Events

• January 28 - George Lucas creates the second draft of what would eventually become Star Wars. At this time, the title of the story was Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode One of The Star Wars.
• March - Production begins on Star Wars
• March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premiers in London
• July - In order to create the necessary special effects for his film, Star Wars, George Lucas forms Industrial Light and Magic.
• Jaws becomes the first movie to ever gross US$100 million in North America, setting the standard for future blockbusters.

Top grossing films

1. Jaws, starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss
2. The Towering Inferno
3. Benji
4. Young Frankenstein
5. The Godfather, Part II
6. Shampoo - Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn
7. Funny Lady
8. Murder on the Orient Express
9. Return of the Pink Panther
10. Tommy

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Fantasy Films, United Artists
• Best Director: Miloš Forman - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Best Actor: Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Best Actress: Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Best Supporting Actor: George Burns - The Sunshine Boys
• Best Supporting Actress: Lee Grant - Shampoo (film)

Births

• January 3 - Danica McKellar, actress
• February 22 - Drew Barrymore, actress.
• June 4 - Angelina Jolie, US actress
• August 7 - Charlize Theron, South African actress
• October 5 - Kate Winslet, actress
• November 19 - Sushmita Sen, actress

Deaths

• January 24 - Larry Fine, actor, original member of The Three Stooges
• January 27 - Bill Walsh, Movie producer and writer
• March 14 - Susan Hayward, actress
• April 3 - Mary Ure, actress
• April 10 - Marjorie Main, actress, made several Ma & Pa Kettle films
• April 13 - Larry Parks, actor
• April 15 - Richard Conte, actor
• May 4 - Moe Howard, actor, original member of The Three Stooges
• June 4 - Evelyn Brent, actress
• October 31 - Joseph Calleia, actor
• November 2 - Pier Paolo Pasolini, film director
• November 5 - Annette Kellerman, Australian swimmer, and silent film actress, portrayed by Esther Williams
• December 24 - Bernard Herrmann, film composer

Other movies released

• French Connection II - Gene Hackman
• Part 2 Walking Tall - Bo Svenson
• The Ghoul - Peter Cushing, John Hurt and Alexandra Bastedo
• The Sunshine Boys
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, directed by Miloš Forman, starring Jack Nicholson
• The Adventures of the Wilderness Family
• Rollerball
• Lucky Lady
• Rooster Cogburn, starring John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn
• Hard Times
• Three Days of the Condor
• Every Man For Himself and God Against All/The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser
• The Story of Adele H
• Barry Lyndon
• The Adoption, Golden Bear winner
• Chronicle of the Burning Years, Palme d'Or winner
• Dog Day Afternoon
• Nashville
• Dersu Uzala
• The Hindenburg
• The Day of the Locust
• Heart of the West