1990 Top-Grossing Movies in North America

This chart ranks movies by their total cumulative North American box office earnings for movies released in 1990. Each movie is ranked by its total gross across all years it played, not just earnings during 1990.

To see the top-grossing movies that earned money during 1990 (including movies released in previous years), click the “Earned in 1990” button below.

Worldwide Domestic International

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Earned in 1990

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Rank	Movie	Release Date	Distributor	Genre	1990 Domestic Gross	Tickets Sold
1	Home Alone	Nov 16, 1990	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$285,761,243	71,718,837
2	Ghost	Jul 13, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$217,631,306	51,571,399
3	Dances with Wolves	Nov 9, 1990	Orion Pictures	Western	$184,208,842	46,010,083
4	Pretty Woman	Mar 23, 1990	Walt Disney	Romantic Comedy	$178,406,268	42,276,366
5	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Mar 30, 1990	New Line	Adventure	$135,265,915	32,053,534
6	The Hunt for Red October	Mar 2, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$120,709,866	28,604,233
7	Total Recall	Jun 1, 1990	Sony Pictures	Action	$119,394,839	28,291,357
8	Die Hard 2	Jul 3, 1990	20th Century Fox	Action	$117,323,878	27,801,866
9	Dick Tracy	Jun 15, 1990	Walt Disney	Action	$103,738,726	24,582,636
10	Kindergarten Cop	Dec 21, 1990	Universal	Comedy	$91,457,688	24,618,062
11	Back to the Future Part III	May 24, 1990	Universal	Western	$88,055,283	20,866,180
12	Presumed Innocent	Jul 27, 1990	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$86,303,188	20,450,992
13	Days of Thunder	Jun 27, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Action	$82,670,733	19,590,221
14	Another 48 Hrs.	Jun 8, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Action	$80,047,413	18,968,581
15	3 Men and a Little Lady	Nov 21, 1990	Walt Disney	Comedy	$71,609,321	18,091,331
16	Bird on a Wire	May 18, 1990	Universal	Action	$70,978,012	16,819,434
17	The Godfather: Part III	Dec 25, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$66,666,062	18,452,421
18	Flatliners	Aug 10, 1990	Sony Pictures	Horror	$61,308,153	14,527,998
19	Misery	Nov 30, 1990	Sony Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$61,158,960	15,698,352
20	Edward Scissorhands	Dec 7, 1990	20th Century Fox	Drama	$53,976,987	14,347,502
21	Problem Child	Jul 27, 1990	Universal	Black Comedy	$53,470,891	12,670,827
22	Arachnophobia	Jul 18, 1990	Walt Disney	Horror	$53,208,180	12,608,573
23	Awakenings	Dec 19, 1990	Sony Pictures	Drama	$51,636,504	12,186,718
24	Hard To Kill	Feb 9, 1990	Warner Bros.	Action	$47,381,386	11,227,816
25	Goodfellas	Sep 19, 1990	Warner Bros.	Drama	$46,743,809	11,083,955
26	Look Who’s Talking Too	Dec 14, 1990	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$46,614,448	12,373,574
27	RoboCop 2	Jun 22, 1990	Orion Pictures	Action	$45,681,173	10,824,922
28	Young Guns II	Aug 1, 1990	20th Century Fox	Western	$44,143,410	10,460,523
29	Marked for Death	Apr 18, 1990	20th Century Fox	Action	$43,224,499	10,242,772
30	Gremlins 2: The New Batch	Jun 15, 1990	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$41,476,097	9,828,459
31	Rocky V	Nov 16, 1990	MGM	Action	$40,946,358	9,702,928
32	Joe Versus the Volcano	Mar 9, 1990	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$39,381,963	9,332,218
33	Postcards from the Edge	Sep 12, 1990	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$37,963,281	8,996,038
34	Mermaids	Dec 14, 1990	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$35,140,500	9,484,367
35	Darkman	Aug 24, 1990	Universal	Action	$32,942,739	7,806,336
36	Predator 2	Nov 21, 1990	20th Century Fox	Action	$30,669,413	6,851,528
37	Air America	Aug 10, 1990	Sony Pictures	Action	$30,506,847	7,229,110
38	Green Card	Dec 25, 1990	Walt Disney	Romantic Comedy	$29,804,169	7,079,375
39	Pacific Heights	Sep 28, 1990	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$29,381,956	6,962,548
40	Child’s Play 2	Nov 9, 1990	Universal	Horror	$28,501,605	6,416,794
41	The Rescuers Down Under	Nov 16, 1990	Walt Disney	Adventure	$27,931,461	6,618,829
42	Internal Affairs	Jan 12, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$27,661,878	6,554,947
43	Memphis Belle	Oct 12, 1990	Warner Bros.	Drama	$27,385,582	6,489,474
44	Cadillac Man	May 18, 1990	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$27,257,086	6,459,025
45	House Party	Mar 9, 1990	New Line	Comedy	$26,385,627	6,252,518
