kelly Hu, American actress, voice artist, former fashion model and beauty queen February 14 Alicia Borrachero, Spanish actress Phil Lewis, American actor, comedian and director February 15 - Robert Schwentke, German director and screenwriter February 18 – Molly Ringwald, American actress February 21 - Patrick Gallagher, Canadian actor February 24 - Mitch Hedberg, American stand-up comedian (d. 2005) March 2 – Daniel Craig, British actor March 4 – Patsy Kensit, English actress March 6 - Moira Kelly, American actress March 12 Aaron Eckhart, American actor Jason Lively, American actor March 14 - James Frain, English actor March 15 - Sean Bridgers, American actor, screenwriter and producer March 18 - Juan Carlos Vellido, Spanish actor March 20 Jaime Cardriche, American actor (d. 2000) Lawrence Makoare, New Zealand actor of Māori descent March 21 - Greg Ellis, English actor March 23 - Abigail Cruttenden, English actress March 26 - Max Perlich, American actor March 29 Sabrina Impacciatore, Italian actress Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer March 30 Donna D'Errico, American actress Celine Dion, Canadian singer Roland Kickinger, Austrian actor and bodybuilder April 3 - Charlotte Coleman, English actress (d. 2001) April 8 Patricia Arquette, American actress Shawn Fonteno, American actor and rapper April 9 - Jay Chandrasekhar, American comedian, director, screenwriter, actor and editor April 10 - Orlando Jones, American stand-up comedian and actor April 11 - Dimitri Diatchenko, American actor (d. 2020) April 12 - Alicia Coppola, American actress April 13 - Andrew Pleavin, English actor April 14 – Anthony Michael Hall, American actor April 16 - John Gatins, American screenwriter, director and actor April 17 - Adam McKay, American director, producer, screenwriter and comedian April 18 Mary Birdsong, American actress, comedian, writer and singer David Hewlett, British-born Canadian actor, writer and director April 19 – Ashley Judd, American actress April 22 - Piera Coppola, American voice actress April 23 – Chris Williams, Canadian-American animator, director, screenwriter and voice actor April 24 Aidan Gillen, Irish actor Stacy Haiduk, American actress May 3 – Amy Ryan, American actress May 6 - Paul Bazely, English actor May 7 - Traci Lords, American actress and singer May 10 - Adrian Scarborough, English actor May 11 - Jeffrey Donovan, American actor May 12 - Tony Hawk, American actor and professional skateboarder May 16 - Stephen Mangan, English actor, comedian and presenter May 19 - Kyle Eastwood, American film composer May 20 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor May 21 - Tom Goodman-Hill, English actor May 25 Kevin Heffernan, American actor, writer, producer and director Joseph D. 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Smith, British animator, director, visual effects artist and voice actor September 9 Nathan Lee Graham, American actor and singer