1976 in film

The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1976 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Events

 * January – Paramount Pictures sets up a separate motion picture division and names David V. Picker as president.
 * March 22 – Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film. In one of the most lucrative business decisions in film history, Lucas declines his directing fee of $500,000 in exchange for complete ownership of merchandising and sequel rights.
 * April 1 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show is officially re-released as a midnight movie at the Waverly Theater (Now the IFC Center) in Greenwich Village in New York City, starting through the run and still being shown in there all around the world.
 * April 9 – Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot, is released.
 * August 11 – John Wayne appears in his final film, The Shootist.
 * August 26 – Alan Ladd Jr. is promoted from head of worldwide production to president of 20th Century Fox's film division.
 * November 15 – Michael Eisner is brought in as president and CEO of Paramount Pictures.
 * November 21 – Rocky, the first in the film series opens. It becomes the highest-grossing film released in the year and goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
 * December 5 – Bound for Glory debuts and is the first motion picture in which inventor/operator Garrett Brown used his new Steadicam for filming moving scenes, although its use had already been seen in Marathon Man and Rocky which were filmed later but released earlier.
 * December 17 - King Kong opens to the year's highest opening weekend gross and overall box office success.

Awards
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
 * Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese, United States

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
 * Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, directed by Robert Altman, United States

By country/region

 * List of American films of 1976
 * List of Argentine films of 1976
 * List of Australian films of 1976
 * List of Bangladeshi films of 1976
 * List of British films of 1976
 * List of Canadian films of 1976
 * List of French films of 1976
 * List of Hong Kong films of 1976
 * List of Indian films of 1976
 * List of Hindi films of 1976
 * List of Kannada films of 1976
 * List of Malayalam films of 1976
 * List of Marathi films of 1976
 * List of Tamil films of 1976
 * List of Telugu films of 1976
 * List of Japanese films of 1976
 * List of Mexican films of 1976
 * List of Pakistani films of 1976
 * List of South Korean films of 1976
 * List of Soviet films of 1976
 * List of Spanish films of 1976

By genre/medium

 * List of action films of 1976
 * List of animated feature films of 1976
 * List of avant-garde films of 1976
 * List of comedy films of 1976
 * List of drama films of 1976
 * List of horror films of 1976
 * List of science fiction films of 1976
 * List of thriller films of 1976
 * List of western films of 1976

