The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1977 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Events
* February 23 – During a press conference at
Sardi's in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, it is officially announced that
Christopher Reeve will be playing the role of
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
.
* March 28 – At the
49th Academy Awards, ''
Rocky'' picks up the
Academy Award for Best Picture.
Peter Finch,
Faye Dunaway, and
Beatrice Straight all win Oscars for their performances in ''
Network'' for
Best Actor,
Best Actress, and
Best Supporting Actress, while
Jason Robards wins for
Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''
All the President's Men.'' He will win again the following year, becoming the only person to win two consecutive Best Supporting Actor awards.
* May 25 – ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' opens in theatres and becomes the
highest-grossing film of the year. The film revolutionises the use of
special effects in film and television production. It also embraces the notion of omitting any sort of opening credits sequence. Lucas, told by the
Directors Guild of America
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...
that he must have an opening credits sequence, instead distributes the film independently, sans the opening credits. The film's release is often considered one of the most important events in film history.
*June 22 –
Walt Disney Productions releases ''
The Rescuers'', which brings back an interest in animation that had been lost to both filmgoers and critics throughout the beginning of the 1970s.
*November 16 – ''
Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' opens to widespread critical acclaim and massive box office success, becoming one of the top-grossing films to date and cementing Steven Spielberg's status as one of the most talented and profitable film directors of all time.
* December 5 – ''The Solar System'', produced and directed by Thomas G. Smith for
Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, is released. It led to the producer hiring
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a company producing visual effects for films such as the ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' and ''
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
'' films.
Awards
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
:''
Father and Master'' (Padre padrone), directed by
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
:''
The Ascent'' (''Voskhozhdeniye''), directed by
Larisa Shepitko, USSR
1977 films
By country/region
*
List of American films of 1977
*
List of Argentine films of 1977
*
List of Australian films of 1977
*
List of Bangladeshi films of 1977
*
List of British films of 1977
A list of films produced in the United Kingdom in 1977 (see 1977 in film):
1977
Top Films at the British Box Office in 1977
Source:
*''The Spy Who Loved Me (film), The Spy Who Loved Me''
*''A Star Is Born (1976 film), A Star is Born''
*''When ...
*
List of Canadian films of 1977
*
List of French films of 1977
*
List of Hong Kong films of 1977
* List of Indian films of 1977
**
List of Hindi films of 1977
**
List of Kannada films of 1977
**
List of Malayalam films of 1977
**
List of Marathi films of 1977
**
List of Tamil films of 1977
**
List of Telugu films of 1977
*
List of Japanese films of 1977
*
List of Mexican films of 1977
*
List of Pakistani films of 1977
*
List of South Korean films of 1977
*
List of Soviet films of 1977
*
List of Spanish films of 1977
By genre/medium
*
List of action films of 1977
*
List of animated feature films of 1977
*
List of avant-garde films of 1977
*
List of comedy films of 1977
*
List of drama films of 1977
*
List of horror films of 1977
*
List of science fiction films of 1977
*
List of thriller films of 1977
*
List of western films of 1977
Births
*January 1
**
Sam Spruell, British character actor
**
Steven Robertson, Scottish actor
**
Jerry Yan, Taiwanese actor, model and singer
*January 6 –
Genevieve O'Reilly
Genevieve O'Reilly (born 6 January 1977) is an Irish-born Australian actress. She is best known for portraying Mon Mothma in the '' Star Wars'' franchise beginning with ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005), a role which earned her a Saturn Award nom ...
, Irish actress
*January 7 –
Dustin Diamond, American actor (d.
