A number of movies released in 1992 were not only iconic for 1992 but some have also aged well and become cult classic in 2022.
From iconic features classics to award-winning films with award-winning soundtracks check out the 30 movies that turn 30 in 2022.
The Distinguished Gentleman
In the conniving world of politics, even a professional shyster like Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy) can find himself outmatched. After using name recognition to get elected, Johnson enjoys many of the same financial perks as other politicians. However, while investigating the connection between electric companies and cancer in young children, he unexpectedly develops a conscience. Unfortunately, fellow Congressman Dick Dodge (Lane Smith) isn’t about to let him rock the boat.
Release Date: December 4, 1992
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Writer: Marty Kaplan, Jonathan Reynolds
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Lane Smith, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Joe Don Baker, Victoria Rowell, Grant Shaud, Kevin McCarthy, Charles Dutton
Box Office: $86 million
Budget: $50 million
The Bodyguard
Best-selling pop diva Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) has a stalker whose obsession has risen to the level of disturbing threats. At the urging of her manager (Gary Kemp), Rachel hires former secret service agent Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) as her bodyguard. Initially resented and treated with disdain for his hard-nosed security procedures, Farmer soon becomes an integral part of Rachel’s inner circle. As they spend more time together, client and protector become closer still.
Director: Mick Jackson
Writer: Lawrence Kasdan
Release Date: Nov 25, 1992
Cast: Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Michele Lamar Richards, Bill Cobbs
Box Office: $411M
Budget: $25M
South Central
During a 10-year sentence for murdering the leader of a rival South Central Los Angeles gang, Bobby Johnson (Glenn Plummer) finds religion and rehabilitation with the help of Muslim inmate Ali. Upon his release, Bobby returns home to find that his young son, Jimmie (Christian Coleman), has joined the Deuces, his old crew. Tensions rise as Bobby struggles to convince Jimmie to leave the gang that was his only family during the painful years his absent father spent behind bars.
Release Date: September 18, 1992
Director: Stephen Milburn Anderson
Writer: Stephen Milburn Anderson / Donald Bakeer (novel)
Cast: Glenn Plummer, Carl Lumbly
Box Office: $1,373,196
Budget: $4 million
The Mighty Ducks
After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn’t eager to return to hockey, a point hit home by his tense dealings with his own former coach, Jack Reilly (Lane Smith). The reluctant Gordon eventually grows to appreciate his team, which includes promising young Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson), and leads them to take on Reilly’s tough players.
Release Date: October 2, 1992
Director: Stephen Herek
Writer: Steven Brill
Cast: Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, Lane Smith, Joshua Jackson
Box Office: $50.8 M
Budget: $14/$10 M
Candyman
Skeptical graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) befriends Anne-Marie McCoy (Vanessa Williams) while researching superstitions in a housing project on Chicago’s Near North Side. From Anne-Marie, Helen learns about the Candyman (Tony Todd), a knife-wielding figure of urban legend that some of her neighbors believe to be responsible for a recent murder. After a mysterious man matching the Candyman’s description begins stalking her, Helen comes to fear that the legend may be all too real.
Release Date: October 16, 1992
Director:Bernard Rose
Writer: Bernard Rose
Cast: Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons
Box Office: $25.8 million
Budget: $8-9 million
Juice
Four Harlem friends — Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Q (Omar Epps), Steel (Jermaine Hopkins) and Raheem (Khalil Kain) — dabble in petty crime, but they decide to go big by knocking off a convenience store. Bishop, the magnetic leader of the group, has the gun. But Q has different aspirations. He wants to be a DJ and happens to have a gig the night of the robbery. Unfortunately for him, Bishop isn’t willing to take no for answer in a game where everything’s for keeps.
Release Date: January 17, 1992
Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
Writer: Ernest R. Dickerson, Gerard Brown, Ernest Dickerson
Cast: Omar Epps, Jermaine Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Tupac Shakur
Box Office: $20 Million
Budget: $5 Million
Death Becomes Her
When a novelist loses her man to a movie star and former friend, she winds up in a psychiatric hospital. Years later, she returns home to confront the now-married couple, looking radiant. Her ex-husband’s new wife wants to know her secret, and discovers that she has been taking a mysterious drug which grants eternal life to the person who drinks it. The actress follows suit, but discovers that immortality has a price.
