1973 in film
This page covers significant events of the year 1973 in film.
Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Studios celebrated their 50th anniversaries.
Highest-grossing films
United States and Canada
List of 1973 box office number-one films in the United States
The top ten 1973 released films by box office gross in the United States and Canada are as follows:
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Exorcist | Warner Bros. | $88,500,000 |
| 2 | The Sting | Universal | $79,000,000 |
| 3 | American Graffiti | $55,900,000 | |
| 4 | Papillon | Allied Artists | $22,500,000 |
| 5 | The Way We Were | Columbia | $22,457,000 |
| 6 | Magnum Force | Warner Bros. | $20,100,000 |
| 7 | Last Tango in Paris | United Artists | $16,711,000 |
| 8 | Paper Moon | Paramount | $16,559,000 |
| 9 | Live and Let Die | United Artists | $15,925,000 |
| 10 | Serpico | Paramount | $15,400,000 |
Outside North America
The highest-grossing 1973 films in countries outside of North America.
| Country | Title | Studio | Gross | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob | SNC | 7,295,727 admissions | |
| Germany | Papillon | Columbia Pictures | 8,500,000 admissions | |
| Hong Kong | The House of 72 Tenants | Shaw Brothers Studio | ||
| India | Bobby | R. K. Films | () | |
| Italy | Malicious | Paramount Pictures | 11,756,327 admissions | |
| Soviet Union | The Headless Horseman | Lenfilm | 64,900,000 admissions | |
| Spain | Cabaret | TBD | 125.8 million ₧ | |
| United Kingdom | Live and Let Die | Eon Productions | 9,000,000 admissions |
Worldwide gross revenue
The following table lists known worldwide gross revenue figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1973. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1973. This list also includes gross revenue from later re-releases.
| Title | Worldwide gross | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Exorcist | $441,306,145 | United States | |
| Enter the Dragon | $400,000,000 | Worldwide | |
| The Sting | $257,000,000 | United States | |
| Live and Let Die | $161,800,000 | United Kingdom | |
| American Graffiti | $140,000,000 | United States | |
| Bobby | India |
The year's highest-grossing actor worldwide was Hong Kong martial arts film star Bruce Lee, who died the same year.
Events
- March – Five Fingers of Death is released in the United States and is a surprise success starting a kung fu film craze in North America
- April 11 – Kim Jong-il publishes his film treatise On the Art of the Cinema.
- May 1 – The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely; she will marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra in 1976.
- July 20 – Martial arts legend Bruce Lee dies before Enter the Dragon is released on July 26.
- August 17 – The sci-fi movie Westworld is the first feature film to use digital image processing.
- December 25 – The Sting is released and goes on to become one of the top-grossing films of all time.
- December 26 – The Exorcist reawakens the horror film genre and becomes one of the most popular and controversial films ever released.
Awards
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
The Hireling, directed by Alan Bridges, United Kingdom
Scarecrow, directed by Jerry Schatzberg, United States
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder), directed by Satyajit Ray, India
1973 films
By country/region
- List of American films of 1973
- List of Argentine films of 1973
- List of Australian films of 1973
- List of Bangladeshi films of 1973
- List of British films of 1973
- List of Canadian films of 1973
- List of French films of 1973
- List of Hong Kong films of 1973
- List of Indian films of 1973
- List of Hindi films of 1973
- List of Kannada films of 1973
- List of Malayalam films of 1973
- List of Marathi films of 1973
- List of Tamil films of 1973
- List of Telugu films of 1973
- List of Japanese films of 1973
- List of Mexican films of 1973
- List of Pakistani films of 1973
- List of South Korean films of 1973
- List of Soviet films of 1973
- List of Spanish films of 1973
By genre/medium
- List of action films of 1973
- List of animated feature films of 1973
- List of avant-garde films of 1973
- List of comedy films of 1973
- List of drama films of 1973
- List of horror films of 1973
- List of science fiction films of 1973
- List of thriller films of 1973
- List of western films of 1973
Births
- January 4 - Damon Gupton, American actor
- January 7 – Baiba Broka, Latvian actress
- January 10 – Ryan Drummond, American actor and comedian
- January 14 – Katie Griffin, Canadian actress and singer.
