1983 Top-Grossing Movies in North America

This chart ranks movies by their total cumulative North American box office earnings for movies released in 1983. Each movie is ranked by its total gross across all years it played, not just earnings during 1983.

To see the top-grossing movies that earned money during 1983 (including movies released in previous years), click the “Earned in 1983” button below.

Worldwide Domestic International

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Earned in 1983

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Rank	Movie	Release Date	Distributor	Genre	1983 Domestic Gross	Tickets Sold
1	Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of t…	May 25, 1983	20th Century Fox	Adventure	$316,465,003	93,665,603
2	Terms of Endearment	Nov 23, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$108,423,489	33,121,455
3	Flashdance	Apr 15, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$90,463,574	28,718,594
4	Trading Places	Jun 8, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$90,400,000	28,698,412
5	WarGames	Jun 3, 1983	MGM	Thriller/Suspense	$74,433,837	23,629,789
6	Octopussy	Jun 10, 1983	MGM	Action	$67,900,000	21,555,555
7	Sudden Impact	Dec 9, 1983	Warner Bros.	Action	$67,642,693	20,962,162
8	Mr. Mom	Jul 22, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$64,800,000	20,571,428
9	Staying Alive	Jul 15, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$63,841,474	20,267,134
10	Risky Business	Aug 5, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$63,541,777	20,171,992
11	National Lampoon’s Vacation	Jul 29, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$61,400,000	19,492,063
12	Superman III	Jun 17, 1983	Warner Bros.	Adventure	$59,950,623	19,031,943
13	The Big Chill	Sep 28, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$56,077,501	17,557,553
14	Never Say Never Again	Oct 7, 1983	Warner Bros.	Action	$55,500,000	17,578,345
15	Scarface	Dec 9, 1983	Universal	Drama	$45,227,398	13,252,594
16	Blue Thunder	May 13, 1983	Sony Pictures	Action	$42,313,354	13,432,810
17	Jaws 3-D	Jul 22, 1983	Universal	Horror	$42,245,180	14,449,858
18	Yentl	Nov 18, 1983	MGM/UA Classics	Musical	$39,012,241	11,981,399
19	Silkwood	Dec 14, 1983	20th Century Fox	Drama	$35,615,609	10,757,460
20	Porky's II: The Next Day	Jun 24, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$33,759,266	10,717,227
21	Psycho II	Jun 3, 1983	Universal	Horror	$32,000,000	10,158,730
22	Twilight Zone: The Movie	Jun 24, 1983	Warner Bros.	Horror	$29,500,000	9,365,079
23	Easy Money	Aug 19, 1983	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$29,309,766	9,304,687
24	High Road to China	Mar 18, 1983	Warner Bros.	Adventure	$28,416,459	9,021,098
25	Uncommon Valor	Dec 16, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Action	$27,900,000	8,580,929
26	Never Cry Wolf	Oct 7, 1983	Walt Disney	Drama	$27,668,764	8,383,150
27	The Outsiders	Mar 25, 1983	Warner Bros.	Drama	$25,750,528	8,162,659
28	Spring Break	Mar 25, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$24,071,666	7,641,798
29	Two of a Kind	Dec 16, 1983	20th Century Fox	Romantic Comedy	$23,700,000	7,346,324
30	My Tutor	Mar 4, 1983	Crown	Comedy	$22,587,000	7,170,476
31	Class	Jul 22, 1983	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$21,667,789	6,878,663
32	The Right Stuff	Oct 21, 1983	Warner Bros.	Drama	$21,500,000	6,670,652
33	Christine	Dec 9, 1983	Sony Pictures	Horror	$21,200,000	6,581,766
34	Cujo	Aug 12, 1983	Warner Bros.	Horror	$21,156,152	6,716,238
35	A Christmas Story	Nov 18, 1983	MGM	Comedy	$20,825,395	5,746,399
36	The Dead Zone	Oct 21, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$20,766,000	6,592,380
37	Breathless	May 13, 1983	Orion Pictures	Action	$19,910,002	6,320,635
38	Max Dugan Returns	Mar 25, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$17,613,720	5,591,657
39	All the Right Moves	Oct 21, 1983	20th Century Fox	Drama	$17,200,000	5,460,317
40	Valley Girl	Apr 29, 1983	Atlantic	Romantic Comedy	$16,800,000	5,333,333
41	Krull	Jul 29, 1983	Sony Pictures	Adventure	$16,519,460	5,244,273
42	Spacehunter: Adventures in th…	May 20, 1983	Sony Pictures	Adventure	$16,478,265	5,231,195
43	Richard Pryor Here and Now	Oct 28, 1983	Sony Pictures	Concert/Performance	$16,156,776	5,129,135
44	D.C. Cab	Dec 16, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$16,134,000	5,018,602
45	Gorky Park	Dec 16, 1983	Orion Pictures	Drama	$15,900,000	4,872,329
46	Still Smokin	May 6, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$15,543,000	4,934,285
