Events May 25 – Rambo III is released as the most expensive film ever made with a production budget between $58 and $63 million. The film fails to match the box office earnings from Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). July 15 – Die Hard defies low commercial expectations to gross $141.5 million worldwide. Hailed as an influential landmark in the action film genre, it influences a common formula for many action films in the 1990s, featuring a lone everyman against a colorful terrorist character who is usually holding hostages in an isolated setting. September 19 – English character actor Roy Kinnear suffers a fall from a horse which will prove fatal while filming The Return of the Musketeers in Toledo, Spain. October 10 – Batman officially commences filming at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England. October 27 – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is released on VHS and laserdisc; to combat piracy, the tapeguards and tape hubs on the videocassettes are colored green, and the tape itself is affixed with a small, holographic sticker of the 1963 Universal logo (much like the holograms on a credit card), and encoded with Macrovision. In North America alone, VHS sales come to $75million. December 16 – Rain Man is released to critical and commercial success and becomes the highest grossing film of 1988 worldwide with a gross of $355 million. Winning four Academy Awards including Best Picture, it is the last MGM title to be nominated for Best Picture until Licorice Pizza (2021) 33 years later. Giancarlo Parretti and Max Théret acquire a 52% stake in Pathé.
Events May 25 – Rambo III is released as the most expensive film ever made with a production budget between $58 and $63 million The film fails to match the box office earnings from Rambo First Blood Part II (1985) July 15 – Die Hard defies low commercial expectations to gross $1415 million worldwide Hailed as an influential landmark in the action film genre it influences a common formula for many action films in the 1990s featuring a lone everyman against a colorful terrorist character who is usually holding hostages in an isolated setting September 19 – English character actor Roy Kinnear suffers a fall from a horse which will prove fatal while filming The Return of the Musketeers in Toledo Spain October 10 – Batman officially commences filming at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire England October 27 – ET the Extra-Terrestrial is released on VHS and laserdisc; to combat piracy the tapeguards and tape hubs on the videocassettes are colored green and the tape itself is affixed with a small holographic sticker of the 1963 Universal logo (much like the holograms on a credit card) and encoded with Macrovision In North America alone VHS sales come to $75million December 16 – Rain Man is released to critical and commercial success and becomes the highest grossing film of 1988 worldwide with a gross of $355 million Winning four Academy Awards including Best Picture it is the last MGM title to be nominated for Best Picture until Licorice Pizza (2021) 33 years later Giancarlo Parretti and Max Théret acquire a 52% stake in Pathé