- January 17 - Bob Persichetti, American animator, story artist, storyboard artist, screenwriter and director
- January 18 - Ben Willbond, English actor and screenwriter
- January 23 – Lanei Chapman, American actress
- January 24 – William Gregory Lee, American actor
- January 29 – Arben Bajraktaraj, Korovan-born French actor
- January 30 - Jordan Prentice, Canadian actor
- January 31
- Portia de Rossi, Australian-Canadian actress
- Matthew Faber, American actor (d. 2020)
- February 5 - David Meunier, American-Luxembourgish actor
- February 9 - Colin Egglesfield, American actor
- February 12 – Tara Strong, Canadian-American voice actress
- February 14 - Kristen Dalton, American actress
- February 15 - Sarah Wynter, Australian actress
- February 17 – Lucy Davis, English actress
- February 18 – Tom Wisdom, English actor
- February 20 - Andrea Savage, American actress and comedian
- February 25 – Anson Mount, American actor
- February 27 – Li Bingbing, Chinese actress
- March 1 – Jack Davenport, English actor
- March 3 – Matthew Marsden, English-American actor, producer and singer
- March 4 – Len Wiseman, American director, screenwriter and producer
- March 8 - Boris Kodjoe, German actor and producer
- March 10 – Natasha Alam, Uzbekistani–American actress and model
- March 13 – Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Icelandic-American actor, producer and screenwriter
- March 16 – Tim Kang, American actor
- March 17 - Michelle Nolden, Canadian actress
- March 18
- Marcus Chait, American actor and producer
- Luci Christian, American voice actress
- March 19 - Jill Culton, American animator, storyboard artist, director and screenwriter
- March 20
- Jane March, English actress and model
- Cedric Yarbrough, American actor and comedian
- March 21 - Vanessa Branch, English-born American actress
- March 22 - Clay Kaytis, American animator and director
- March 24 – Jim Parsons, American actor and producer
- April 1 - Kris Marshall, English actor
- April 2
- Simon Farnaby, English actor, comedian and writer
- Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, actress, producer and writer
- April 3 – Adam Scott, American actor, comedian and producer
- April 6
- Lori Heuring, American actress
- Cindy Robinson, American voice actress
- April 10 – Guillaume Canet, French actor
- April 11
- Jennifer Esposito, American actress
- Alec Musser, American actor and fitness model (d. 2024)
- April 12 - Amr Waked, Egyptian actor
- April 14 – Adrien Brody, American actor
- April 19
- Michael Bacall, American screenwriter and actor
- David Soren, Canadian director, writer, voice actor and storyboard artist
- April 22 – Christopher Sabat, American voice actor
- April 24 - Julie Cox, English actress
- April 26 - Erica McDermott, American actress
- April 28 - Elisabeth Röhm, American actress and director
- April 30
- Robyn Griggs, American actress (d. 2022)
- Antonino Isordia, Mexican director
- May 5 – Tina Yothers, American actress
- May 8
- Marcus Brigstocke, British comedian and actor
- Jonathon Young, Canadian actor
- May 10 – Tora Sudiro, Indonesian actor
- May 12 - Mackenzie Astin, American actor
- May 17
- Sasha Alexander, American actress and director
- Matthew McGrory, American actor (d. 2005)
- May 21 - Noel Fielding, English comedian, writer, actor, artist, musician and television presenter
- May 25 - Jossara Jinaro, Brazilian-American actress (d. 2022)
- May 27 - Jack McBrayer, American actor, singer and comedian
- May 30 - Minae Noji, Japanese-American actress
- June 1 - Adam Garcia, Australian actor
- June 2 - Kevin Feige, American producer
- June 3 - Jason Jones, Canadian-American actor, comedian and writer
- June 4 - Matt Corboy, American actor
