Events

• March 5 - Production begins on The Empire Strikes Back, the sequel to Star Wars.
• 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 strong box office, launching a film franchise that would span 10 films over the next 23 years. It also would eventually lead to the creation of four spin-off television series based upon the franchise.

Top grossing films

North America

1. Superman
2. Every Which Way But Loose
3. Rocky II, starring Sylvester Stallone
4. Alien
5. tie, The Amityville Horror and Star Trek: The Motion Picture
6. Moonraker starring Roger Moore
7. The Muppet Movie
8. California Suite
9. The Deer Hunter

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer - Jaffe, Columbia
• Best Director: Robert Benton - Kramer vs. Kramer
• Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer
• Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae
• Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep - Kramer vs. Kramer
• Best Supporting Actor: Melvyn Douglas - Being There

Births

• January 12 - Isidra Vega, actress
• January 8 - Sarah Polley, actress
• January 27 - Rosamund Pike, actress
• February 9 - Mena Suvari, actress
• February 9 - Zhang Ziyi, actress and dancer
• April 4 - Bunko Kanazawa, actress
• April 12 - Claire Danes, actress
• April 19 - Kate Hudson, actress
• April 23 - Jaime King, actress
• May 9 - Rosario Dawson, actress
• May 25 - Monica Keena, actress
• October 4 - Rachael Leigh Cook, actress
• October 8 - Kristanna Loken, actress
• December 23 - Summer Altice, model and actress

Deaths

• February 12 - Jean Renoir, director
• March 1 - Dolores Costello, actress
• March 22 - Ben Lyon, actor, also credited as the person who "discovered" and renamed Marilyn Monroe
• May 29 - Mary Pickford, actress, movie studio founder
• June 11 - John Wayne, actor
• August 17, Vivian Vance, actress
• September 8 - Jean Seberg, actress
• September 12 - Jocelyne LaGarde, Tahitian actress
• December 11 - Adile Nasit, actress

Other movies released

• Agatha
• Alexandria - Why?
• All That Jazz
• Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Palme d'Or winner
• Being There, starring Peter Sellers
• The Black Stallion
• Breaker Morant
• Caligula, by Gore Vidal and Bob Guccione
• The China Syndrome
• David , Golden Bear winner
• The Electric Horseman , directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda
• Escape From Alcatraz
• Hardcore, starring George C. Scott
• The In-Laws
• The Jerk, starring Steve Martin
• Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, both of whom won Oscars for their performances
• La Cage aux Folles
• Love at First Bite , starring George Hamilton
• Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson
• Manhattan
• The Marriage of Maria Braun
• Meatballs, starring Bill Murray
• Monty Python's Life of Brian
• 1941, starring Dan Aykroyd
• Norma Rae
• Nosferatu the Vampyre
• Rock 'n' Roll High School, produced by Roger Corman, featuring The Ramones
• The Rose
• Siberiade
• Soldier of Orange
• 10, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore
• Tess, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Nastassja Kinski
• Time After Time
• The Tin Drum, Palm d'Or winner
• Vengeance is Mine
• Zulu Dawn