1989 in film

The year 1989 involved many significant films.

Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 1989 by worldwide gross are as follows:

Events

 * Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million. Basinger would lose the town to her partner in the deal, the pension fund of Chicago-based Ameritech Corp., in 1993 after being forced to file for bankruptcy when a California judge ordered her to pay $7.4 million for refusing to honor a verbal contract to star in the film Boxing Helena.
 * A director's cut of Lawrence of Arabia is released with a 227-minute length. The restoration was undertaken by Robert A. Harris under the supervision of director David Lean.
 * April 23 – Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Burt Lancaster, is released.
 * May 24 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is released. It is the third installment of the Indiana Jones series.
 * June 13 – The James Bond film Licence to Kill is released. It would be followed by years of legal wrangling over the future of the popular series. The next Bond film, GoldenEye, is not released until 1995.
 * June 16 - Ghostbusters II is released.
 * June 23
 * Batman is released, going on to gross more than $410 million worldwide, and establishing the public and critical attention of director Tim Burton.
 * Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is released and marks the directorial debut of visual effects supervisor Joe Johnston, who later went on to direct The Rocketeer, Jumanji, October Sky, Jurassic Park III, and Captain America: The First Avenger.
 * June 30 - Do the Right Thing released. It was added to the National Film Registry in 1999.
 * July 7 – Lethal Weapon 2 is released and becomes the highest-grossing film in the franchise. As well as the highest grossing R-rated film of the year at the domestic box office.
 * July 11 – Screen, stage, and Shakespearian legend Laurence Olivier died peacefully in his home in England, after appearing in his last filmed role as an old soldier in War Requiem.
 * August 2 – Ron Howard's family comedy Parenthood, starring Steve Martin, Tom Hulce, and Rick Moranis, is released.
 * September 28 – Sony announce its intention to buy Columbia Pictures and Tri-Star Pictures. The deal is completed in November for a total cost of nearly $5 billion.  They appoint Peter Guber and Jon Peters as co-chairman, in a further deal that cost up to $1 billion, after settling a lawsuit with Warner Bros.
 * November 7 - Andrew G. Vajna agrees to sell his stake in Carolco Pictures to his co-chairman and co-founder Mario Kassar for $106 million.
 * November 17 – The Little Mermaid becomes a critical and commercial success and brings new life to Walt Disney Feature Animation. The Little Mermaid also reinvigorated public and critical interest in The Walt Disney Company, which would become one of the most prestigious corporations of the 1990s.
 * November 22 – Back to the Future Part II is released.

By country/region

 * List of American films of 1989
 * List of Argentine films of 1989
 * List of Australian films of 1989
 * List of Bangladeshi films of 1989
 * List of British films of 1989
 * List of Canadian films of 1989
 * List of French films of 1989
 * List of Hong Kong films of 1989
 * List of Indian films of 1989
 * List of Hindi films of 1989
 * List of Kannada films of 1989
 * List of Malayalam films of 1989
 * List of Marathi films of 1989
 * List of Tamil films of 1989
 * List of Telugu films of 1989
 * List of Japanese films of 1989
 * List of Mexican films of 1989
 * List of Pakistani films of 1989
 * List of South Korean films of 1989
 * List of Soviet films of 1989
 * List of Spanish films of 1989

By genre/medium

 * List of action films of 1989
 * List of animated feature films of 1989
 * List of avant-garde films of 1989
 * List of comedy films of 1989
 * List of drama films of 1989
 * List of horror films of 1989
 * List of science fiction films of 1989
 * List of thriller films of 1989
 * List of western films of 1989