2021)
*January 8 –
Amber Benson, American actress
*January 11 –
Devin Ratray, American actor, producer and writer
*January 12 –
Piolo Pascual, Filipino actor
*January 13 –
Orlando Bloom, English actor
*January 14 –
Ruco Chan, Hong Kong actor
*January 15 –
Ronald Zehrfeld, German actor
*January 17 –
Leigh Whannell, Australian screenwriter, actor, producer and director
*January 19
**
Rob Delaney, American comedian, actor and writer
**
Taliesin Jaffe, American voice actor
*January 21 -
Jerry Trainor, American actor
*January 22 -
Matthew Newton, Australian actor, writer and director
*January 24 -
Johann Urb, Estonian-American actor
*January 26 -
Hemky Madera, American actor
*January 28
**
Zhao Tao, Chinese actress
**
Joey Fatone, American singer and actor
*January 29 –
Justin Hartley, American actor
*January 31
**
Bobby Moynihan, American actor, comedian and writer
**
Kerry Washington, American actress
*February 6 -
Josh Stewart, American actor
*February 9 –
A. J. Buckley, Irish-Canadian actor
*February 16 –
Paul Brittain, American actor and comedian
*February 17 –
Isaac Kappy, American actor and musician (d. 2019)
*February 18
**
Ike Barinholtz, American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer
**
Kristoffer Polaha, American actor
*February 21 –
Cyrine Abdelnour, Lebanese actress, and model
*February 24
**
Libero De Rienzo, Italian actor (d.
2021)
**
Kate Mulvany, Australian actress, playwright and screenwriter
*February 26 –
James Wan
James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror fiction, horror genre as the co-creator of the ''Saw (franchise), Saw'' and Insidious (film series), ''Insidious'' franchises and the creator of ...
, Australian director, producer and screenwriter
*February 27 –
Ji Sung, South Korean actor
*March 2 –
Heather McComb, American actress
*March 8 –
James Van Der Beek, American actor
*March 9 –
Lydia Mackay, American voice actress
*March 15 –
Brian Tee, Japanese-born American actor
*March 19
**
Jorma Taccone, American comedian, director, actor and writer
**
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, American actor
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthel ...
–
Anabel RodrÃguez RÃos, Venezuelan film director and screenwriter
*March 23
**
Daniel Espinosa, Swedish director
**
Joanna Page, Welsh actress and producer
**
Edwin Siu, Hong Kong actor and singer
**
Clayton Watson
Clayton Watson (born 23 March 1977) is an Australian producer, actor, writer, and director. He grew up in the Australian outback on a sheep station near Morgan, South Australia. Watson is best known for his breakthrough role as Kid in the f ...
, Australian producer, actor, writer and director
*March 24
**
Olivia Burnette, American actress
**
Jessica Chastain, American actress
*March 25 –
Édgar RamÃrez, Venezuelan actor
*March 28 –
Annie Wersching, American actress (d. 2023)
*April 2 –
Michael Fassbender, Irish-German actor
*April 3 –
Alice Lowe, English actress, writer and comedian
*April 8 –
Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
*April 10 –
Stephanie Sheh, American voice actress
*April 14
**
Jon Daly, American actor, comedian, writer and producer
**
Sarah Michelle Gellar, American actress
**
Rob McElhenney
Robert McElhenney III ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his role as Mac on the FX/ FXX comedy series '' It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), a show he created and co ...
, American actor, writer, and producer
*April 16 –
Tameka Empson, English actress
*April 19 –
Bryan Spears, American film and television producer
*April 20 –
Robert Wilfort, English actor
*April 23
**
John Cena, American professional wrestler and actor
**
Eric Edelstein, American actor
**
John Oliver, British-American comedian, producer, actor and television host
**
Kal Penn, American actor
*April 24 –
Eric Balfour
Eric Salter Balfour (born April 24, 1977) is an American actor. He made his film debut in the Lifetime movie ''No One Would Tell'' in 1996, followed by the drama '' Shattered Image'' (1998), followed by roles in '' What Women Want'' (2000), Rise ...
, American actor and singer
*April 25 –
Marguerite Moreau, American actress
*April 26
**
Tom Welling, American actor
**
McKenzie Westmore, American actress and singer
*May 2 –
Jenna von Oÿ, American actress
*May 3 –
Jeffrey Garcia, American actor and stand-up comedian
*May 5 –
Virginie Efira, Belgian-French actress
*May 10 –
Todd Lowe, American actor
*May 12
**
Michael Jelenic, American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, producer and director
**
Rachel Wilson, Canadian actress
*May 13 –
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her work in independent film with dark and tragic themes, particularly in period dramas. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the BAFTA Fellowship ...