47	Monty Python's The Meaning of…	Mar 31, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$14,929,552	4,739,540
48	Educating Rita	Sep 21, 1983	Sony Pictures	Drama	$14,688,000	4,575,357
49	Private School	Jul 29, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$14,049,540	4,460,171
50	The Survivors	Jun 22, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$14,000,000	4,444,444
51	The Entity	Feb 4, 1983	20th Century Fox	Horror	$13,277,558	4,215,097
52	To Be or Not to Be	Dec 16, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$13,030,214	4,017,933
53	Stroker Ace	Jul 1, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$13,000,000	4,126,984
54	Lone Wolf McQuade	Apr 15, 1983	Orion Pictures	Western	$12,232,628	3,883,373
55	Zelig	Jul 15, 1983	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$11,798,616	3,745,592
56	The Lords of Discipline	Feb 18, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$11,721,041	3,720,965
57	The Smurfs and the Magic Flute	Oct 7, 1983	Atlantic	Adventure	$11,234,220	3,566,419
58	The Man Who Loved Women	Dec 16, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$11,000,000	3,407,582
59	Deal of the Century	Nov 4, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$10,400,000	3,301,587
60	Doctor Detroit	May 6, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$10,400,000	3,301,587
61	The Man with Two Brains	Jun 3, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$10,353,438	3,286,805
62	Revenge of the Ninja	Sep 7, 1983	Cannon	Action	$10,325,628	3,277,977
63	The Year of Living Dangerously	Jan 21, 1983	MGM	Drama	$10,278,575	3,263,039
64	Lovesick	Feb 18, 1983	Warner Bros.	Romantic Comedy	$10,143,618	3,220,196
65	The Black Stallion Returns	Mar 25, 1983	MGM/UA Classics	Adventure	$9,851,679	3,127,517
66	Without a Trace	Feb 4, 1983	20th Century Fox	Drama	$9,632,062	3,057,797
67	Hercules	Aug 26, 1983	Cannon	Adventure	$9,466,655	3,005,287
68	Bad Boys	Mar 25, 1983	Universal	Drama	$9,200,000	2,920,634
69	Brainstorm	Sep 30, 1983	MGM	Thriller/Suspense	$8,921,050	2,832,079
70	Deathstalker	Sep 2, 1983	New World	Action	$8,890,685	2,822,439
71	Tender Mercies	Mar 4, 1983	Universal	Drama	$8,443,124	2,680,356
72	The House on Sorority Row	Jan 21, 1983	Artists Releasing…	Horror	$8,184,633	2,598,296
73	10 to Midnight	Mar 11, 1983	Cannon	Thriller/Suspense	$7,175,592	2,277,965
74	The Adventures of Bob & Doug …	Aug 19, 1983	MGM	Comedy	$7,035,618	2,233,529
75	Smokey and the Bandit III	Aug 12, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$7,000,000	2,222,222
76	Nightmares	Sep 2, 1983	Universal	Horror	$6,670,680	2,117,676
77	The Golden Seal	Aug 19, 1983	Samuel Goldwyn Fi…	Adventure	$6,609,870	2,098,371
78	The Osterman Weekend	Oct 21, 1983	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$6,500,000	2,063,492
79	Star 80	Nov 10, 1983	Warner Bros.	Drama	$6,472,990	1,955,106
80	The Sting II	Feb 18, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$6,347,072	2,014,943
81	Amityville 3-D	Nov 18, 1983	Orion Pictures	Horror	$6,333,135	2,010,519
82	Chained Heat	May 27, 1983	Jensen Farley Pic…	Drama	$6,149,983	1,952,375
83	Local Hero	Feb 18, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$5,767,363	1,830,908
84	Under Fire	Oct 21, 1983	Orion Pictures	Drama	$5,696,391	1,808,378
85	Something Wicked This Way Com…	Apr 29, 1983	Walt Disney	Horror	$5,656,087	1,795,583
86	The Star Chamber	Aug 5, 1983	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$5,600,000	1,777,777
87	A Night in Heaven	Nov 18, 1983	20th Century Fox	Drama	$5,563,663	1,766,242
88	The Dresser	Dec 6, 1983	Sony Pictures	Drama	$5,310,748	1,585,912
89	Metalstorm: The Destruction o…	Aug 19, 1983	Universal	Adventure	$5,301,085	1,682,884
90	Romantic Comedy	Oct 7, 1983	MGM/UA Classics	Romantic Comedy	$5,140,538	1,631,916
91	Vigilante	Mar 4, 1983	Artists Releasing…	Action	$5,091,888	1,616,472
92	Fanny och Alexander	Jun 17, 1983	Embassy	Drama	$4,971,340	1,578,203
93	The Honorary Consul	Sep 30, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$4,800,000	1,523,809
94	The Hunger	Apr 29, 1983	MGM	Horror	$4,800,000	1,523,809
95	Eddie and the Cruisers	Sep 23, 1983	Embassy	Drama	$4,685,097	1,487,332
96	Trenchcoat	Mar 11, 1983	Walt Disney	Comedy	$4,304,286	1,366,440
97	Yellowbeard	Jun 24, 1983	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$4,300,000	1,365,079
98	Joysticks	Jan 1, 1983		Comedy	$3,952,000	1,254,603
99	The Keep	Dec 16, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Horror	$3,661,757	1,153,042
100	La traviata	Apr 22, 1983	Universal	Musical	$3,594,000	1,140,952