Births

 * January 1 – Adele Haenel, French actress
 * January 3 – Alex D. Linz, American actor
 * January 8 - Karan Soni, Indian-American actor
 * January 9 – Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-Canadian actress and model
 * January 13 - Andy Allo, Cameroonian-American singer-songwriter and actress
 * January 14 - Emma Greenwell, American-born English actress
 * January 16
 * Rila Fukushima, Japanese actress and model
 * Yvonne Zima, American actress
 * January 17 – Kelly Marie Tran, American actress
 * January 23 – April Pearson, English actress
 * January 20 – Piret Krumm, Estonian actress
 * January 26 – Hannah Arterton, American actress
 * January 29 – Kaspar Velberg, Estonian actor
 * January 30
 * Kylie Bunbury, Canadian-American actress
 * Khleo Thomas, American actor
 * February 1 - Marco Pigossi, Brazilian actor
 * February 3 - Ryne Sanborn, American former actor
 * February 4
 * Märt Pius, Estonian actor
 * Priit Pius, Estonian actor
 * February 5 – Jeremy Sumpter, American actor
 * February 10 – Olga Korsak, Latvian actress
 * February 12 - Odelya Halevi, Israeli actress
 * February 13
 * Carly McKillip, Canadian actress and singer
 * Katie Volding, American actress
 * February 16 – Elizabeth Olsen, American actress
 * February 21
 * Corbin Bleu, American actor and singer
 * Scout Taylor-Compton, American actress and singer
 * February 24 – Daniel Kaluuya, English actor
 * February 29 - Angelababy, Hong Kong actress and singer
 * March 1 – Daniella Monet, American actress and singer
 * March 2 - Nathalie Emmanuel, English actress and model
 * March 3 - Andrea Brooks, Canadian actress and model
 * March 5
 * Jake Lloyd, American actor
 * Sterling Knight, American actor and musician
 * March 11
 * Rainey Qualley, American actress and singer
 * Anton Yelchin, Russian-American actor (died 2016)
 * March 15
 * Tom Bateman, British actor
 * Caitlin Wachs, American actress
 * March 17
 * Morfydd Clark, Welsh actress
 * Harry Melling, English actor
 * March 18 – Lily Collins, English-American actress
 * March 20 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
 * March 21 – Takeru Sato, Japanese actor
 * March 23 - Ayesha Curry, Canadian-American actress
 * March 25
 * Matthew Beard, English actor and model
 * Aly Michalka, American actress and singer
 * April 2 – Liis Lass, Estonian actress
 * April 5
 * Freddie Fox, English actor, director and voice artist
 * Lily James, English actress
 * April 8 - Gabriella Wilde, English model and actress
 * April 12 - Yoshi Sudarso, Indonesian-born American actor
 * April 18 – Alia Shawkat, American actress
 * April 19 – Simu Liu, Canadian actor, writer, producer and stuntman
 * April 26 - Luke Bracey, Australian actor
 * April 29
 * Sophie Charlotte, Brazilian actress
 * Gabriel Chavarria, American-Hispanic actor
 * May 5 – Larissa Wilson, English actress
 * May 10 – Lindsey Shaw, American actress
 * May 12 - Mimi Gianopulos, American actress
 * May 16 – Pääru Oja, Estonian actor
 * May 18 - Jona Xiao, American actress
 * May 23 – Alberto Frezza, Italian–American actor
 * May 24
 * Tara Correa-McMullen, American actress (died 2005)
 * Brianne Howey, American actress
 * May 29
 * Riley Keough, American actress
 * Mathew Waters, Australian actor
 * May 30 - Kevin Covais, American actor and singer-songwriter
 * June 3
 * Megumi Han, Japanese voice actress
 * Imogen Poots, English actress
 * Daniela Vega, Chilean actress
 * June 12 - Jade Anouka, English actress
 * June 14
 * Lucy Hale, American actress and singer
 * Courtney Halverson, American actress
 * June 18 - Renee Olstead, American actress and singer
 * June 19 - Giacomo Gianniotti, Italian-Canadian actor
 * June 20 – Christopher Mintz-Plasse, American actor
 * June 21 - Jascha Washington, American actor
 * June 23 - Marielle Jaffe, American actress, singer and model
 * June 25
