1979 in film

The year 1979 in film involved many significant events.

United States and Canada
The top ten 1979 released films by North American gross are as follows:

Major events

 * March 2 – Buena Vista release their first film since the advent of U.S. movie ratings to not be G-rated, Take Down.
 * March 5 – Production begins on The Empire Strikes Back.
 * March – Frank Price becomes president of Columbia Pictures.
 * May 25 – Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released.
 * May 29 - Mary Pickford, a silent screen legend and Hollywood pioneer who was, at the height of her career, the most famous woman in the world, dies of a stroke.
 * May 31 – The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature-length motion pictures, is released in United Kingdom.
 * June 11 – John Wayne, a famous Western movie actor, dies at the age of 72 from stomach cancer.
 * June 27 – 20th Century Fox Pictures president Alan Ladd Jr. and vice-presidents Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan agree to leave Fox.
 * June 29 – Moonraker, the 11th film in the James Bond franchise, is released in the United States and goes on to become the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide.
 * August 15 – Apocalypse Now is released to worldwide critical acclaim and box office success. Heralded as one of the greatest films ever made to this day.
 * September 19 – Don Bluth and a group of fellow animators resign from The Walt Disney Company's animation department to set up a rival studio, Don Bluth Productions.
 * October 1 – Alan Ladd Jr., Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan who agreed to leave Fox earlier in the year formally announce the creation of The Ladd Company.
 * October 3 – producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan purchase the film rights of Batman from DC Comics. It would be another ten years, before a Batman feature film would be fully realized.
 * November 1 – Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
 * December 7 – Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts in the United States to mixed reviews but blockbuster box office, launching a film franchise that leads to 9 sequels and 3 reboots over the next 37 years. It also leads to the creation of five spin-off television series based upon Gene Roddenberry's creation.
 * Allied Artists files for bankruptcy.

Awards
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
 * Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, United States
 * The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
 * David, directed by Peter Lilienthal, West Germany

By country/region

 * List of American films of 1979
 * List of Argentine films of 1979
 * List of Australian films of 1979
 * List of Bangladeshi films of 1979
 * List of British films of 1979
 * List of Canadian films of 1979
 * List of French films of 1979
 * List of Hong Kong films of 1979
 * List of Indian films of 1979
 * List of Hindi films of 1979
 * List of Kannada films of 1979
 * List of Malayalam films of 1979
 * List of Marathi films of 1979
 * List of Tamil films of 1979
 * List of Telugu films of 1979
 * List of Japanese films of 1979
 * List of Mexican films of 1979
 * List of Pakistani films of 1979
 * List of South Korean films of 1979
 * List of Soviet films of 1979
 * List of Spanish films of 1979

By genre/medium

 * List of action films of 1979
 * List of animated feature films of 1979
 * List of avant-garde films of 1979
 * List of comedy films of 1979
 * List of drama films of 1979
 * List of horror films of 1979
 * List of science fiction films of 1979
 * List of thriller films of 1979
 * List of western films of 1979

