1990: Kevin Costner Dances with Wolves

Kevin Costner starred, directed and produced the movie Dances with Wolves which premiered in Washington, D.C. on this day in 1990. Costner developed the film, his first directorial debut, with an initial budget of $15 million. It made $242.2 million worldwide. Based on the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake, Costner played the role of John L. Dunbar, a Union Army lieutenant who traveled to the American frontier to find a military post and his interactions with a group of Lakota Native Americans. Among other things, the film was unique in that a lot of the dialogue was spoken in the Lakota language. The film was nominated for an even dozen of Academy Awards and won seven for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Sound Mixing.