See also: 1988 in film, other events of 1989, 1990 in film, list of 'years in film'.

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 movie Boxing Helena.)
• Mike Myers and Rob Lowe join SNL
• February - Filming begins on Back to the Future Part II
• June - Filming of Back to the Future Part II is completed
• June 23 - The movie Batman is released in the United States.
• August - Filming begins on Back to the Future Part III
• September - Christina Applegate moves to college
• December - Filming of Back to the Future Part III is completed

Top grossing films

1. Batman, directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, starring Harrison Ford
3. Lethal Weapon 2, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover
4. Look Who's Talking
5. Twins, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito
6. Back to the Future Part II, starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson
7. Ghostbusters II, starring Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray
8. The Little Mermaid
9. Driving Miss Daisy
10. Parenthood, starring Steve Martin

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Driving Miss Daisy - Majestic Films International, Zanuck Company., Warner Bros.
• Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis - My Left Foot
• Best Actress: Jessica Tandy -Driving Miss Daisy

Births

• January 3 - Alex D. Linz
• March 5 - Jake Lloyd
• July 23 - Daniel Radcliffe

Deaths

• January 20 - Beatrice Lillie, actress
• February 3 - Lionel Newman , composer
• February 3 - John Cassavetes, actor, director
• February 11 - George O'Hanlon, actor/director.
• April 26 - Lucille Ball, film and television actress
• May 20 - Gilda Radner, actress
• June 28 - Joris Ivens, filmmaker
• July 3 - Jim Backus, actor
• July 10 - Mel Blanc, voice actor
• July 11 - Laurence Olivier, actor
• August 16 - Amanda Blake, actress
• October 4 - Graham Chapman, comedian
• October 6 - Bette Davis, actress
• October 16 - Cornel Wilde, actor
• October 20 - Anthony Quayle, actor
• November 20 - Lynn Bari , actress
• December 16 - Aileen Pringle , actress
• December 16 - Silvana Mangano, actress
• December 16 - Lee Van Cleef, actor

Other movies released

• The Abyss
• Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter
• Born on the Fourth of July
• Bride of Re-Animator
• Dance 'Til Dawn
• Dead Calm
• Dead Poets Society
• Do the Right Thing
• Field of Dreams
• Ghostbusters II
• Glory
• Going Overboard , starring Adam Sandler
• Great Balls of Fire the Jerry Lee Lewis Story
• Harlem Nights
• Leningrad Cowboys Go America , directed by Aki Kaurismäki, starring Leningrad Cowboys
• Licence to Kill, from the James Bond series
• The Little Mermaid with Jodi Benson
• Honey, I Shrunk The Kids
• My Left Foot
• Mystery Train
• New York Stories
• Rattle and Hum
• Uncle Buck, starring John Candy
• The War of the Roses, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner
• When Harry Met Sally...