Box Office
Domestic box office · 1981
The top-grossing releases of the year. Switch between worldwide, domestic, and international — every figure shown both as reported and adjusted for inflation, so films from any era are directly comparable.
This Weekend at the box office
Domestic Friday–Sunday weekend chart · July 24-26, 2026.
| # | Title | Weekend gross | %± LW | Theaters | Total gross | Wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The OdysseyUniversal Pictures | $87.0M | -29.6% | 3,942 | $286.4M | 2 |
| 2 | MoanaWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | $10.5M | -41.5% | 4,015 | $102.5M | 3 |
| 3 | Toy Story 5Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | $10.0M | -27.3% | 3,375 | $448.6M | 6 |
| 4 | Hadestown: The MusicalBleecker Street Media | $9.7M | — | 1,949 | $9.7M | 1 |
| 5 | Minions & MonstersUniversal Pictures | $9.6M | -29.4% | 3,386 | $155.4M | 4 |
| 6 | The InviteA24 | $2.6M | -25.4% | 2,032 | $19.8M | 5 |
| 7 | Evil Dead BurnWarner Bros. | $2.6M | -44.9% | 2,385 | $29.2M | 3 |
| 8 | Young WashingtonAngel | $2.0M | -44.3% | 2,029 | $45.0M | 4 |
| 9 | Motor CityIFC Films | $1.6M | — | 1,600 | $1.6M | 1 |
| 10 | ObsessionFocus Features | $1.5M | -37.4% | 1,203 | $261.4M | 11 |
| 11 | Jana NayaganPrime Media Pictures | $1.4M | — | 415 | $1.4M | 1 |
| 12 | Disclosure DayUniversal Pictures | $650K | -51.7% | 922 | $116.0M | 7 |
| 13 | SupergirlWarner Bros. | $630K | -57.3% | 902 | $71.5M | 5 |
| 14 | Her Private HellNeon | $530K | — | 675 | $530K | 1 |
| 15 | BackroomsA24 | $326K | -52.6% | 552 | $196.8M | 9 |
| 16 | Pinocchio: UnstrungViva Pictures | $296K | — | 505 | $296K | 1 |
| 17 | Scary MovieParamount Pictures | $126K | -49.1% | 141 | $108.2M | 8 |
| 18 | Jackass: Best and LastParamount Pictures | $87K | -62.3% | 144 | $18.2M | 5 |
| 19 | Star Wars: The Mandalorian and GroguWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | $73K | -36.7% | 60 | $177.7M | 10 |
| 20 | Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the WorldKino Lorber | $54K | +8.7% | 39 | $280K | 4 |
| 21 | Reading Lolita in TehranGreenwich Entertainment | $48K | +863.1% | 113 | $73K | 3 |
| 22 | Sheep in the BoxNeon | $33K | — | 3 | $33K | 1 |
| 23 | American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis ValdezInsignia Films | $32K | +330% | 13 | $41K | 2 |
| 24 | Jack Johnson: SURFILMUSIC ProductionsEvan Saxon | $28K | — | 1 | $28K | 8 |
| 25 | Gail Daughtry and the CelebritySony Pictures Classics Sex Pass | $15K | -86.6% | 25 | $1.4M | 3 |
| 26 | The Death of Robin HoodA24 | $14K | -14.5% | 16 | $5.3M | 6 |
| 27 | The Hole 2026 Re-releaseBig World Pictures | $11K | +258% | 3 | $30K | 3 |
| 28 | The Piano 2026 4K Re-releaseSony Pictures Classics | $9K | — | 2 | $9K | 1 |
| 29 | A Sad and Beautiful WorldMPI Media Group | $9K | — | 1 | $9K | 1 |
| 30 | The FloatersBrainstorm Media | $7K | -25.3% | 9 | $37K | 3 |
| 31 | The Kidnapping of ArabellaOscilloscope | $5K | -49.5% | 3 | $17K | 2 |
Friday–Sunday weekend grosses (the 3-day chart). Domestic, per Box Office Mojo. Figures are as reported (not inflation-adjusted).
Showing each gross as originally reported.