Release Date: July 31, 1992
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer: David Koepp, Martin Donovan
Cast: Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, Isabella Rossellini, Mary Ellen Trainor, Nancy Fish
Box Office: $149 million
Budget: $55 million
Class Act
Duncan Pinderhughes (Christopher Reid) is a nerdy straight-A student with no social life, and Blade Brown (Christopher Martin) is a tough bad boy with grades so low he has little hope of graduating from high school. When a fateful mistake swaps their permanent records — and thereby identities — they decide to take advantage. Duncan will raise Blade’s grades, and Blade will show Duncan how to be cool. However, they both start to realize that their new lives aren’t what they expected.
Release Date: June 5, 1992
Director: Randall Miller
Writer: Cynthia Friedlob, John Semper
Cast: Christopher “Kid” Reid, Christopher “Play” Martin, Karyn Parsons, Thomas Mikal Ford, and more
Box Office: $13.2 million
Budget: $7.5 million (estimated)
American Me
As a young man, Montoya Santana (Edward James Olmos) is introduced to gang life on the tough streets of Los Angeles after spending his youth in reform school. Soon Santana finds himself facing an 18-year prison sentence. In jail, he works his way to the top of the institution’s violent drug trade, but, on his release from prison, he opts for a redemptive, family-centered lifestyle. However, his gangster friends (Pepe Serna, William Forsythe) try to force him back into illegal activities.
Release Date: March 13, 1992
Director: Edward James Olmos
Writer: Floyd Mutrux, Desmond Nakano
Cast: Edward James Olmos, William Forsythe, Pepe Serna, Evelina Fernández
Box Office: $13 million
Budget: $16 million
My Cousin Vinny
New York lawyer Vinny has never won a case. When his teenage cousin Bill and his friend Stan are accused of murder in a backwater Alabama town, it’s up to the nervous Vinny to save him from jail, even though he’s only ever tried personal injury cases before, and none of them successfully.
Release Date: March 13, 1992
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Writer: Dale Launer
Cast: Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Gwynne
Box Office: $64 million
Budget: $11 million
Sister Act
When lively lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) sees her mobster beau, Vince LaRocca (Harvey Keitel), commit murder, she is relocated for her protection. Set up in the guise of a nun in a California convent, Deloris proceeds to upend the quiet lives of the resident sisters. In an effort to keep her out of trouble, they assign Deloris to the convent’s choir, an ensemble that she soon turns into a vibrant and soulful act that gains widespread attention.
Release Date: May 29, 1992
Director: Emile Ardolino
Writer: Paul Rudnick
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, Harvey Keitel
Box Office: $231 million
Budget: $31 million
Mo Money
After petty criminal Johnny (Damon Wayans) falls for the lovely Amber (Stacey Dash), he decides to stop breaking the law and gets a gig at his crush’s workplace in order to get closer to her, thus proving that he’s a stand-up guy. Soon, he learns that going straight doesn’t pay very well, so he decides to nab a company credit card and show off his newfound wealth to Amber. Unfortunately, a blackmailer catches Johnny and forces him to commit a crime that is far from small.
Release Date: July 24, 1992
Director: Peter MacDonald
Writer: Damon Wayans
Cast: Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Stacey Dash, Joe Santos
Box Office: $40.23 million
Budget: $10-$15 million
Deep Cover
David Jason (Jeff Goldblum) is the biggest drug dealer in Los Angeles, and Russell Stevens (Larry Fishburne) is an undercover cop who wants to bring him down. Posing as a dealer, Stevens begins to earn the trust of the L.A. drug underworld, eventually making his way to Jason himself. But along the way he has to take his cover to depths he never thought he would have to see, including selling drugs and going to great lengths to eliminate potential competitors for Jason’s drug cartel.
Release Date: April 15, 1992
Director: Bill Duke
Writer: Henry Bean, Michael Tolkin
Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Charles Martin Smith
Box Office: $16.6 million
Budget: $8 million
Serafina
Sarafina (Leleti Khumalo) is a young black South African struggling for freedom during the apartheid. While she has remained relatively silent in her opposition of the racist government in her country, the movement to make the language of Afrikaans the official language in her school leads her to protest in the streets with her fellow students. Her anti-government views become even more intense when her favorite teacher (Whoopi Goldberg) is arrested for protesting.
Release Date: September 18, 1992
Director: Darrell Roodt
Writer: Mbongeni Ngema, William Nicholson
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Miriam Makeba, John Kani, Mbongeni Ngema, Leleti Khumalo
Box Office: $8.6 million
Budget: n/a
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
After snarky youth Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) loses track of his father at the airport, he mistakenly gets on a plane headed for New York City — while the rest of the McCallisters fly to Florida. Now alone in the Big Apple, Kevin cons his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and begins his usual antics. But when Kevin discovers that the Sticky Bandits (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) are on the loose, he struggles to stop them from robbing an elderly man’s toy store just before Christmas.