- June 8 - Lexa Doig, Canadian actress
- June 9 - Orlando Wells, English actor and writer
- June 12 - Mel Rodriguez, American actor
- June 15
- Neil Patrick Harris, American actor
- Pia Miranda, Australian actress
- June 16 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor
- June 17 - Louis Leterrier, French director and producer
- June 18 - Julie Depardieu, French actress
- June 19 - Leticia Spiller, Brazilian actress
- June 21 – Juliette Lewis, American actress
- June 22 - Tracy Melchior, American actress
- June 24 - Alexander Beyer, German actor
- June 27 - Razaaq Adoti, British actor, producer and screenwriter
- June 29 - Lance Barber, American actor
- June 30 - Jon Gunn, American director and screenwriter
- July 2 - Peter Kay, English comedian and actor
- July 3 - Patrick Wilson, American actor, director and singer
- July 6 - William Lee Scott, American actor
- July 8
- Sebastian Maniscalco, American stand-up comedian and actor
- Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress
- July 9 - Enrique Murciano, American actor
- July 10 - Annie Mumolo, American actress, screenwriter, comedian and producer
- July 11 - Jason Liebrecht, American voice actor
- July 15 - Rachel Pickup, British actress
- July 16 - Robert Jayne, American actor
- July 19 - Saïd Taghmaoui, French-American actor and screenwriter
- July 20
- Omar Epps, American actor, rapper and producer
- Roberto Orci, Mexican-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2025)
- July 22 - Jaime Camil, Mexican actor and singer
- July 23
- Daisy Donovan, English television presenter, actress and writer
- Kathryn Hahn, American actress and comedian
- July 24 - Jamie Denbo, American actress, writer and comedian
- July 25 - David Denman, American actor
- July 26
- Kate Beckinsale, English actress
- Gaetano Bruno, Italian actor
- July 29
- Stephen Dorff, American actor
- Dileep Rao, American actor
- July 31 - Daniel Evans, Welsh actor and director
- August 1 - Eduardo Noriega, Spanish actor
- August 2 - Simon Kinberg, British-born American filmmaker
- August 3 - Michael Ealy, American actor
- August 5 - Michael Hollick, American actor
- August 6
- Asia Carrera, American pornographic actress
- David Campbell, Australian singer, actor and television personality
- Vera Farmiga, American actress
- August 8 – Jessica Calvello, American voice actress
- August 9 - Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor and television director
- August 14 - Jamie Sives, Scottish actor
- August 18 - Carmen Serano, American actress
- August 19 - Ahmed Best, American actor, comedian and musician
- August 22 – Kristen Wiig, American actress and comedian
- August 24
- Dave Chappelle, American actor
- Carmine Giovinazzo, American actor, writer and musician
- Grey Griffin, American actress, comedian and singer-songwriter
- Barrett Oliver, American child actor
- August 25 - Ben Falcone, American filmmaker, comedian and actor
- August 26
- Andy Muschietti, Argentine filmmaker
- Gunner Wright, American actor
- August 28 - Kirby Morrow, Canadian actor, comedian and writer (d. 2020)
- September 1 - Guillem Morales, Spanish director
- September 4
- Jason David Frank, American actor and mixed martial artist (d. 2022)
- Lazlow Jones, American writer, producer, director, voice actor and radio personality
- September 5
- Paddy Considine, English actor, director, screenwriter and musician
- Rose McGowan, American actress
- September 6 - Martin Hancock, English actor
- September 7 – Shannon Elizabeth, American actress
- September 12 –
- Maximiliano Hernández, American actor
- Paul Walker, American actor and producer (d. 2013)
- September 13 - Travis Knight, American animator, producer and director