, English actress
*May 14 –
Jacky Ido, Burkinabé-born French actor
*May 15 –
Ben Whitehead, English actor, voice artist and read-in artist
*May 16
**
Lynn Collins, American actress
**
Melanie Lynskey, New Zealand actress
**
EmilÃana Torrini
EmilÃana Torrini (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. Her works include the 2009 single "Jungle Drum (song), Jungle Drum" and the 1999 album ''Love in the Time of Science''. She performed "Gollum's Song" for the 2002 film ' ...
, Icelandic singer
*May 18 –
Evan Helmuth, American actor (d. 2017)
*May 19 –
Kelly Sheridan, Canadian voice actress
*May 20
**
Matt Czuchry, American actor
**
Angela Goethals, American former actress
*May 23
**
Caroline Amiguet, French actress
**
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 Br ...
, British comedian, actor, filmmaker, writer, author and television presenter
**
Heather Wahlquist, American actress
*May 25 -
Julian Bailey, Canadian actor
*May 27 –
Anna Maxwell Martin, British actress
*May 31 –
Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
*June 1
**
Christian Ditter, German director, producer and screenwriter
**
Danielle Harris, American actress
*June 2 –
Zachary Quinto, American actor
*June 5 –
Liza Weil, American actress
*June 14 –
Sullivan Stapleton, Australian actor
*June 22
**
Bernadette Heerwagen, German actress
**
Denis Moschitto, German actor
*June 23 -
Sian Heder
Siân Heder (; born June 23, 1977) is an American filmmaker who is best known for writing and directing the films ''Tallulah (film), Tallulah'' and ''CODA (2021 film), CODA''. ''CODA'' earned Heder an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and ...
, American filmmaker
*June 25 –
Josh Braaten, American actor
*June 29 -
Jeff Baena, American screenwriter and director (d. 2025)
*June 30 –
Christopher Sommers, Irish actor
*July 1 –
Liv Tyler, American actress
*July 4 –
Vesela Kazakova, Bulgarian actress
*July 6 –
Audrey Fleurot, French actress
*July 8 –
Milo Ventimiglia, American actor
*July 10
**
Chiwetel Ejiofor, English actor
**
Cary Joji Fukunaga, American director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer
**
Gwendoline Yeo, Singaporean actress
*July 12 -
Steve Howey, American actor
*July 13
**
Ashley Scott, American actress
**
Kari Wahlgren
Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American voice actress who has provided English-language roles for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as List of FLCL characters#Haruko Haruhara, Haruko H ...
, American voice actress
*July 14 -
Tim Downie, English actor and writer
*July 15 -
Lana Parrilla, American actress
*July 18 -
Kelly Reilly, English actress
*July 22
**
Joaquim Dos Santos, Portuguese-American animator, storyboard artist, director, producer and writer
**
Parisa Fitz-Henley, Jamaican-born American actress
*July 23 -
Shane McRae, American actor
*July 24
**
Danny Dyer, English actor and presenter
**
Michelle Buteau, American actress and comedian
*July 26
**
Tony Sampson, Canadian oiler, former actor and voice artist
**
Rebecca St. James, Australian-American singer-songwriter and actress
*July 27 –
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Irish actor
*July 30 –
Jaime Pressly, American actress
*August 2
**
Edward Furlong, American actor
**
Artemis Pebdani
Artemis Pebdani is an American actress, best known for her roles as Susan Ross on ''Scandal (TV series), Scandal'', Artemis Dubois on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,'' and Gramma Alice on ''Big City Greens''.
Early life
Pebdani was born and ...
, American actress
**
Krzysztof Soszynski, Polish-Canadian actor and retired mixed martial artist
*August 3 –
Tómas Lemarquis, French-Icelandic actor
*August 8 –
Lindsay Sloane, American actress
*August 10 –
Yeşim Büber, Turkish actress
*August 13 -
Damian O'Hare
Damian O'Hare (born 13 August 1977) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Gillette in ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' and ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''.
Career
O'Hare start ...
