1988 Top-Grossing Movies (Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 1988. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 1988. For example, a movie released over Thanksgiving in 1987 will most likely earn money in 1987 and 1988.

To see the top movies released in 1988 (ranked by their total cumulative gross across all years), click the “Released in 1988” button below.

Inflation-adjusted figures are based on ticket sale estimates.

← 1987

Show Actuals Released in 1988

1989 →

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Distributor	Genre	1988 Gross Infl. adj.	Tickets Sold
1	Who Framed Roger Rabbit?	Jun 22, 1988	Walt Disney	Comedy	$441,352,422	36,902,376
2	Coming to America	Jun 29, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$372,920,078	31,180,608
3	Good Morning Vietnam	Dec 23, 1987		Black Comedy	$354,001,351	29,598,775
4	Big	Jun 3, 1988	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$327,532,806	27,385,686
5	Crocodile Dundee 2	May 25, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Action	$318,078,412	26,595,184
6	3 Men and a Baby	Nov 25, 1987	Walt Disney	Comedy	$233,065,012	19,487,041
7	Cocktail	Jul 29, 1988	Walt Disney	Drama	$227,626,308	19,032,300
8	Moonstruck	Dec 16, 1987		Romantic Comedy	$224,216,884	18,747,231
9	Die Hard	Jul 15, 1988	20th Century Fox	Action	$222,052,785	18,566,286
10	Beetlejuice	Mar 30, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$221,485,960	18,518,892
11	Twins	Dec 9, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$212,716,771	17,785,683
12	Oliver & Company	Nov 18, 1988	Walt Disney	Adventure	$188,982,020	15,801,172
13	A Fish Called Wanda	Jul 15, 1988	MGM	Comedy	$184,763,085	15,448,418
14	Willow	May 20, 1988	Sony Pictures	Adventure	$166,653,908	13,934,273
15	The Naked Gun: From the Files…	Dec 2, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$160,018,093	13,379,439
16	Scrooged	Nov 23, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$159,805,932	13,361,699
17	Rambo III	May 25, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Action	$156,311,121	13,069,491
18	Bull Durham	Jun 15, 1988	Orion Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$148,084,963	12,381,685
19	A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: …	Aug 19, 1988	New Line	Horror	$143,665,205	12,012,140
20	Rain Man	Dec 16, 1988	MGM	Comedy	$137,280,648	11,478,315
21	Colors	Apr 15, 1988	Orion Pictures	Action	$135,651,621	11,342,108
22	Young Guns	Aug 12, 1988	20th Century Fox	Western	$130,153,446	10,882,395
23	Biloxi Blues	Mar 25, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$125,666,711	10,507,250
24	The Great Outdoors	Jun 17, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$120,633,711	10,086,430
25	Big Business	Jun 10, 1988	Walt Disney	Comedy	$116,836,940	9,768,974
26	The Land Before Time	Nov 18, 1988	Universal	Adventure	$116,812,115	9,766,899
27	Midnight Run	Jul 20, 1988	Universal	Action	$111,782,659	9,346,376
28	The Dead Pool	Jul 13, 1988	Warner Bros.	Action	$110,296,808	9,222,141
29	Red Heat	Jun 17, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Action	$101,833,574	8,514,512
30	The Last Emperor	Nov 20, 1987	Sony Pictures	Drama	$101,063,318	8,450,110
31	The Accused	Oct 14, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$93,347,125	7,804,943
32	Tequila Sunrise	Dec 2, 1988	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$87,948,576	7,353,559
33	Shoot to Kill	Feb 12, 1988	Walt Disney	Action	$85,262,287	7,128,953
34	Child’s Play	Nov 9, 1988	United Artists	Horror	$83,627,565	6,992,271
35	Ernest Saves Christmas	Nov 11, 1988	Walt Disney	Comedy	$82,067,451	6,861,827
36	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Dec 14, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$81,153,567	6,785,415
37	Broadcast News	Dec 16, 1987	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$76,538,142	6,399,510
38	Betrayed	Aug 26, 1988	United Artists	Thriller/Suspense	$75,124,336	6,281,299
39	Funny Farm	Jun 3, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$74,312,692	6,213,435
40	Alien Nation	Oct 7, 1988	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$73,378,654	6,135,338
41	Gorillas in the Mist	Sep 23, 1988	Universal	Drama	$71,935,992	6,014,715
42	License to Drive	Jul 6, 1988	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$65,283,194	5,458,461
43	Married to the Mob	Aug 19, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$62,525,940	5,227,921
44	Punchline	Sep 30, 1988	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$61,202,608	5,117,274
45	Short Circuit 2	Jul 6, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Comedy	$60,766,112	5,080,778
46	Action Jackson	Feb 12, 1988	Lorimar Motion Pi…	Action	$58,447,458	4,886,911
47	The Presidio	Jun 10, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$58,304,273	4,874,939