Births

 * January 1 – Vidya Balan, Indian actress
 * January 6 – Cristela Alonzo, American comedian, actress, writer and producer
 * January 8
 * Ashraf Barhom, Israeli-Arab actor
 * Sarah Polley, Canadian actress
 * January 16 – Aaliyah, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
 * January 24 – Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer
 * January 26 – Sara Rue, American actress
 * January 28 - Angelique Cabral, American actress
 * January 29 – Andrew Keegan, American actor
 * February 1 – Rachelle Lefevre, Canadian actress
 * February 2 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
 * February 3 – Costa Ronin, Australian actor and cinematographer
 * February 7 - Cerina Vincent, American actress
 * February 8 - Josh Keaton, American actor and musician
 * February 9 – Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress and dancer
 * February 11 – Brandy Norwood, American actress and singer
 * February 12 - Angus Sampson, Australian actor and filmmaker
 * February 13 – Mena Suvari, American actress
 * February 21
 * Tituss Burgess, American actor and singer
 * Maryke Hendrikse, Bahamian-born Canadian voice actress
 * Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and singer
 * Jordan Peele, American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer
 * March 3 – Patrick Renna, American actor
 * March 5 – Riki Lindhome, American actress, comedian and musician
 * March 9 – Oscar Isaac, Guatemalan-American actor
 * March 10
 * Edi Gathegi, Kenyan-American actor
 * Danny Pudi, American actor
 * March 17 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian actor, music producer and stand-up comedian
 * March 18 – Adam Levine, American singer, songwriter, musician and actor
 * March 20
 * Freema Agyeman, British actress
 * Bianca Lawson, American actress
 * March 24 – Lake Bell, American actress, director and screenwriter
 * March 25 – Lee Pace, American actor
 * March 28 – Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, producer, singer, film organiser and media personalities
 * March 29 – De'Angelo Wilson, American actor and rapper (d. 2008)
 * March 30 - Pete Holmes, American comedian, actor, writer, producer and podcaster
 * April 4
 * Bunko Kanazawa, Japanese actress
 * Heath Ledger, Australian actor (d. 2008)
 * Natasha Lyonne, American actress
 * April 5 – Josh Boone, American filmmaker
 * April 7 - Nico Santos, Filipino-American actor
 * April 11 – Josh Server, American actor
 * April 12
 * Claire Danes, American actress
 * Jennifer Morrison, American actress, director and producer
 * Paul Nicholls, English actor
 * April 15
 * Karen David, Canadian actress and singer-songwriter
 * Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer
 * April 17
 * Mylene Dinh-Robic, Canadian actress
 * Ken Duken, German actor and director
 * April 19 – Kate Hudson, American actress
 * April 21 – James McAvoy, Scottish actor
 * April 23 – Jaime King, American actress
 * April 26 – Klára Issová, Czech actress
 * April 27 - Tom Davis, English actor and comedian
 * May 5 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
 * May 7 – Yōsuke Kubozuka, Japanese actor
 * May 9 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
 * May 12 – Aaron Yoo, Korean-American actor
 * May 19 – Bérénice Marlohe, French actress
 * May 20 - Jana Pallaske, German actress and singer
 * May 22 – Maggie Q, American actress
 * May 23 – Josh Cooley, American animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor
 * May 28
 * Jesse Bradford, American actor
 * Monica Keena, American actress
 * June 2 - Morena Baccarin, Brazilian actress
 * June 7 – Anna Torv, Australian actress
 * June 12 - Wil Horneff, American former child actor
 * June 17 – Young Maylay, American rapper, producer and voice actor
 * June 20 - Sarah Stiles, American singer and actress
 * June 21 – Chris Pratt, American actor
 * June 24 – Mindy Kaling, American writer and actress
 * June 25 - Busy Philipps, American actress
 * June 27
 * Martin Bourboulon, French film director and screenwriter
 * Benjamin Speed, Australian film composer
 * June 30 - Rick Gonzalez, American actor and musician
 * July 3 – Ludivine Sagnier, French actress
 * July 5 – Eva Maria Daniels, Icelandic film producer (d. 2023)
 * July 6
 * Kevin Hart, American actor
 * Abdul Salis, British actor
 * July 7 - Benjamin Mitchell, New Zealand actor
 * July 10 – Gong Yoo, South Korean actor
 * July 12 – Omid Abtahi, Iranian-American actor
 * July 14 – Scott Porter, American actor
 * July 16 – Jayma Mays, American actress
 * July 17 – Mike Vogel, American actor and former model
 * July 19 – David Sakurai, Danish-Japanese actor, director and scriptwriter
 * July 26 - Mageina Tovah, American actress
 * July 31
 * Dana Gourrier, American actress
 * B. J. Novak, American writer and actor
 * August 1 – Jason Momoa, American actor and filmmaker
 * August 3 – Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress
 * August 6 – Dayahang Rai, Nepalese actor
 * August 10 – JoAnna Garcia Swisher, American actress
 * August 12 - Keith Powell, American actor, writer and director
 * August 13 - Kasia Smutniak, Polish-Italian actress and model
 * August 14 - Jamie Parker, English actor and singer
 * August 21 - Kevin Janssens, Belgian actor
 * August 22 – Brandon Adams, American actor
 * August 23 – Claire Grant, American actress, model and producer
 * August 24 – Fabienne Carat, French actress and singer
 * August 25 – Şebnem Bozoklu, Turkish actress
 * August 26 – Erik Valdez, American actor
 * August 27 – Aaron Paul, American actor
 * August 29 – Dan Harris, American screenwriter and director
 * August 31 – Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian film composer
 * September 1 - Camille Chen, American actress
 * September 8 – Pink, American singer and actress
 * September 11
 * Ariana Richards, American actress
 * Hu Ting-ting, English-born Taiwanese actress
 * September 17 - Billy Miller, American actor (d. 2023)
 * September 18 – Alison Lohman, American former actress
 * September 19 – Noémie Lenoir, French model and actress
 * September 20 – Chris Tardio, American actor
 * September 22 – MyAnna Buring, Swedish-born British actress
 * September 23 – Lisa Loven Kongsli, Norwegian actress
 * September 25 - Stephen Rider, American actor
 * September 26 - Mark Famiglietti, American actor, screenwriter and producer
 * September 27 – Jad Saxton, American voice actress
 * September 30 – Jonathan Kasdan, American screenwriter, director, producer and actor
 * October 1 – Marielle Heller, American film director
 * October 4
 * Caitríona Balfe, Irish actress
 * Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
 * October 6 – Sareh Bayat, Iranian actress
 * October 7
 * Tang Wei, Chinese actress
 * Aaron Ashmore and Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actors
 * October 8 – Kristanna Loken, American actress
 * October 9
 * Chris O'Dowd, Irish actor and comedian
 * Brandon Routh, American actor
 * October 20 – John Krasinski, American actor and filmmaker
 * October 28 – Natina Reed, American singer-songwriter, rapper and actress (d. 2012)
 * October 29 – Maya Karin, Malaysian actress
 * October 30 - James A. Woods, Canadian actor
 * October 31 – Erica Cerra, Canadian actress
 * November 5 - Leonardo Nam, Australian actor
 * November 8 – Dania Ramirez, Dominican actress
 * November 9 – Matt McCarthy, American comedian, actor and writer
 * November 13 – Riccardo Scamarcio, Italian actor and producer
 * November 14 – Olga Kurylenko, Ukrainian-French actress
 * November 19 – Barry Jenkins, American film director
 * November 22 – Andrew Knott, British actor
 * November 23 – Jonathan Sadowski, American actor
 * November 25 – Joel Kinnaman, Swedish-American actor
 * November 28 – Daniel Henney, American actor and model
 * November 29 - Timo Vuorensola, Finnish director, singer and actor
 * December 3 – Tiffany Haddish, American comedian and actress
 * December 5 – Nick Stahl, American actor
 * December 7
 * Eric Bauza, Canadian-born American voice actor, stand-up comedian and animation artist
 * Sara Bareilles, American actress and singer
 * December 11 – Rider Strong, American actor
 * December 15 – Adam Brody, American actor, writer, musician and producer
 * December 17 - Lil Rel Howery, American actor and comedian
 * December 20 - Ramón Rodríguez, Puerto Rican actor
 * December 23 – Summer Altice, American model and actress
 * December 26 – Chris Daughtry, American actor and singer
 * December 28 - Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress
 * December 29 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor, director and producer