 * Edgar Morais, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * Rafael Morais, Portuguese actor, director, and screenwriter
 * June 26 - Carlos Lopez, American stunt performer (died 2014)
 * June 27
 * Kimiko Glenn, American actress
 * Kelley Jakle, American actress and singer-songwriter
 * Matthew Lewis, English actor
 * July 1
 * Mitch Hewer, English actor
 * Hannah Murray, English actress
 * July 3 - Kento Kaku, Japanese actor
 * July 4 - T. J. Graham, American Football Player
 * July 11
 * David Henrie, American actor
 * Shareeka Epps, American actress
 * July 12 - Phoebe Tonkin, Australian actress and model
 * July 14 - Alisha Wainwright, American actress
 * July 16 - Kim Woo-bin, South Korean actor
 * July 19 - James Austin Johnson, American comedian and actor
 * July 21
 * Rory Culkin, American actor
 * Jasmine Cephas Jones, American actress, singer and producer
 * Juno Temple, English actress
 * Jing Tian, Chinese actress
 * Jamie Waylett, British former actor
 * July 23 - Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
 * July 25 - Andrew Caldwell, American actor
 * July 27 - Charlotte Arnold, Canadian actress
 * July 31
 * Alexis Knapp, American actress
 * Jessica Williams, American actress and comedian
 * Zelda Williams, American actress, director, producer and writer
 * August 1 - Landry Allbright, American actress, writer and editor
 * August 2 – Priscilla Betti, French actress
 * August 10 – Brenton Thwaites, Australian actor
 * August 14 – Artyom Bogucharsky, Russian actor
 * August 15
 * Joe Jonas, American singer and actor (Jonas Brothers)
 * Carlos PenaVega, actor (Big Time Rush)
 * Masaki Okada, Japanese actor
 * August 18 - Anna Akana, American filmmaker, actress, comedian, musician and YouTuber
 * August 21
 * Rob Knox, English actor (died 2008)
 * Hayden Panettiere, American actress and singer
 * September 5
 * Thomas Cocquerel, Australian actor
 * Kat Graham, American actress, model, singer and dancer
 * Olivier Richters, Dutch bodybuilder, actor and model
 * September 7
 * Loren Allred, American singer, songwriter and actress
 * Hannah John-Kamen, English actress
 * Jonathan Majors, American actor
 * Hugh Mitchell, English actor
 * September 8 - Domee Shi, Canadian filmmaker
 * September 14
 * Logan Henderson, actor (Big Time Rush)
 * Jesse James, American actor
 * September 17 - Danielle Brooks, American actress and singer
 * September 19 - Lorenza Izzo, Chilean actress and model
 * September 22 - Sofía Espinosa, Mexican actress, writer and director
 * September 26 - Emma Rigby, English actress
 * October 1 – Brie Larson, American actress
 * October 4 – Dakota Johnson, American actress
 * October 10 - Aimee Teegarden, American actress, model and producer
 * October 14 – Mia Wasikowska, Australian actress
 * October 24 - Shenae Grimes, Canadian actress
 * October 30 - Dustin Ybarra, American stand-up comedian and actor
 * November 3 - Elliott Tittensor, English actor
 * November 8 - Nia DaCosta, American filmmaker
 * November 10
 * Sherry Cola, American comedian and actress
 * Taron Egerton, Welsh actor
 * November 18 - Stephanie Nogueras, American actress
 * November 20 - Cody Linley, American actor and singer
 * November 22 - Alden Ehrenreich, American actor
 * November 26 - Katie Sagona, American former child actress
 * December 2 – Cassie Steele, Canadian actress and singer
 * December 4 - Nafessa Williams, American actress
 * December 7
 * Nicholas Hoult, English actor
 * Caleb Landry Jones, American actor and musician
 * December 13 – Taylor Swift, American singer-songwriter, actress, and musician
 * December 15 - Nichole Sakura, American actress
 * December 18 – Ashley Benson, American actress and model
 * December 24 - Daniel Durant, American actor
 * December 28 - Jessie Buckley, Irish actress and singer
 * December 29
 * Jane Levy, American actress
 * Left Brain, American rapper
 * December 30 – Letícia Colin, Brazilian actress