The year1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hitsJurassic Park,The Fugitive, andThe Firm. (For more about films in foreign languages, check sources in those languages.)
January 1 –China Film Import & Export Corporation ends its 40-year monopoly distributing all films in China, with 16 other Chinese film studios now responsible for distributing their own films.[3]
January 29 –Bram Stoker's Dracula opens in the United Kingdom setting an opening weekend record of £2,633,635 million.[4][5]
March 31 – actorBrandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming ofThe Crow.
May 27 – actressKim Basinger files for bankruptcy after aCalifornia judge initially orders her to pay $8.9 million for refusing to honor a verbal contract to star in the filmBoxing Helena. As a result, Basinger loses the town that she purchased in1989,Braselton, Georgia, to her partner in the deal, the pension fund ofChicago-basedAmeritech.
May 28 – Produced by Hollywood Pictures,Super Mario Bros. opens, marking the first video game film released, starringBob Hoskins as Mario andJohn Leguizamo as Luigi. The film would unfortunately end up grossing only $20.9 million domestically and receive negative reviews from critics.
June 11 – The filmed version ofMichael Crichton's novelJurassic Park, adinosaur epic with groundbreakingspecial effects directed bySteven Spielberg, breaks box-office records with a record $50 million opening weekend and goes on to become the highest-grossing film ever made with a worldwide gross of over $900 million.[6]
June 18 –Arnold Schwarzenegger's film career falters with the commercial disappointment ofLast Action Hero, despite Columbia Pictures new logo making its debut in that film.
July 16 –Jurassic Park opens in Mexico and the United Kingdom and on July 17 in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, setting opening records in each market.[7]
Hocus Pocus is released byWalt Disney Pictures. While the film upon its original release, received mixed reviews from critics and is initially abox-office bomb, the film would eventually be rediscovered by audiences through frequent television airings onDisney Channel andFreeform and home video sales during the Halloween season and is now considered acult classic.
October 31 – actorRiver Phoenix accidentally dies of an overdose during the filming ofDark Blood. The film was later completed and released in2012.