, Irish actor
*August 18
**
Mizuo Peck, American actress
**
Dar Salim, Iraqi-born Danish actor
*August 23 –
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Ghanaian-British actor
*August 26 -
Patrick Kennedy, English actor and director
*August 30
**
Michael Gladis, American actor
**
Elden Henson, American actor
*September 3 -
Chen Shu, Chinese actress and singer
*September 6 -
Bertie Carvel, British actor
*September 8 –
Nate Corddry, American actor and comedian
*September 11 –
Ludacris, American actor and rapper
*September 15 –
Tom Hardy, English actor
*September 19 –
Kyle Cease, American actor and comedian
*September 25
**
Divya Dutta, Indian actress
**
Clea DuVall, American actress
**
Joel David Moore
Joel David Moore (born September 25, 1977) is an American character actor and director. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Moore studied acting in college before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. His first major role was as Owen ...
, American character actor and director
*September 27 –
Michael C. Maronna, American actor
*September 29 -
Sasha Rionda, Mexican actress
*October 3 –
Hassan Johnson, American actor, model and producer
*October 5 –
Luke Roberts, English actor
*October 7 –
Brandon Quinn, American actor
*October 8
**
Jamie Marchi
Jamie Lynn Marchi (; born October 8, 1977) is an American voice actress, ADR director and script writer. She has provided a number of voices for English-language versions of anime and video games. She is known for her role as Masane Amaha in ' ...
, American voice actress
**
Travis Wester, American actor
*October 10 -
Ali Suliman, Palestinian-Israeli actor
*October 11 –
Matthew Bomer, American actor
*October 16 –
Tamara Podemski, Canadian actress
*October 17 -
Alimi Ballard, American actor
*October 18 –
Peter Sohn, American animator, voice actor, storyboard artist and director
*October 19 –
Jason Reitman, Canadian-American actor and filmmaker
*October 20 –
Sam Witwer, American actor and musician
*October 26 –
Jon Heder, American actor
*October 28 -
Miloud Mourad Benamara, Algerian-born Italian actor
*October 29
**
Jon Abrahams
Jon Avery Abrahams (born October 29, 1977) is an American actor and film director. He is best known for his roles in several films such as Sonny Poncelet in '' Dead Man Walking'' (1995), Bobby Prinze in '' Scary Movie'', Denny Byrnes in '' Meet ...
, American actor
**
Brendan Fehr, Canadian actor
*November 1 -
Martin Copping, Australian actor
*November 2 –
Randy Harrison, American actor
*November 3 –
Greg Plitt, American fitness model and actor (d. 2015)
*November 4 –
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Irish actor
*November 10 –
Brittany Murphy
Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer, known for her work in both comedy and drama.
Born in Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to pursue a career in a ...
, American actress (d. 2009)
*November 11 –
Scoot McNairy, American actor
*November 14 –
Brian Dietzen, American actor
*November 15 –
Sean Murray, American actor
*November 16 –
Maggie Gyllenhaal, American actress
*November 18 -
Miranda Raison, British-French actress
*November 19 –
Reid Scott, American actor
*November 21 –
Michael Sorvino, American actor and producer
*November 23 –
Lateef Crowder dos Santos, Brazilian-American actor and stuntman
*November 24 –
Colin Hanks, American actor, director and producer
*November 30 -
Nelsan Ellis, American actor (d. 2017)
*December 1
**
Akiva Schaffer, American writer, director, actor, comedian and musician
**
Nate Torrence, American comedic actor
*December 5 –
Armando Riesco, Puerto Rican actor
*December 6 -
Jefferson Hall, English actor
*December 8
**
Maarja Jakobson, Estonian actress
**
Matthias Schoenaerts, Belgian actor
*December 10 –
Emmanuelle Chriqui, Canadian actress
*December 15 –
Geoff Stults, American actor
*December 17 -
Katheryn Winnick, Canadian actress
*December 21
**
Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine, American actress
**
Kevin Miller, American voice actor, comedian and podcast host
**
Gregory Siff, American writer and actor
*December 24 -
Michael Raymond-James, American actor
*December 28
**
Vanessa Ferlito, American actress
**
Michael Spears, Indigenous American actor
*December 30 –
Lucy Punch, English actress
*December 31 -
Psy
Park Jae-sang (; born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name Psy ( ; ), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, known domestically for his humorous music videos and stage performances and internationally for his hit singl ...
, South Korean singer
Deaths
Film debuts
References
External links
List of 1977 filmsat
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
1977 Domestic Grossesat
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray ...
List of 1977 deathsat
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
List of 1977 birthsat
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
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