46	Jacob’s Ladder	Nov 2, 1990	Sony Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$25,983,963	6,205,648
47	Ernest Goes to Jail	Apr 6, 1990	Walt Disney	Comedy	$25,029,569	5,931,177
48	The Exorcist III	Aug 17, 1990	20th Century Fox	Horror	$25,011,739	5,926,952
49	Navy SEALs	Jul 20, 1990	Orion Pictures	Action	$24,824,126	5,882,494
50	My Blue Heaven	Aug 17, 1990	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$23,591,472	5,590,396
51	Ghost Dad	Jun 29, 1990	Universal	Comedy	$23,007,150	5,451,931
52	The Russia House	Dec 17, 1990	MGM	Thriller/Suspense	$22,998,000	6,374,879
53	The Rookie	Dec 7, 1990	Sony Pictures	Action	$21,633,874	5,126,510
54	Quigley Down Under	Oct 19, 1990	MGM	Western	$21,413,105	5,074,195
55	The First Power	Apr 6, 1990	Orion Pictures	Horror	$21,365,321	5,062,872
56	The Freshman	Jul 20, 1990	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$21,289,527	5,044,911
57	Hamlet	Dec 19, 1990	Warner Bros.	Drama	$20,710,451	4,866,429
58	Madhouse	Feb 16, 1990	Orion Pictures	Black Comedy	$20,438,179	4,843,170
59	The Adventures of Ford Fairla…	Jul 11, 1990	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$20,423,389	4,839,665
60	Stella	Feb 2, 1990	Walt Disney	Drama	$20,062,347	4,754,110
61	Taking Care of Business	Aug 17, 1990	Walt Disney	Comedy	$20,005,435	4,740,624
62	Betsy's Wedding	Jun 22, 1990	Walt Disney	Romantic Comedy	$19,740,070	4,677,741
63	Jetsons: The Movie	Jul 6, 1990	Universal	Comedy	$19,543,985	4,631,276
64	DuckTales: The Movie - Treasu…	Aug 3, 1990	Walt Disney	Adventure	$18,075,331	4,283,253
65	Sibling Rivalry	Oct 26, 1990	Sony Pictures	Black Comedy	$17,854,933	4,231,026
66	White Palace	Oct 19, 1990	Universal	Drama	$17,487,531	4,143,964
67	Tremors	Jan 19, 1990	Universal	Comedy	$16,667,084	3,963,332
68	Tales from the Darkside: The …	May 4, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Horror	$16,324,573	3,868,382
69	Mo’ Better Blues	Aug 3, 1990	Universal	Drama	$16,153,000	3,827,725
70	Men At Work	Aug 24, 1990	Triumph Releasing	Comedy	$16,151,032	3,827,258
71	The Guardian	Apr 27, 1990	Universal	Horror	$16,140,440	3,824,748
72	Avalon	Oct 5, 1990	Sony Pictures	Drama	$15,702,685	3,721,015
73	I Love You to Death	Apr 6, 1990	Sony Pictures	Black Comedy	$15,600,149	3,696,717
74	Revenge	Feb 16, 1990	Sony Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$15,535,771	3,681,462
75	Reversal of Fortune	Oct 17, 1990	Warner Bros.	Drama	$15,445,131	3,663,326
76	The Bonfire of the Vanities	Dec 19, 1990	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$15,432,314	3,656,946
77	Death Warrant	Sep 14, 1990	MGM	Action	$15,394,200	3,647,914
78	Mr. Destiny	Oct 12, 1990	Walt Disney	Comedy	$15,379,253	3,644,372
79	Quick Change	Jul 13, 1990	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$15,260,154	3,616,150
80	Spaced Invaders	Apr 27, 1990	Walt Disney	Comedy	$15,000,000	3,554,502
81	Fire Birds	May 24, 1990	Walt Disney	Action	$14,760,451	3,497,737
82	Wild at Heart	Aug 17, 1990	Goldwyn Entertain…	Black Comedy	$14,560,000	3,450,236
83	Lord of the Flies	Mar 16, 1990	Sony Pictures	Adventure	$13,812,230	3,273,040
84	The Long Walk Home	Dec 21, 1990	Miramax	Drama	$13,798,030	3,277,442
85	Crazy People	Apr 11, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$13,204,459	3,129,018
86	The Grifters	Dec 7, 1990	Miramax	Thriller/Suspense	$12,850,000	1,625,955
87	Bad Influence	Mar 9, 1990	Triumph Releasing	Thriller/Suspense	$12,626,043	2,991,953
88	Nuovo cinema Paradiso	Feb 2, 1990	Miramax	Drama	$11,985,152	2,840,083
89	Graveyard Shift	Oct 26, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Horror	$11,578,883	2,743,811
90	Pump Up the Volume	Aug 22, 1990	New Line	Drama	$11,541,758	2,735,013
91	Opportunity Knocks	Mar 30, 1990	Universal	Comedy	$11,359,129	2,691,736
92	Q & A	Apr 27, 1990	Sony/TriStar	Thriller/Suspense	$11,207,000	2,655,687
93	Henry & June	Oct 5, 1990	Universal	Drama	$11,011,903	2,609,455
94	Wild Orchid	Apr 27, 1990	Triumph Releasing	Thriller/Suspense	$11,000,000	2,606,635
95	Nuns on the Run	Mar 16, 1990	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$10,959,015	2,596,922
96	Narrow Margin	Sep 21, 1990	Sony Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$10,873,237	2,576,596
97	The Witches	Feb 16, 1990	Warner Bros.	Horror	$10,360,553	2,455,107
98	The Two Jakes	Aug 10, 1990	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$10,005,969	2,371,082
99	Miami Blues	Apr 20, 1990	Orion Pictures	Black Comedy	$9,654,290	2,287,746
100	Havana	Dec 12, 1990	Universal	Drama	$9,200,339	2,180,175