Release Date: November 15, 1992
Director: Chris Columbus
Writer: John Hughes
Cast: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Tim Curry, Brenda Fricker, Catherine O’Hara
Box Office: $359 million
Budget: $20-28 million
White Men Can’t Jump
Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) is a white basketball hustler who banks on black players underestimating his skills on the court. When he pulls one over on Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes), his victim sees a lucrative opportunity, and they become partners in the con game, plying their trade across the courts of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Billy has to keep one step ahead of mobsters, to whom he owes money, while staying on the good side of his “Jeopardy!”-obsessed, motormouth wife (Rosie Perez).
Release Date: Mar 27, 1992
Director: Ron Shelton
Writer: Ron Shelton
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez, Tyra Ferrell, Kadeem Hardison
Box Office: $90.8 million
Budget: $31 million
Lethal Weapon 3
Veteran police detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is only days away from retiring when he and his tough partner, Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), are roped into an important internal affairs case. Working with the beautiful, no-nonsense Sergeant Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) and aided by the shifty informant Leo Getz (Joe Pesci), Murtaugh and Riggs begin to close in on a black-market weapons operation involving corrupt cop and arms dealer Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson).
Release Date: May 15, 1992
Director: Richard Donner
Writer: Richard Donner, Carrie Fisher, Jeffrey Boam, Robert Mark Kamen
Cast: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Stuart Wilson
Box Office: $321.7 million
Budget: $35 million
Boomerang
A cocky ad executive, Marcus (Eddie Murphy) has a reputation as a ladies’ man. However, Marcus gets a taste of his own medicine when a merger finds him working under the beautiful Jacqueline (Robin Givens), who has a similarly cavalier attitude about romance. Marcus and Jacqueline become involved, but he is put off by her noncommittal approach to their relationship. Meanwhile, Marcus also begins to develop feelings for the pretty Angela (Halle Berry), who is more thoughtful than Jacqueline.
Release Date: June 28, 1992
Director: Reginald Hudlin
Writer: story by Eddie Murphy
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, Robin Givens, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Geoffrey Holder, Eartha Kitt, Chris Rock
Box Office: $131 million
Budget: $42 million
Bebe’s Kids
In this animated depiction of a calamitous first date, Robin Harris (Faizon Love) hits it off with the gorgeous Jamika (Vanessa Bell Calloway), whom he meets at her boss’ funeral. On the ride back, Harris is introduced to her well-behaved son (Wayne Collins), and asked if he wants to go with them to the amusement park the next day. Harris accepts, and arrives to find three more children joining them. Jamika is watching her friend Bebe’s kids — which is the beginning of Harris’ problems.
Release Date: July 31, 1992
Director: Bruce W. Smith
Writer: Reginald Hudlin Based on Bébé’s Kids by Robin Harris
Cast: Faizon Love, Nell Carter, Myra J., Vanessa Bell Calloway, Tone Lōc, Wayne Collins, Jonell Green, Marques Houston
Box Office: $8.4 million
Budget: n/a
Basic Instinct
The mysterious Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), a beautiful crime novelist, becomes a suspect when she is linked to the brutal death of a rock star. Investigated by homicide detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), Catherine seduces him into an intense relationship. Meanwhile, the murder case becomes increasingly complicated when more seemingly connected deaths occur and Nick’s psychologist and lover, Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn), appears to be another suspect.
Release Date: March 20, 1992
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writer: Joe Eszterhas
Cast: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Wayne Knight
Box Office: $352.9 million
Budget: $49 million
The Jacksons: An American Dream
The Gary, Ind., Jacksons guide Michael and their other children to show-business success; features 38 songs.
Release Date: November 15 – 18, 1992
Director: Karen Arthur
Writer: Joyce Eliason
Cast: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Angela Bassett, Holly Robinson Peete, Margaret Avery,Alex Burrall, Jermaine Jackson Jr., Bumper Robinson, Floyd Meyers Jr., Monica Calhoun, Jason Weaver, Angel Vargas, Terrence Howard, Vanessa Williams, Billy Dee Williams, Wylie Draper, Colin Steele
Box Office: n/a
Budget: n/a
Batman Returns
The monstrous Penguin (Danny DeVito), who lives in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with wicked shock-headed businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) to topple the Batman (Michael Keaton) once and for all. But when Shreck’s timid assistant, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer), finds out, and Shreck tries to kill her, she is transformed into the sexy Catwoman. She teams up with the Penguin and Shreck to destroy Batman, but sparks fly unexpectedly when she confronts the caped crusader.