- September 14 – Andrew Lincoln, English actor
- September 18 – James Marsden, American actor
- September 19 - Nicholas Bishop, English-born Australian actor
- September 25 - Bridgette Wilson, American actress and singer
- September 26 – Julienne Davis, American actress and model
- September 27 - Indira Varma, British actress and narrator
- October 1 – Christian Borle, American actor and singer
- October 2
- Efren Ramirez, American actor
- Verka Serduchka, Ukrainian comedian, actor and singer
- October 3
- Keiko Agena, American actress
- Sasha Alexander, American actress and television director
- Neve Campbell, Canadian actress
- Richard Ian Cox, Welsh-Canadian voice actor
- Lena Headey, English actress
- October 6 – Ioan Gruffudd, Welsh actor
- October 8 - Jan Pavel Filipensky, Czech actor
- October 10
- Mario Lopez, American actor and television host
- S. S. Rajamouli, Indian director
- Rajesh Tailang, Indian actor
- October 21 - Sasha Roiz, Israeli-born Canadian actor
- October 22 – Carmen Ejogo, British actress and singer
- October 23 - Stéphane Debac, French actor
- October 24
- Burgess Jenkins, American actor
- Kurt Kuenne, American filmmaker
- October 25 - Michael Weston, American actor
- October 26 – Seth MacFarlane, American actor, animator, screenwriter, comedian, director and singer
- October 28 – Kim Seo-hyung, South Korean actress
- October 30
- Adam Copeland, Canadian wrestler and actor
- Kemp Powers, American filmmaker
- November 1
- Robert Luketic, Australian director
- Aishwarya Rai, Indian actress
- November 2 - Marisol Nichols, American actress
- November 3 - Sticky Fingaz, American rapper and actor
- November 4 - Steven Ogg, Canadian actor
- November 11 - Chris McKay, American filmmaker
- November 12 - Radha Mitchell, Australian actress
- November 13
- Jordan Bridges, American actor
- John DeSantis, Canadian actor
- November 14 - Dana Snyder, American actor and voice actor
- November 17
- Leslie Bibb, American actress
- Kerry Godliman, English actress and comedian
- Maurizio Lombardi, Italian actor
- November 21 - Brook Kerr, American actress
- November 24
- J. C. Chandor, American filmmaker
- Lucy Liemann, British actress
- Danielle Nicolet, American actress
- November 26 – Peter Facinelli, American actor
- November 27
- Tadanobu Asano, Japanese actor
- Sharlto Copley, South African actor
- December 1 - Lombardo Boyar, American actor
- December 3
- Bruno Campos, Brazilian-American actor and lawyer
- Holly Marie Combs, American actress and producer
- December 4 - Tyra Banks, American television personality, producer, writer and actress
- December 5 - Shalom Harlow, Canadian actress
- December 11 - Mos Def, American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor
- December 14
- Thuy Trang, Vietnamese-American actress (d. 2001)
- Jan Uuspõld, Estonian actor
- December 15 - Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Icelandic actor and director
- December 17 - Rian Johnson, American filmmaker
- December 27 - Wilson Cruz, American actor
- December 28 - Seth Meyers, American talk show host, actor and comedian
- December 30 - Christian McKay, English actor
Deaths
Film debuts
Notes
- Finler, Joel Waldo, 2003, The Hollywood Story, Wallflower Press, 360–361
- North America (US and Canada) Domestic Movie Chart for 1973, the-numbers.com, 2023-12-09
- Charts - LES ENTREES EN FRANCE, JP's Box-Office, 1973, 27 November 2018
- Bilan Annuel Allemagne -1973, JP's Box-Office, 10 December 2018
- Fu, Poshek, Desser, David, The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity, 2002, Cambridge University Press, en
- Box Office 1973, Boxofficeindia.com, 2011-06-01, dead, 2011-07-21
- Bilan Annuel Italie −1973, JP's Box-Office, 10 December 2018