Births

 * January 2 – Paz Vega, Spanish actress
 * January 4 - August Diehl, German actor
 * January 6
 * Johnny Yong Bosch, American actor, voice actor
 * Danny Pintauro, American actor
 * January 7 - Tyron Leitso, Canadian actor
 * January 8 - Jenny Lewis, American singer-songwriter, musician and actress
 * January 13 – Michael Peña, American actor
 * January 15 - Dorian Missick, American actor
 * January 18 - Derek Richardson, American actor
 * January 20 - Wayne Bastrup, American actor and musician
 * January 21 – Lars Eidinger, German film, television and stage actor
 * January 27
 * Chris Gauthier, English-born Canadian actor (d. 2024)
 * Wojciech Klata, Polish actor
 * January 28 – Lee Ingleby, English film, television and stage actor
 * January 31 - Paul Scheer, American actor, comedian
 * February 3
 * Isla Fisher, Australian actress
 * Tim Heidecker, American comedian, writer, director, actor and musician
 * February 5
 * Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
 * Tony Jaa, Thai actor, martial artist, director and stuntman
 * February 8 - Sharon Duncan-Brewster, British actress
 * February 9 – Charlie Day, American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, director and musician
 * February 10 - Keeley Hawes, English actress
 * February 11 – Brice Beckham, American actor
 * February 14 - Erica Leerhsen, American actress
 * February 23
 * Aaron Aziz, Singaporean actor, singer and film director
 * Kelly Macdonald, Scottish actress
 * February 25 – Rashida Jones, American actress, director, writer, and producer
 * February 28 - Ali Larter, American actress and model
 * February 29 - Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
 * March 8 – Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor, voice actor, writer and producer
 * March 13 – Danny Masterson, American actor and DJ
 * March 14
 * Daniel Gillies, New Zealand-Canadian actor, producer, director and screenwriter
 * Corey Stoll, American actor
 * March 16 – Paul Schneider, American actor
 * March 21 – Rachael MacFarlane, American voice actress, singer and writer
 * March 22 – Reese Witherspoon, American actress, producer, and entrepreneur
 * March 23
 * Michelle Monaghan, American actress
 * Keri Russell, American actress
 * March 25 - Domenick Lombardozzi, American actor
 * March 26 – Amy Smart, American actress
 * March 27 - Craig Wayans, American writer, producer and actor
 * April 1
 * Troy Baker, American voice actor
 * David Oyelowo, English actor, producer, director
 * April 5 – Sterling K. Brown, American actor
 * April 6 - Candace Cameron Bure, American actress, producer, author, and talk show panelist
 * April 13
 * Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)
 * Glenn Howerton, American actor and writer
 * April 15 – Susan Ward, American actress and model
 * April 16 - Lukas Haas, American actor
 * April 17 - Maïwenn, French actress and filmmaker
 * April 18 - Kevin Rankin, American actor
 * April 20 – Joey Lawrence, American actor
 * April 23 – Gabriel Damon, American actor
 * April 26
 * Elisabet Reinsalu, Estonian actress
 * Thurop Van Orman, American cartoonist, animator, voice actor, producer and director
 * April 27 – Sally Hawkins, English actress
 * April 28 - Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, Native American actor
 * May 1
 * Darius McCrary, American actor, rapper, singer and producer
 * Violante Placido, Italian actress and singer
 * May 5
 * Dieter Brummer, Australian actor (d. 2021)
 * Sage Stallone, American actor (d. 2012)
 * May 14 - Martine McCutcheon, English actress and singer
 * May 22 – Külli Teetamm, Estonian actress
 * May 25
 * Erinn Hayes, American actress and comedian
 * Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
 * Ethan Suplee, American film and television actor
 * J. Michael Tatum, American voice actor
 * May 26 - Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and actor
 * May 28 - Liam O'Brien, American voice actor, writer and director
 * May 29 – Yûsuke Iseya, Japanese actor
 * May 30 – Omri Katz, American retired actor
 * May 31 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
 * June 4 - Damion Poitier, American actor and stuntman
 * June 6 - Jonathan Nolan, British-American screenwriter, producer and director
 * June 8 - Eion Bailey, American actor
 * June 10 - Simon Fenton, English actor
 * June 17 - Scott Adkins, British actor, producer and martial artist
 * June 18
 * Alana de la Garza, American actress
 * Blake Shelton, American singer and actor
 * June 19 - Ryan Hurst, American actor
 * June 21 - Dan Scanlon, American animator, storyboard artist, director and screenwriter
 * June 27
 * Joseph Sikora, American actor
 * Wagner Moura, Brazilian actor, director and filmmaker
 * June 28 - Lorraine Stanley, English actress
 * June 29
 * Omar Doom, American actor, musician and artist
 * Bret McKenzie, New Zealand musician, comedian and actor
 * July 1 - Thomas Sadoski, American actor
 * July 3 - Andrea Barber, American actress and comedian
 * July 5
 * Jamie Elman, Canadian-American actor
 * Liberty Phoenix, American former actress
 * July 6 - Bashir Salahuddin, American actor, writer and comedian
 * July 7 - Hamish Linklater, American actor
 * July 9 – Fred Savage, American actor
 * July 10 - Adrian Grenier, American actor, producer and director
 * July 15
 * Gabriel Iglesias, American stand-up comedian and actor
 * Diane Kruger, German actress
 * July 17 - Dagmara Dominczyk, Polish-American actress
 * July 18 – Elsa Pataky, Spanish-Australian actress
 * July 19
 * Benedict Cumberbatch, English actor
 * Vinessa Shaw, American actress and model
 * July 31 – Mela Lee, American voice actress
 * August 2 – Sam Worthington, Australian actor
 * August 6
 * Andero Ermel, Estonian actor
 * Melissa George, Australian actress
 * Soleil Moon Frye, American actress and director
 * August 9
 * Jessica Capshaw, American actress
 * Audrey Tautou, French actress
 * August 16 - Kinga Philipps, Polish-American actress
 * August 23 - Scott Caan, American actor, director and writer
 * August 24 - Alex O'Loughlin, Australian actor, director and writer
 * August 25 – Alexander Skarsgard, Swedish actor
 * August 26 – Mike Colter, American actor
 * August 27 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress, model and voice artist
 * August 30 - Lillo Brancato, American actor
 * September 3 – Vivek Oberoi, Indian actor
 * September 5 – Carice van Houten, Dutch actress and singer
 * September 6
 * Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, American actress
 * Robin Atkin Downes, English actor and voice actor
 * Naomie Harris, English actress
 * September 7 - Oliver Hudson, American actor
 * September 9
 * Emma de Caunes, French actress
 * Lúcia Moniz, Portuguese singer and actress
 * September 13 - Colin Trevorrow, American filmmaker
 * September 18 - Denis Ménochet, French actor
 * September 20
 * Jon Bernthal, American actor
 * Enuka Okuma, Canadian actress
 * September 22 - Sala Baker, New Zealand actress and stuntman
 * September 24 - Matthew Gravelle, Welsh actor
 * September 26 – Kersti Heinloo, Estonian actress
 * October 1 - Danielle Bisutti, American actress and singer
 * October 3 – Seann William Scott, American actor, comedian and producer
 * October 4 – Alicia Silverstone, American actress
 * October 6 - Brett Gelman, American actor and comedian
 * October 9
 * Sam Riegel, American voice actor, director and writer
 * Nick Swardson, American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and producer
 * October 11 - Emily Deschanel, American actress
 * October 14 - Chang Chen, Taiwanese actor
 * October 16 - Gil Kenan, British-American filmmaker
 * October 20 – Dan Fogler, American actor, comedian and writer
 * October 21 – Andrew Scott, Irish actor
 * October 23 – Ryan Reynolds, Canadian actor and film producer
 * October 26 - Florence Kasumba, Ugandan-born German actress
 * October 31 – Piper Perabo, American actress
 * November 1 - Chad Lindberg, American actor
 * November 5 - Sebastian Arcelus, American actor
 * November 7 - Melyssa Ade, Canadian actress
 * November 19 - Happy Anderson, American actor
 * November 24
 * Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Japanese actor
 * Michael Roof, American actor and comedian (d. 2009)
 * November 28 - Ryan Kwanten, Australian actor and producer
 * November 29
 * Chadwick Boseman, American actor and playwright (d. 2020)
 * Anna Faris, American actress, podcaster and writer
 * December 1 - Dean O'Gorman, New Zealand actor
 * December 5 - Amy Acker, American actress
 * December 7 – Mark Duplass, American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician
 * December 8 – Dominic Monaghan, English actor
 * December 23 - Kyle Kinane, American stand-up comedian and actor
 * December 27 - Aaron Stanford, American actor
 * December 28 - Joe Manganiello, American actor
 * December 29
 * Dome Karukoski, Finnish director
 * Danny McBride, American actor, comedian and writer
 * December 31 - Chris Terrio, American screenwriter and director