| # | Title | Domestic | Adjusted for inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | $212.2M | $772.1M |
| 2 | On Golden Pond | $119.3M | $434.0M |
| 3 | Superman II | $108.2M | $393.6M |
| 4 | Arthur | $95.5M | $347.3M |
| 5 | Stripes | $85.3M | $310.3M |
| 6 | The Cannonball Run | $72.2M | $262.6M |
| 7 | Chariots of Fire | $59.0M | $214.6M |
| 8 | For Your Eyes Only | $54.8M | $199.4M |
| 9 | The Four Seasons | $50.4M | $183.5M |
| 10 | Time Bandits | $42.4M | $154.1M |
| 11 | Clash of the Titans | $41.1M | $149.5M |
| 12 | Absence of Malice | $40.7M | $148.1M |
| 13 | Reds | $40.4M | $146.9M |
| 14 | The Fox and the Hound | $39.9M | $145.2M |
| 15 | Tarzan the Ape Man | $36.6M | $133.0M |
| 16 | Taps | $35.9M | $130.5M |
| 17 | Sharky's Machine | $35.6M | $129.6M |
| 18 | Excalibur | $35.0M | $127.2M |
| 19 | History of the World: Part I | $31.7M | $115.2M |
| 20 | Bustin' Loose | $31.3M | $113.7M |
| 21 | The Great Muppet Caper | $31.2M | $113.5M |
| 22 | Endless Love | $31.2M | $113.5M |
| 23 | An American Werewolf in London | $30.6M | $111.2M |
| 24 | Neighbors | $29.9M | $108.8M |
| 25 | Fort Apache the Bronx | $29.2M | $106.2M |
| 26 | Cinderella 1981 Re-release | $28.0M | $102.0M |
| 27 | The French Lieutenant's Woman | $26.9M | $97.8M |
| 28 | Private Lessons | $26.3M | $95.6M |
| 29 | Modern Problems | $26.2M | $95.2M |
| 30 | Halloween II | $25.5M | $92.9M |
| 31 | Only When I Laugh | $25.5M | $92.9M |
| 32 | Escape from New York | $25.2M | $91.8M |
| 33 | Body Heat | $24.1M | $87.5M |
| 34 | Ghost Story | $23.4M | $85.0M |
| 35 | Friday the 13th: Part 2 | $21.7M | $79.0M |
| 36 | The Final Conflict | $20.5M | $74.5M |
| 37 | The Incredible Shrinking Woman | $20.3M | $73.7M |
| 38 | Mommie Dearest | $19.0M | $69.2M |
| 39 | Paternity | $18.8M | $68.5M |
| 40 | Under the Rainbow | $18.8M | $68.5M |
| 41 | The Howling | $18.0M | $65.4M |
| 42 | Eye of the Needle | $17.6M | $64.0M |
| 43 | Take This Job and Shove It | $17.6M | $63.9M |
| 44 | Outland | $17.4M | $63.2M |
| 45 | The Devil and Max Devlin | $16.0M | $58.2M |
| 46 | Caveman | $16.0M | $58.1M |
| 47 | Continental Divide | $15.6M | $56.7M |
| 48 | The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia | $14.9M | $54.3M |
| 49 | Ragtime | $14.9M | $54.3M |
| 50 | Nighthawks | $14.9M | $54.2M |
| 51 | S.O.B. | $14.9M | $54.1M |
| 52 | Rich and Famous | $14.5M | $52.7M |
| 53 | Scanners | $14.2M | $51.8M |
| 54 | Dragonslayer | $14.1M | $51.3M |
| 55 | True Confessions | $12.9M | $46.8M |
| 56 | Atlantic City | $12.7M | $46.3M |
| 57 | The Legend of the Lone Ranger | $12.6M | $45.9M |
| 58 | First Monday in October | $12.5M | $45.4M |
| 59 | The Postman Always Rings Twice | $12.4M | $45.0M |
| 60 | Blow Out | $12.0M | $43.7M |
| 61 | Back Roads | $11.8M | $43.0M |
| 62 | Thief | $11.5M | $41.8M |
| 63 | Victory | $10.9M | $39.5M |
| 64 | Rollover | $10.9M | $39.5M |
| 65 | Wolfen | $10.6M | $38.7M |
| 66 | Carbon Copy | $9.6M | $34.8M |
| 67 | Pennies from Heaven | $9.2M | $33.4M |
| 68 | Deadly Blessing | $8.3M | $30.1M |
| 69 | Whose Life Is It Anyway? | $8.2M | $29.9M |
| 70 | Prince of the City | $8.1M | $29.6M |
| 71 | The Funhouse | $7.9M | $28.7M |
| 72 | Buddy Buddy | $7.3M | $26.4M |
| 73 | La Cage aux Folles II | $7.0M | $25.3M |
| 74 | ...All the Marbles | $6.5M | $23.5M |
| 75 | Eyewitness | $6.4M | $23.3M |
| 76 | Gallipoli | $5.7M | $20.9M |
| 77 | My Bloody Valentine | $5.7M | $20.6M |
| 78 | Going Ape! | $5.5M | $20.0M |
| 79 | The Dogs of War | $5.5M | $20.0M |
| 80 | Student Bodies | $5.2M | $18.8M |
| 81 | The Watcher in the Woods | $5.0M | $18.2M |
| 82 | All Night Long | $4.5M | $16.2M |
| 83 | The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper | $3.7M | $13.5M |
| 84 | Zoot Suit | $3.3M | $11.8M |
| 85 | The Fan | $3.1M | $11.2M |
| 86 | The Last Metro | $3.0M | $10.9M |
| 87 | Gas | $2.9M | $10.4M |
| 88 | Modern Romance | $2.9M | $10.4M |
| 89 | The Hand | $2.4M | $8.9M |
| 90 | Heartbeeps | $2.2M | $7.8M |
| 91 | This Is Elvis | $2.0M | $7.4M |
| 92 | Sphinx | $2.0M | $7.4M |
| 93 | Honky Tonk Freeway | $2.0M | $7.3M |
| 94 | Raggedy Man | $2.0M | $7.2M |
| 95 | King of the Mountain | $1.8M | $6.5M |
| 96 | Cutter's Way | $1.7M | $6.3M |
| 97 | Silence of the North | $1.6M | $5.9M |
| 98 | From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China | $1.2M | $4.4M |
| 99 | Night School | $1.2M | $4.3M |
| 100 | Eyes of a Stranger | $1.1M | $4.1M |
“Adjusted for inflation” restates each gross in today’s dollars using US CPI-U annual averages. Domestic and international views are re-ranked from the year’s top releases; some early years report domestic-only figures.