# 1998 in film
**1998 in film** refers to the notable cinematic events of 1998, a year marked by head-to-head releases of similar big-budget films, a strong crop of directorial debuts, and the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) win for Theo Angelopoulos's *Eternity and a Day* at Cannes.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998) The year's highest-grossing film worldwide was [Michael Bay](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-bay)'s asteroid disaster picture *[Armageddon](https://www.edgepedia.org/armageddon-1998-film)*.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Highest-grossing film | *Armageddon*, the more successful of the year's two asteroid disaster films; the pair earned close to a billion dollars combined[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998) |
| Dueling releases | *Deep Impact* (May 8) and *Armageddon* (July 1); *Antz* against *A Bug's Life*; *Elizabeth* against *Shakespeare in Love*; *Saving Private Ryan* against *The Thin Red Line*[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998) |
| Palme d'Or | *Eternity and a Day* by Theo Angelopoulos (Greece–France)[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998) |
| 71st Academy Awards | Best Picture went to *Shakespeare in Love*; both *Saving Private Ryan* and *The Thin Red Line* were nominated and neither won[2](https://sightlines.media/film/8741/the-thin-red-line-1998) |
| *Saving Private Ryan* | Won five Oscars: best director, best cinematography, best film editing, best sound, and best sound effects editing[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/06/04/how-france-and-hollywood-adapted-d-day-to-the-big-screen_6673689_30.html) |
| Notable debuts | Christopher Nolan (*Following*), Darren Aronofsky (*Pi*), Denis Villeneuve (*August 32nd on Earth*), Lukas Moodysson (*Show Me Love*), Abderrahmane Sissako (*Life on Earth*), and Samira Makhmalbaf, who made *The Apple* at age 17[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998) |
| Animation | Satoshi Kon's *Perfect Blue* opened 16 February 1998; Disney's *Mulan* opened 19 June[4](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/releases/archive/1998/) • [5](https://filmmusic.com/releasedates/1998/) |
## Dueling films
1998 was peak time for a phenomenon in which two mammoth movies on the same theme arrive in cinemas in quick succession. DreamWorks's insect computer-animated film *Antz* went antenna-to-antenna with Pixar's *A Bug's Life*, and Pixar won at the box office. The Elizabethan-era historical dramas *Elizabeth* and *Shakespeare in Love* both reaped a slew of awards, though the latter took best picture. [Steven Spielberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-spielberg) and [Terrence Malick](https://www.edgepedia.org/terrence-malick), returning from a long absence from filmmaking, both offered Second World War epics, *Saving Private Ryan* and *The Thin Red Line* respectively.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998)
The biggest box-office battle of the year pitted *Armageddon* against the fellow apocalypse-by-asteroid film *Deep Impact*, released on May 8 and July 1 respectively. The BFI notes that the pair made close to a billion dollars between them.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998)
## Awards and festivals
At the Cannes Film Festival, films in competition included *Festen*, *The Idiots*, *Velvet Goldmine*, and *Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas*, but the Palme d'Or went to *Eternity and a Day*, the third film in Angelopoulos's so-called borders trilogy, starring [Bruno Ganz](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruno-ganz) as an aged author traveling with a lost Albanian refugee boy toward the Greek-Albanian border.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998)
At the 71st Academy Awards, honoring 1998 releases, *Saving Private Ryan* and *The Thin Red Line* were both nominated for Best Picture, and neither won; the award went to *Shakespeare in Love*.[2](https://sightlines.media/film/8741/the-thin-red-line-1998) *Saving Private Ryan* won five Oscars, for best director, best cinematography, best film editing, best sound, and best sound effects editing.[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/06/04/how-france-and-hollywood-adapted-d-day-to-the-big-screen_6673689_30.html) *The Thin Red Line* received seven nominations, including best picture and best director for Malick.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998)
