List of 1981 box office number-one films in the United States explained

This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 1981.

Number-one films

Week endingFilmGrossNotes
1 9 to 5 $7,111,919[1] [2]
2 $6,388,982[3]
3 $6,014,902[4]
4 Stir CrazyTBD[5]
5 The Incredible Shrinking Woman $4,279,264[6]
6 Fort Apache, The Bronx $4,565,000[7]
7 $4,000,000 [8] [9]
8 TBD[10]
9 TBD [11]
10 TBD [12]
11 Back Roads $3,046,339[13]
12 $5,571,675[14] [15]
13 TBD [16]
14 Hardly Working $4,160,193[17]
15 Star Wars (reissue) $6,549,751[18] [19]
16 $4,564,616
17 Excalibur $3,144,818[20]
18 Friday the 13th Part 2 $6,420,784[21] [22]
19 TBD[23]
20 Happy Birthday to Me $3,712,597[24] [25]
21 4-day weekend Bustin' Loose $6,622,753[26]
22 The Four Seasons $4,355,238[27]
23 Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams $8,153,738[28] [29]
24 Raiders of the Lost Ark $8,305,823[30] [31]
25 Superman II $14,100,523Superman II had the highest weekend debut of all-time beating the record of $11.9 million set by .[32] [33]
26 $10,765,687Superman II becomes the first film to have more than one weekend with a gross over $10 million.[34] [35]
27 $10,905,892[36]
28 $6,745,678[37]
29 Raiders of the Lost Ark $6,450,189Raiders of the Lost Ark reclaimed number 1 in its sixth weekend of release.[38]
30 Tarzan, the Ape Man $6,700,809[39]
31 The Empire Strikes Back (reissue)$7,001,282[40]
32 Raiders of the Lost Ark $4,046,228Raiders of the Lost Ark reclaimed number 1 in its ninth weekend of release.[41]
33 $5,157,432[42]
34 $4,183,784[43]
35 $3,909,879[44] [45]
36 4-day weekend $5,406,403[46] [47]
37 Arthur $3,002,255[48] [49]
38 Continental Divide $3,218,347[50]
39 Mommie Dearest $4,667,761[51]
40 Paternity $3,610,147[52] [53]
41 $3,227,174[54]
42 $2,442,503[55]
43 The French Lieutenant's WomanTBD[56]
44 Halloween II $7,676,836[57] [58]
45 Time Bandits $6,507,356[59] [60]
46 $5,336,032[61]
47 $3,700,000[62] [63]
48 $5,000,000[64] [65]
49 Raiders of the Lost Ark $2,441,000Raiders of the Lost Ark reclaimed number 1 in its 26th weekend of release.[66] [67]
50 Rollover $2,260,889[68] [69]
51 Neighbors $6,481,386[70]
52 $5,821,835[71]

Highest-grossing films

The top ten films released in 1981 by box office gross in the United States and Canada are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1981 based on year of release[72] ! Rank!! Title !! Distributor !! Domestic gross
1Raiders of the Lost ArkParamount$212,222,025
2On Golden PondUniversal$119,285,432
3Superman IIWarner Bros.$108,185,706
4Arthur$95,461,682
5StripesColumbia$85,297,000
6The Cannonball Run20th Century Fox$72,179,579
7Chariots of FireWarner Bros.$58,972,904
8For Your Eyes OnlyUnited Artists$54,812,802
9The Four SeasonsUniversal$50,427,646
10Time BanditsEmbassy$42,365,581

