1981 Top-Grossing Movies in North America

This chart ranks movies by their total cumulative North American box office earnings for movies released in 1981. Each movie is ranked by its total gross across all years it played, not just earnings during 1981.

To see the top-grossing movies that earned money during 1981 (including movies released in previous years), click the “Earned in 1981” button below.

Worldwide Domestic International

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Earned in 1981

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Rank	Movie	Release Date	Distributor	Genre	1981 Domestic Gross	Tickets Sold
1	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Jun 12, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Adventure	$225,686,079	79,390,627
2	On Golden Pond	Dec 4, 1981	Universal	Drama	$119,285,432	40,600,565
3	Superman II	Jun 19, 1981	Warner Bros.	Adventure	$108,185,706	38,915,721
4	Stripes	Jun 26, 1981	Columbia	Comedy	$85,300,000	30,683,453
5	Arthur	Jul 17, 1981	Warner Bros.	Romantic Comedy	$81,464,486	29,183,334
6	Chariots of Fire	Sep 25, 1981	Warner Bros.	Drama	$61,558,162	20,992,380
7	The Cannonball Run	Jun 19, 1981	20th Century Fox	Action	$57,498,710	20,682,989
8	For Your Eyes Only	Jun 26, 1981	United Artists	Action	$54,800,000	19,712,230
9	Reds	Dec 4, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$50,000,000	17,410,246
10	The Fox and the Hound	Jul 10, 1981	Walt Disney	Adventure	$43,899,231	15,791,090
11	The Four Seasons	May 22, 1981	Universal	Comedy	$42,488,161	15,283,511
12	Time Bandits	Nov 6, 1981	Avco Embassy	Adventure	$37,400,000	13,378,777
13	Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams	Jun 5, 1981	Columbia	Comedy	$37,000,000	13,309,352
14	Tarzan, The Ape Man	Jul 24, 1981	MGM	Adventure	$36,565,000	13,152,877
15	Taps	Dec 9, 1981	20th Century Fox	Drama	$35,856,053	12,486,922
16	Excalibur	Apr 10, 1981	Warner Bros.	Adventure	$34,200,000	12,302,158
17	Absence of Malice	Nov 19, 1981	Columbia	Thriller/Suspense	$33,312,129	11,702,706
18	Endless Love	Jul 17, 1981	Universal	Drama	$33,000,000	11,870,503
19	Sharky's Machine	Dec 18, 1981	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$32,984,898	11,590,092
20	An American Werewolf in London	Aug 21, 1981	Universal	Horror	$31,973,249	11,501,168
21	History of the World: Part I	Jun 12, 1981	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$31,672,000	11,392,805
22	Bustin' Loose	May 22, 1981	Universal	Comedy	$31,261,000	11,244,964
23	The Great Muppet Caper	Jun 26, 1981	Universal	Comedy	$31,206,251	11,225,270
24	Clash of the Titans	Jun 12, 1981	MGM	Adventure	$30,000,000	10,791,366
25	Neighbors	Dec 18, 1981	Columbia	Black Comedy	$29,916,207	10,624,128
26	Fort Apache, The Bronx	Jan 1, 1981	20th Century Fox	Drama	$29,200,000	10,503,597
27	The Jazz Singer	May 1, 1981	Universal	Drama	$27,118,000	9,754,676
28	Only When I Laugh	Sep 23, 1981	Columbia	Comedy	$25,782,304	9,274,210
29	Halloween II	Oct 30, 1981	Universal	Horror	$25,533,818	9,193,793
30	Escape from New York	Jul 10, 1981	Avco Embassy	Action	$25,244,700	9,080,827
31	Modern Problems	Dec 25, 1981	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$24,474,312	8,641,714
32	Body Heat	Aug 28, 1981	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$24,058,000	8,653,956
33	Graduation Day	May 1, 1981	IFI Scope	Horror	$23,894,000	8,594,964
34	The French Lieutenant's Woman	Sep 18, 1981	United Artists	Drama	$22,600,000	8,129,496
35	Friday the 13th Part 2	Apr 30, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Horror	$21,722,776	7,813,948
36	The Final Conflict	Mar 20, 1981	20th Century Fox	Horror	$20,471,382	7,363,669
37	The Incredible Shrinking Woman	Jan 30, 1981	Universal	Comedy	$20,259,000	7,287,410
38	Outland	May 22, 1981	Warner Bros.	Action	$20,000,000	7,194,244
39	Heavy Metal	Aug 7, 1981	Columbia	Adventure	$19,571,091	7,039,960
40	Mommie Dearest	Sep 18, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$19,032,000	6,846,043
41	Paternity	Oct 2, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$18,838,000	6,776,258
42	Under the Rainbow	Jul 31, 1981	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$18,826,490	6,772,118
43	Private Lessons	Aug 28, 1981	Jensen Farley Pic…	Comedy	$18,064,851	6,397,039
44	The Private Eyes	Jan 1, 1981	New World	Comedy	$18,000,000	6,474,820
45	The Howling	Apr 10, 1981	Avco Embassy	Horror	$17,985,000	6,469,424
46	Eye of the Needle	Jul 24, 1981	United Artists	Thriller/Suspense	$17,583,000	6,324,820