## Notable releases
The year's North American schedule mixed genre films, comedies, and animation. Early-year wide releases included *Fallen* (Warner Bros., $25,310,938 domestic), *Half Baked* (Universal, $17,394,881), *Spice World* ([Sony Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures), $29,342,592), and *The Wedding Singer* (New Line, $80,245,725), one of the year's stronger domestic performers.[6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/release-schedule/1998) Spring brought *Dark City* (February 27), *The Big Lebowski* (March 6, $19,120,853 domestic), *U.S. Marshals* ($57,833,603), and *The Man in the Iron Mask* ($56,968,169).[6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/release-schedule/1998) • [5](https://filmmusic.com/releasedates/1998/)
Summer releases included *Godzilla* (May 20), *The Truman Show* (June 5), *Mulan* (June 19), and *Armageddon* (July 1).[5](https://filmmusic.com/releasedates/1998/) *The Truman Show*, Peter Weir's comedy-drama starring [Jim Carrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-carrey) as a man unknowingly starring in a lifelong broadcast soap opera, was released in the days when the idea of broadcasting one's intimacies seemed wild, and has since been read as prescient in the social media era.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998) Autumn brought *[Rushmore](https://www.edgepedia.org/rushmore-film)* (September 17), *Antz* (September 19), *American History X* (October 30), and *The Rugrats Movie* (November 8).[5](https://filmmusic.com/releasedates/1998/) • [4](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/releases/archive/1998/)
## Debuts and world cinema
Away from the big Hollywood productions, 1998 saw first features from directors who went on to wider acclaim: [Christopher Nolan](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-nolan) with *Following*, [Darren Aronofsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/darren-aronofsky) with *Pi*, [Denis Villeneuve](https://www.edgepedia.org/denis-villeneuve) with *August 32nd on Earth*, Lukas Moodysson with *Show Me Love*, and Abderrahmane Sissako with *Life on Earth*. The BFI called *The Apple*, the Iranian feature made by Samira Makhmalbaf at age 17, in many ways the most impressive directorial debut of the year.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998)
Other significant international releases included [Satoshi Kon](https://www.edgepedia.org/satoshi-kon)'s anime *Perfect Blue* (Japan, 16 February), Walter Salles's *Central Station* (Brazil), which won a [Golden Bear](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-bear) and earned Oscar nominations and helped return Brazilian cinema to international attention, Hou Hsiao-hsien's *Flowers of Shanghai* (Taiwan), Hirokazu Koreeda's *After Life* (Japan), and Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini's documentary *Divorce Iranian Style*.[4](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/releases/archive/1998/) • [1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998) In Australia, Rachel Perkins's *Radiance* was her first feature and only the second film directed by an Indigenous Australian woman, after [Tracey Moffatt](https://www.edgepedia.org/tracey-moffatt)'s *BeDevil* (1993).[7](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/nfsa-restores-radiance-1998)
## Production technology
Digital tools were reshaping filmmaking behind the screen. By 1998, roughly 80 percent of films coming out of Hollywood were edited on digital nonlinear editing systems, a practice that had taken off only after Avid delivered its first true 24-frame Film Composer in the summer of 1992.[8](https://www.moviemaker.com/an-overview-of-desktop-moviemaking-3185/) In November 1998, *Wired* reported on digital projection demonstrations that, for the first time, looked close to film quality, technology that would let studios transport finished films to theaters without printing them on celluloid.[9](https://www.wired.com/1998/11/so-long-celluloid/)
## References
1. [10 great films of 1998, British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-1998)
2. [The Thin Red Line (1998), Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/8741/the-thin-red-line-1998)
3. [How France and Hollywood adapted D-Day to the big screen, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/06/04/how-france-and-hollywood-adapted-d-day-to-the-big-screen_6673689_30.html)
4. [All films, 1998, Kinoafisha](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/releases/archive/1998/)
5. [1998 Theatrical Movie Release Schedule, FilmMusic](https://filmmusic.com/releasedates/1998/)
6. [North American Movie Release Schedule 1998, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/release-schedule/1998)
7. [NFSA Restores: Radiance (1998), National Film and Sound Archive of Australia](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/nfsa-restores-radiance-1998)
8. [An Overview of Desktop Moviemaking, MovieMaker Magazine](https://www.moviemaker.com/an-overview-of-desktop-moviemaking-3185/)
9. [So Long, Celluloid, Wired (November 19, 1998)](https://www.wired.com/1998/11/so-long-celluloid/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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