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Daily Variety. 1. January 6, 1981. Christmas '80 Boxoffice Among Best At $142 Mil. Ginsberg. Steven.
  2. Variety. 1. January 7, 1981. A Happy New Year For Xmas Pix. Ginsberg. Steven. May 6, 2024. Internet Archive.
  3. Daily Variety. 3. January 13, 1981. 'Nine To Five' Tops Weekend's B.O. Competish. Ginsberg. Steven.
  4. Variety. 3. January 21, 1981. 'Crazy,' '9 To 5,' 'Which Way' Glow; 'Scanners' Strong. May 6, 2024. Internet Archive.
  5. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. February 4, 1981. 9. Week ending January 28 No. 1 Stir Crazy $2,183,400 from 191 screens from 20-24 key cities sampled; No. 2 9 to 5 $1,465,953 from 136 screens.
  6. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 5. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  7. Daily Variety. 'Fort Apache' Bags $4.6 Mil. February 10, 1981. 3.
  8. Daily Variety. 'Bronx' B.O. Tops $11 Mil. February 24, 1981. 13. Company reports second weekend is 12% off the first..
  9. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. February 25, 1981. 9.
  10. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. March 4, 1981. 12. Week ending February 25 No. 1 Fort Apache, The Bronx $1,575,828 from 136 screens from 20-24 key cities sampled; No. 2 9 to 5 $842,873 from 114 screens.
  11. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. March 11, 1981. 13. Week ending March 4 No. 1 Fort Apache, The Bronx $1,186,630 from 130 screens from 20-24 key cities sampled; No. 2 9 to 5 $724,886 from 108 screens.
  12. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. March 25, 1981. 12. Week ending March 11 No. 1 Fort Apache, The Bronx $903,294 from 20-24 key cities sampled; No. 2 9 to 5 $691,605.
  13. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 11. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  14. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. April 1, 1981. 9.
  15. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 12. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  16. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. April 8, 1981. 9. Week ending April 1 No. 1 Omen III $1,400,323 from 156 screens from 20-24 key cities sampled; No. 2 Thief $1,159,719 from 125 screens.
  17. Daily Variety. "Hardly Working" Is Really Working (advertisement). April 8, 1981. 10–11.
  18. Daily Variety. 2. April 14, 1981. 'Wars' Re-Release Tops At B.O..
  19. Variety. 7. April 29, 1981. Fox's 7 Nab 25% of Easter Screens.
  20. Variety. 3. April 29, 1981. 'Excalibur' Mounting: $16-Mil Thus Far.
  21. Variety. 7. May 6, 1981. 'Friday's' Weekend Biz.
  22. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 18. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  23. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. May 20, 1981. 13. Week ending May 13 No. 1 Friday the 13th Part 2 $820,246 from 123 screens from 20-24 key cities sampled; No. 2 Kill and Kill Again $753,600 from 94 screens.
  24. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. May 27, 1981. 9.
  25. Variety. 5. May 20, 1981. 'Birthday's' Happy Biz.
  26. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 21. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  27. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for May 29, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  28. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for June 5, 1981. The Numbers. May 8, 2020.
  29. Daily Variety. 3. June 9, 1981. 'Dreams' 1st Weekend Draws Biggest Of Yr..
  30. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 24. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  31. Variety. June 17, 1981. 3. Weekend Biz Breaks B.O. Logjam; 'Raiders,' 'Titans' and 'History' Score.
  32. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 25. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  33. Daily Variety. 1. June 23, 1981. Super B.O. For 'Superman II'. Ginsberg. Steven.
  34. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 26. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  35. Daily Variety. 1. July 27, 1981. 'Superman,' 'Raiders' Neck & Neck. Ginsberg. Steven.
  36. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 27. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  37. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for July 10, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  38. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for July 17, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  39. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for July 24, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  40. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for July 31, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  41. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for August 7, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  42. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for August 14, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  43. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for August 21, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  44. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for August 28, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  45. Variety. 3. September 2, 1981. Summer B.O. Cooks, But 'Body,' 'Gallipoli' and 'Lessons' Start Well. Ginsberg. Steven.
  46. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for September 4, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  47. Variety. 3. September 9, 1981. 'Ark' Outdistances Its Summer Rivals, Holdovers Slowing. Ginsberg. Steven.
  48. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for September 11, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  49. Variety. 3. September 16, 1981. Post Labor Day Dip Shuffles B.O. Pack. Ginsberg. Steven.
  50. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 38. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  51. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for September 25, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  52. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for October 2, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  53. Daily Variety. 2. October 7, 1981. Most Pix Post B.O. Drop Across U.S.; 'Paternity' Delivers A So-So $3.6-Mil. Ginsberg. Steven.
  54. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for October 9, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  55. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for October 16, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  56. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. November 4, 1981. 13. Week ending October 28 No.1 The French Lieutenant's Woman $948,753 from 79 screens from 20-24 key cities sampled; No. 2 Rich and Famous $767,927 from 163 screens.
  57. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for October 30, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  58. Variety. 3. November 4, 1981. Boff 'Halloween II' Coin Is Only Highlight on National Scene. Ginsberg. Steven.
  59. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 45. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  60. Variety. 3. November 11, 1981. 'Bandits' Steal B.O. Thunder From Thin Pack; 'Halloween II' Plunges. Ginsberg. Steven.
  61. Variety. 3. November 18, 1981. 'Bandits' Still Tops In Pre-Xmas B.O. Calm; 'Cooper,' Falling Flat. Ginsberg. Steven.
  62. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for November 20, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  63. Variety. 3. November 25, 1981. 'Bandits' Pace B.O.; Upbeat Starts For 'Malice,' 'Ragtime'. Ginsberg. Steven.
  64. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for November 27, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  65. Variety. 3. December 2, 1981. Thanksgiving Cooks B.O. Gravy; 'Bandits' Zoom; 'Raiders' Soar. Ginsberg. Steven.
  66. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for December 4, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  67. Variety. 3. December 9, 1981. B.O. In Holding Pattern; 'Pond' Wow: 'Reds' Okay; 'Life' Fair. Ginsberg. Steven.
  68. Web site: Weekend Domestic Chart for December 11, 1981. The Numbers. May 9, 2020.
  69. Variety. 3. December 16, 1981. No Sugarplums In Xmas Crop; Soft Debuts Prevail; 'Reds' Dives. Ginsberg. Steven.
  70. Web site: Domestic 1981 Weekend 51. Box Office Mojo. May 9, 2020.
  71. Daily Variety. 1. December 29, 1981. Some Tinsel Brightening B.O.. Ginsberg. Steven.
  72. Web site: 1981 Domestic Grosses. Box Office Mojo. May 13, 2020.

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