47	Take This Job and Shove It	May 15, 1981	Avco Embassy	Comedy	$17,569,000	6,319,784
48	Ragtime	Nov 20, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$17,468,158	6,105,647
49	Ghost Story	Dec 18, 1981	Universal	Horror	$16,202,210	5,771,471
50	The Devil and Max Devlin	Jan 1, 1981	Walt Disney	Comedy	$16,000,000	5,755,395
51	Caveman	Apr 17, 1981	United Artists	Comedy	$15,965,000	5,742,805
52	Continental Divide	Sep 18, 1981	Universal	Romantic Comedy	$15,578,000	5,603,597
53	S.O.B.	Jul 1, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Black Comedy	$14,867,086	5,347,872
54	Nighthawks	Apr 10, 1981	Universal	Action	$14,600,000	5,251,798
55	Scanners	Jan 1, 1981	Avco Embassy	Horror	$14,200,000	5,107,913
56	The Night the Lights Went Out…	Jun 5, 1981	Avco Embassy	Drama	$14,000,000	5,035,971
57	Blow Out	Jul 24, 1981	Filmways Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$13,747,234	4,945,048
58	The Legend of the Lone Ranger	May 22, 1981	Universal	Western	$13,400,000	4,820,143
59	On the Right Track	Mar 6, 1981	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$13,000,000	4,676,258
60	Rich and Famous	Oct 9, 1981	MGM	Drama	$13,000,000	4,676,258
61	The Postman Always Rings Twice	Mar 20, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$12,200,000	4,388,489
62	True Confessions	Sep 25, 1981	United Artists	Drama	$12,200,000	4,388,489
63	First Monday in October	Aug 21, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$12,000,000	4,316,546
64	Back Roads	Mar 13, 1981	Warner Bros.	Romantic Comedy	$11,809,387	4,247,980
65	Raggedy Man	Sep 18, 1981	Universal	Drama	$11,000,000	3,956,834
66	Wolfen	Jul 24, 1981	Warner Bros.	Horror	$11,000,000	3,956,834
67	Victory	Jul 31, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Action	$10,853,000	3,903,956
68	Happy Birthday To Me	May 15, 1981	Columbia	Horror	$10,609,514	3,816,371
69	Rollover	Dec 11, 1981	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$10,217,873	3,627,125
70	Zorro, The Gay Blade	Jul 24, 1981	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$10,000,000	3,597,122
71	Atlantic City	Apr 3, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$10,000,000	3,597,122
72	So Fine	Sep 25, 1981	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$10,000,000	3,597,122
73	Prince of the City	Aug 19, 1981	Warner Bros.	Drama	$9,000,000	3,237,410
74	Carbon Copy	Sep 25, 1981	Avco Embassy	Comedy	$8,400,000	3,021,582
75	Force: Five	Jun 26, 1981	American Cinema R…	Action	$8,000,000	2,877,697
76	All Night Long	Mar 6, 1981	Universal	Romantic Comedy	$7,800,000	2,805,755
77	An Eye for an Eye	Aug 7, 1981	Avco Embassy	Action	$7,496,681	2,696,647
78	The Funhouse	Mar 13, 1981	Universal	Horror	$7,000,000	2,517,985
79	Comin' at Ya!	Jul 24, 1981	Filmways Pictures		$6,704,127	2,411,556
80	Eyewitness	Feb 13, 1981	20th Century Fox		$6,400,000	2,302,158
81	Pennies from Heaven	Dec 11, 1981	MGM	Musical	$6,200,000	2,211,172
82	Whose Life is it Anyway?	Dec 2, 1981	MGM	Drama	$6,100,000	2,154,151
83	American Pop	Feb 13, 1981	Columbia	Musical	$6,000,000	2,158,273
84	Dragonslayer	Jun 26, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Action	$6,000,000	2,158,273
85	Heartbeeps	Dec 18, 1981	Universal	Comedy	$6,000,000	2,158,273
86	Gallipoli	Aug 28, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$5,732,587	2,062,081
87	Buddy Buddy	Dec 11, 1981	United Artists	Comedy	$5,299,037	1,906,128
88	Death Hunt	Jan 1, 1981	20th Century Fox		$5,000,000	1,798,561
89	All the Marbles	Oct 16, 1981	MGM		$4,300,000	1,546,762
90	Thief	Mar 27, 1981	United Artists	Action	$4,300,000	1,546,762
91	Looker	Oct 30, 1981	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$3,281,232	1,180,299
92	Le dernier métro	Feb 11, 1981	United Artists	Drama	$3,000,000	1,079,136
93	Southern Comfort	Sep 25, 1981	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$2,939,174	1,057,256
94	Deadly Blessing	Aug 14, 1981	United Artists	Horror	$2,800,000	1,007,194
95	Hell Night	Aug 7, 1981	Compass Internati…	Horror	$2,300,000	827,338
96	Roar	Jan 1, 1981		Adventure	$2,110,050	250,302
97	The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper	Nov 13, 1981	Universal	Adventure	$2,104,164	756,893
98	The Hand	Apr 24, 1981	Warner Bros.	Horror	$2,000,000	719,424
99	Sphinx	Feb 11, 1981	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$2,000,000	719,424
100	Student Bodies	Aug 7, 1981	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$1,582,148	569,117