- Prokat2, Kinokultura.com, 2012-10-09, dead, 2012-05-10
- ICAA, Boletín informativo del control de taquila. Datos de cuatro trimestre 1973, 1974
- The Ultimate Chart: 1–100, 28 November 2004, British Film Institute, 14 November 2013, 3 August 2012, dead
- The Exorcist (1973), Box Office Mojo, December 28, 2011
- Wilson, Wayne, Bruce Lee, 2001, Mitchell Lane Publishers, 30–1, After its release, , Enter the Dragon, became Warner Brothers' highest grossing movie of 1973. It has earned well over $400, , million
- Box Office Mojo, The Sting, December 31, 2023, Domestic $156,000,000
- Daily Variety, Universal's Foreign Champs, February 6, 1990, Foreign $101.0m
- Live and Let Die, The Numbers, Nash Information Services, LLC, 31 October 2011, live, 31 May 2012, dmy-all
- American Graffiti (1973) – Financial Information, The Numbers, January 30, 2012
- On Independence Day, here are the most successful Indian movies of every decade since 1947, Hindustan Times, 15 August 2018
- Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average), World Bank, 1973, 13 December 2018
- Eder, Shirley, 'Kung Fu' Cult Immortalizing Lee, 16 April 2022, Detroit Free Press, Newspapers.com, 18 September 1973, subscription
- U.S. Rage of Chop-Socky Films; Karate Breaks Out of Chinatown, Variety, January 9, 1974
- David-West, Alzo, January 2009, The Literary Ideas of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il: An Introduction to North Korean Meta-Authorial Perspectives, Cultural Logic, 12, 1097-3087, 2015-04-04, 2015-11-23, dead
References
- Finler, Joel Waldo, 2003, The Hollywood Story, Wallflower Press, 360–361
- North America (US and Canada) Domestic Movie Chart for 1973, the-numbers.com, 2023-12-09
- Charts - LES ENTREES EN FRANCE, JP's Box-Office, 1973, 27 November 2018
- Bilan Annuel Allemagne -1973, JP's Box-Office, 10 December 2018
- Fu, Poshek, Desser, David, The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity, 2002, Cambridge University Press, en
- Box Office 1973, Boxofficeindia.com, 2011-06-01, dead, 2011-07-21
- Bilan Annuel Italie −1973, JP's Box-Office, 10 December 2018
- Prokat2, Kinokultura.com, 2012-10-09, dead, 2012-05-10
- ICAA, Boletín informativo del control de taquila. Datos de cuatro trimestre 1973, 1974
- The Ultimate Chart: 1–100, 28 November 2004, British Film Institute, 14 November 2013, 3 August 2012, dead
- The Exorcist (1973), Box Office Mojo, December 28, 2011
- Wilson, Wayne, Bruce Lee, 2001, Mitchell Lane Publishers, 30–1, After its release, , Enter the Dragon, became Warner Brothers' highest grossing movie of 1973. It has earned well over $400, , million
- Box Office Mojo, The Sting, December 31, 2023, Domestic $156,000,000
- Daily Variety, Universal's Foreign Champs, February 6, 1990, Foreign $101.0m
- Live and Let Die, The Numbers, Nash Information Services, LLC, 31 October 2011, live, 31 May 2012, dmy-all
- American Graffiti (1973) – Financial Information, The Numbers, January 30, 2012
- On Independence Day, here are the most successful Indian movies of every decade since 1947, Hindustan Times, 15 August 2018
- Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average), World Bank, 1973, 13 December 2018
- Eder, Shirley, 'Kung Fu' Cult Immortalizing Lee, 16 April 2022, Detroit Free Press, Newspapers.com, 18 September 1973, subscription
- U.S. Rage of Chop-Socky Films; Karate Breaks Out of Chinatown, Variety, January 9, 1974
- David-West, Alzo, January 2009, The Literary Ideas of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il: An Introduction to North Korean Meta-Authorial Perspectives, Cultural Logic, 12, 1097-3087, 2015-04-04, 2015-11-23, dead
External links
Category:Film by year