1983 Top-Grossing Movies (Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 1983. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 1983. For example, a movie released over Thanksgiving in 1982 will most likely earn money in 1982 and 1983.

To see the top movies released in 1983 (ranked by their total cumulative gross across all years), click the “Released in 1983” button below.

Inflation-adjusted figures are based on ticket sale estimates.

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Rank	Movie	Release Date	Distributor	Genre	1983 Gross Infl. adj.	Tickets Sold
1	Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of t…	May 25, 1983	20th Century Fox	Adventure	$946,674,945	79,153,423
2	Tootsie	Dec 17, 1982		Comedy	$517,515,727	43,270,545
3	Flashdance	Apr 15, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$343,474,395	28,718,594
4	Trading Places	Jun 8, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$343,233,016	28,698,412
5	WarGames	Jun 3, 1983	MGM	Thriller/Suspense	$282,612,283	23,629,789
6	Octopussy	Jun 10, 1983	MGM	Action	$257,804,444	21,555,555
7	Mr. Mom	Jul 22, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$246,034,286	20,571,428
8	Staying Alive	Jul 15, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$242,394,930	20,267,134
9	Risky Business	Aug 5, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$241,257,033	20,171,992
10	National Lampoon’s Vacation	Jul 29, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$233,125,079	19,492,063
11	Superman III	Jun 17, 1983	Warner Bros.	Adventure	$227,622,048	19,031,943
12	Never Say Never Again	Oct 7, 1983	Warner Bros.	Action	$202,935,074	16,967,815
13	Gandhi	Dec 8, 1982	Sony Pictures	Drama	$195,322,849	16,331,341
14	48 Hrs.	Dec 8, 1982	Paramount Pictures	Action	$194,761,606	16,284,415
15	Jaws 3-D	Jul 22, 1983	Universal	Horror	$172,820,310	14,449,858
16	The Big Chill	Sep 28, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$166,066,198	13,885,133
17	Terms of Endearment	Nov 23, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$163,145,775	13,640,951
18	Blue Thunder	May 13, 1983	Sony Pictures	Action	$160,656,417	13,432,810
19	Sudden Impact	Dec 9, 1983	Warner Bros.	Action	$158,906,935	13,286,533
20	The Verdict	Dec 8, 1982	20th Century Fox	Drama	$142,774,266	11,937,647
21	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Jun 11, 1982	Universal	Adventure	$141,843,018	11,859,784
22	Porky’s II: The Next Day	Jun 24, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$128,178,039	10,717,227
23	Psycho II	Jun 3, 1983	Universal	Horror	$121,498,413	10,158,730
24	Snow White and the Seven Dwar…	Dec 21, 1937	Walt Disney	Musical	$114,288,150	9,555,865
25	Twilight Zone: The Movie	Jun 24, 1983	Warner Bros.	Horror	$112,006,349	9,365,079
26	Easy Money	Aug 19, 1983	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$111,284,064	9,304,687
27	High Road to China	Mar 18, 1983	Warner Bros.	Adventure	$107,892,333	9,021,098
28	The Outsiders	Mar 25, 1983	Warner Bros.	Drama	$97,569,479	8,157,983
29	Spring Break	Mar 25, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$91,395,913	7,641,798
30	Sophie's Choice	Dec 10, 1982	Universal	Drama	$90,708,236	7,584,300
31	My Tutor	Mar 4, 1983	Crown	Comedy	$85,758,895	7,170,476
32	Scarface	Dec 9, 1983	Universal	Drama	$82,699,326	6,914,659
33	Class	Jul 22, 1983	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$82,268,812	6,878,663
34	Cujo	Aug 12, 1983	Warner Bros.	Horror	$80,326,215	6,716,238
35	The Dead Zone	Oct 21, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$78,844,876	6,592,380
36	Breathless	May 13, 1983	Orion Pictures	Action	$75,594,801	6,320,635
37	Yentl	Nov 18, 1983	MGM/UA Classics	Musical	$70,920,408	5,929,800
38	The Dark Crystal	Dec 17, 1982	Universal	Adventure	$70,423,252	5,888,231
39	An Officer and a Gentleman	Jul 28, 1982		Drama	$67,918,034	5,678,765
40	Max Dugan Returns	Mar 25, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$66,876,219	5,591,657
41	All the Right Moves	Oct 21, 1983	20th Century Fox	Drama	$65,305,397	5,460,317
42	Best Friends	Dec 17, 1982	Warner Bros.	Romantic Comedy	$64,390,328	5,383,806
43	Valley Girl	Apr 29, 1983	Atlantic	Romantic Comedy	$63,786,667	5,333,333
44	The Toy	Dec 10, 1982	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$63,087,842	5,274,903
45	Krull	Jul 29, 1983	Sony Pictures	Adventure	$62,721,505	5,244,273
46	Spacehunter: Adventures in th…	May 20, 1983	Sony Pictures	Adventure	$62,565,095	5,231,195
47	A Christmas Story	Nov 18, 1983	MGM	Comedy	$61,675,844	5,156,843