Release Date: June 19, 1992
Director: Tim Burton
Writer: Tim Burton, Daniel Waters, Wesley Strick
Cast: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Michael Murphy
Box Office: $266.8 million
Budget: $50-80 million
Malcolm X
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
Director: Spike Lee
Writer: Arnold Perl, Spike Lee Based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, Alex Haley
Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr., Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee
Box Office: $73 million
Budget: $35 million
The Crying Game
Irish Republican Army member Fergus (Stephen Rea) forms an unexpected bond with Jody (Forest Whitaker), a kidnapped British soldier in his custody, despite the warnings of fellow IRA members Jude (Miranda Richardson) and Maguire (Adrian Dunbar). Jody makes Fergus promise he’ll visit his girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson), in London, and when Fergus flees to the city, he seeks her out. Hounded by his former IRA colleagues, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the enigmatic, and surprising, Dil.
Release Date: November 27, 1992
Director: Neil Jordan
Writer: Neil Jordan
Cast: Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker
Box Office: $71 million
Budget: $2 million
Aladdin
Aladdin is a lovable street urchin who meets Princess Jasmine, the beautiful daughter of the sultan of Agrabah. While visiting her exotic palace, Aladdin stumbles upon a magic oil lamp that unleashes a powerful, wisecracking, larger-than-life genie. As Aladdin and the genie start to become friends, they must soon embark on a dangerous mission to stop the evil sorcerer Jafar from overthrowing young Jasmine’s kingdom.
Release Date: November 25, 1992
Director: Ron Clements, John Musker
Writer: Ron Clements, John Musker, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Cast: Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglas Seale
Box Office: $504 million
Budget: $28 millions
Mississippi Masala
After Mina’s (Sarita Choudhury) Indian family is ousted from their home in Uganda by dictator Idi Amin, they relocate to Mississippi to start a new life. Mina falls for Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a young carpet cleaner, despite the protestations of their families over their racial difference. The families and their surrounding communities begin to feud, putting even more pressure on the couple’s romance. Having to choose between family and love, Mina and Demetrius run away together.
Release Date: Feb 5, 1992
Director: Mira Nair
Writer: Sooni Taraporevala
Cast: Denzel Washington, Roshan Seth, Sarita Choudhury, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton, Joe Seneca
Box Office: $7.3 million
Budget: $5 million
Gladiator
After whipping a rival in a brawl, Chicago teen Tommy Riley (James Marshall) is asked to box in the illegal fights organized by Jimmy Horn (Brian Dennehy). Tommy has bigger aspirations, but when Jimmy agrees to cover the betting debts his father (John Heard) incurred, Tommy agrees. He soon befriends Abraham Lincoln Haines (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a black boxer helping to support his family. When Jimmy realizes that the friends are his two top draws, he matches them in a bout neither wants.
Release Date: March 6, 1992
Director: Rowdy Herrington
Writer:Story by: Robert Mark Kamen
Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., James Marshall, Robert Loggia, Ossie Davis, Cara Buono, Jon Seda, Brian Dennehy
Box Office: $9.2 million
Budget: $20 million
A League of Their Own
As America’s stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey (Garry Marshall). Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (Lori Petty) spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino (Jon Lovitz) and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) on their way to fame. Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell co-star as two of the sisters’ teammates.
Release Date: July 1, 1992
Director: Penny Marshall
Writer: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel
Cast: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Jon Lovitz, Rosie O’Donnell, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall, Bill Pullman
Box Office: $132 million
Budget: $40 million
Beethoven
When the family of George Newton (Charles Grodin) decides to adopt a cute St. Bernard puppy, the patriarch soon feels displaced by the dog. Before long, the adorable canine, dubbed Beethoven, has grown considerably, leading to household mishaps. While George’s wife and kids dote on Beethoven, it takes time for him to see the pooch’s finer qualities. However, Beethoven’s life with the Newton family is jeopardized when a scheming vet (Dean Jones) tries to nab the dog for a deadly experiment.
Release Date: April 3, 1992
Director: Brian Levant
Writer: Edmond Dantès and Amy Holden Jones
Cast: Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Dean Jones, Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci
Box Office: $147.2 million
Budget: $18 million
Zebrahead
A Jewish boy (Michael Rapaport) loves a black girl (N’Bushe Wright) from New York despite critics in their Detroit neighborhood.
Release Date: January 1992
Director: Anthony Drazan
Writer: Anthony Drazan
Cast: Michael Rapaport, N’Bushe Wright
Box Office: $1.4 million
Budget: N/A