48	Richard Pryor Here and Now	Oct 28, 1983	Sony Pictures	Concert/Performance	$61,344,457	5,129,135
49	Still Smokin	May 6, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$59,014,057	4,934,285
50	Monty Python's The Meaning of…	Mar 31, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$56,684,902	4,739,540
51	Two of a Kind	Dec 16, 1983	20th Century Fox	Romantic Comedy	$56,021,183	4,684,045
52	The Man From Snowy River	Nov 3, 1982	20th Century Fox	Western	$53,599,522	4,481,565
53	Private School	Jul 29, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$53,343,650	4,460,171
54	The Survivors	Jun 22, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$53,155,556	4,444,444
55	Uncommon Valor	Dec 16, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Action	$53,075,298	4,437,733
56	Christine	Dec 9, 1983	Sony Pictures	Horror	$52,096,503	4,355,894
57	The Right Stuff	Oct 21, 1983	Warner Bros.	Drama	$52,019,891	4,349,489
58	The Entity	Feb 4, 1983	20th Century Fox	Horror	$50,412,569	4,215,097
59	The Rescuers	Jun 22, 1977		Adventure	$49,576,133	4,145,161
60	Stroker Ace	Jul 1, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$49,358,730	4,126,984
61	Lone Wolf McQuade	Apr 15, 1983	Orion Pictures	Western	$46,445,153	3,883,373
62	Zelig	Jul 15, 1983	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$44,797,285	3,745,592
63	The Lords of Discipline	Feb 18, 1983	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$44,502,746	3,720,965
64	The Smurfs and the Magic Flute	Oct 7, 1983	Atlantic	Adventure	$42,654,372	3,566,419
65	D.C. Cab	Dec 16, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$41,489,961	3,469,060
66	Deal of the Century	Nov 4, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$39,486,984	3,301,587
67	Doctor Detroit	May 6, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$39,486,984	3,301,587
68	The Man with Two Brains	Jun 3, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$39,310,196	3,286,805
69	Revenge of the Ninja	Sep 7, 1983	Cannon	Action	$39,204,607	3,277,977
70	The Year of Living Dangerously	Jan 21, 1983	MGM	Drama	$39,025,955	3,263,039
71	Educating Rita	Sep 21, 1983	Sony Pictures	Drama	$39,023,893	3,262,867
72	Lovesick	Feb 18, 1983	Warner Bros.	Romantic Comedy	$38,513,546	3,220,196
73	The Black Stallion Returns	Mar 25, 1983	MGM/UA Classics	Adventure	$37,405,105	3,127,517
74	Without a Trace	Feb 4, 1983	20th Century Fox	Drama	$36,571,258	3,057,797
75	Hercules	Aug 26, 1983	Cannon	Adventure	$35,943,236	3,005,287
76	Bad Boys	Mar 25, 1983	Universal	Drama	$34,930,794	2,920,634
77	The Sword in the Stone	Dec 25, 1963		Adventure	$34,671,000	2,898,913
78	Brainstorm	Sep 30, 1983	MGM	Thriller/Suspense	$33,871,669	2,832,079
79	Deathstalker	Sep 2, 1983	New World	Action	$33,756,379	2,822,439
80	Kiss Me Goodbye	Dec 22, 1982	20th Century Fox	Romantic Comedy	$33,469,866	2,798,483
81	Tender Mercies	Mar 4, 1983	Universal	Drama	$32,057,068	2,680,356
82	The House on Sorority Row	Jan 21, 1983	Artists Releasing…	Horror	$31,075,622	2,598,296
83	They Call Me Bruce	Nov 12, 1982	Artists Releasing…	Comedy	$30,779,607	2,573,545
84	Silkwood	Dec 14, 1983	20th Century Fox	Drama	$30,153,913	2,521,230
85	Never Cry Wolf	Oct 7, 1983	Walt Disney	Drama	$28,397,699	2,374,389
86	10 to Midnight	Mar 11, 1983	Cannon	Thriller/Suspense	$27,244,470	2,277,965
87	Gorky Park	Dec 16, 1983	Orion Pictures	Drama	$26,826,060	2,242,981
88	To Be or Not to Be	Dec 16, 1983	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$26,769,901	2,238,286
89	The Adventures of Bob & Doug …	Aug 19, 1983	MGM	Comedy	$26,713,013	2,233,529
90	Smokey and the Bandit III	Aug 12, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$26,577,778	2,222,222
91	The Man Who Loved Women	Dec 16, 1983	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$25,598,884	2,140,374
92	Nightmares	Sep 2, 1983	Universal	Horror	$25,327,407	2,117,676
93	The Golden Seal	Aug 19, 1983	Samuel Goldwyn Fi…	Adventure	$25,096,522	2,098,371
94	The Osterman Weekend	Oct 21, 1983	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$24,679,365	2,063,492
95	The Sting II	Feb 18, 1983	Universal	Comedy	$24,098,724	2,014,943
96	Amityville 3-D	Nov 18, 1983	Orion Pictures	Horror	$24,045,808	2,010,519
97	Chained Heat	May 27, 1983	Jensen Farley Pic…	Drama	$23,350,412	1,952,375
98	Local Hero	Feb 18, 1983	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$21,897,670	1,830,908
99	Under Fire	Oct 21, 1983	Orion Pictures	Drama	$21,628,202	1,808,378
100	Something Wicked This Way Com…	Apr 29, 1983	Walt Disney	Horror	$21,475,175	1,795,583