48	The Serpent and the Rainbow	Feb 5, 1988	Universal	Horror	$57,020,973	4,767,639
49	Police Academy 5: Assignment:…	Mar 18, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$56,773,625	4,746,958
50	Bambi	Aug 13, 1942	Walt Disney	Adventure	$55,979,027	4,680,520
51	Friday the 13th Part VII: The…	May 13, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Horror	$55,784,236	4,664,233
52	Fatal Attraction	Sep 18, 1987	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$55,565,982	4,645,985
53	The Seventh Sign	Apr 1, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Horror	$54,925,823	4,592,460
54	Above the Law	Apr 8, 1988	Warner Bros.	Action	$54,910,167	4,591,151
55	Working Girl	Dec 20, 1988	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$54,779,809	4,580,251
56	Halloween 4: The Return of Mi…	Oct 21, 1988	Galaxy Internatio…	Horror	$51,706,651	4,323,298
57	Frantic	Feb 26, 1988	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$51,323,241	4,291,240
58	Johnny Be Good	Mar 25, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$50,925,735	4,258,004
59	For Keeps?	Jan 15, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Drama	$49,469,586	4,136,253
60	Mississippi Burning	Dec 9, 1988	Orion Pictures	Drama	$47,572,402	3,977,625
61	Bright Lights, Big City	Apr 1, 1988	United Artists	Drama	$46,903,212	3,921,673
62	She's Having a Baby	Feb 5, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$46,651,877	3,900,658
63	Masquerade	Mar 11, 1988	MGM	Thriller/Suspense	$46,140,074	3,857,865
64	Throw Momma From the Train	Dec 11, 1987	Orion Pictures	Black Comedy	$45,867,793	3,835,099
65	Big Top Pee-Wee	Jul 22, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Adventure	$44,005,595	3,679,397
66	Arthur 2: On the Rocks	Jul 8, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$42,721,912	3,572,066
67	School Daze	Feb 12, 1988	Sony Pictures	Drama	$42,328,052	3,539,134
68	Tucker: The Man and His Dream	Aug 12, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$41,915,938	3,504,677
69	Poltergeist III	Jun 10, 1988	MGM	Horror	$41,071,397	3,434,063
70	Stand and Deliver	Apr 1, 1988		Drama	$40,724,877	3,405,090
71	The Milagro Beanfield War	Mar 18, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$40,232,724	3,363,940
72	Return to Snowy River	Apr 15, 1988	Walt Disney	Western	$39,828,916	3,330,176
73	Vice Versa	Mar 11, 1988	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$39,762,082	3,324,588
74	They Live	Nov 4, 1988	Universal	Thriller/Suspense	$37,855,664	3,165,189
75	Cocoon: The Return	Nov 23, 1988	20th Century Fox	Adventure	$37,601,527	3,143,940
76	D.O.A.	Mar 18, 1988	Walt Disney	Thriller/Suspense	$36,975,542	3,091,600
77	Everybody’s All-American	Nov 4, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$36,777,128	3,075,010
78	Eddie Murphy: Raw	Dec 18, 1987	Paramount Pictures	Concert/Performance	$36,336,919	3,038,203
79	Casual Sex?	Apr 22, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$35,726,051	2,987,127
80	Bloodsport	Feb 26, 1988	Cannon	Action	$34,355,519	2,872,535
81	Caddyshack II	Jul 22, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$34,332,772	2,870,633
82	Crossing Delancey	Aug 24, 1988	Warner Bros.	Romantic Comedy	$34,102,866	2,851,410
83	Moon Over Parador	Sep 9, 1988	Universal	Romantic Comedy	$33,302,355	2,784,477
84	Wall Street	Dec 11, 1987	20th Century Fox	Drama	$33,122,431	2,769,434
85	The Couch Trip	Jan 15, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$32,025,167	2,677,689
86	Moving	Mar 4, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$31,472,487	2,631,478
87	Planes, Trains & Automobiles	Nov 25, 1987	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$30,368,299	2,539,155
88	Shakedown	May 6, 1988	Universal	Action	$29,297,749	2,449,644
89	The Unbearable Lightness of B…	Feb 5, 1988	Orion Pictures	Drama	$29,117,217	2,434,549
90	Iron Eagle II	Nov 11, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Action	$29,099,757	2,433,090
91	Mystic Pizza	Oct 21, 1988	Samuel Goldwyn Fi…	Comedy	$28,703,724	2,399,976
92	Return of the Living Dead Par…	Jan 15, 1988	Lorimar Motion Pi…	Horror	$26,789,015	2,239,884
93	Dead Ringers	Sep 23, 1988	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$26,581,851	2,222,562
94	Switching Channels	Mar 4, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Comedy	$26,189,781	2,189,781
95	Bad Dreams	Apr 8, 1988	20th Century Fox	Horror	$26,189,781	2,189,781
96	Clean and Sober	Aug 10, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$25,241,400	2,110,484
97	The Accidental Tourist	Dec 23, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$25,066,979	2,095,901
98	U2: Rattle and Hum	Nov 4, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Concert/Performance	$25,028,186	2,092,657
99	High Spirits	Nov 18, 1988	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$24,962,443	2,087,160
100	The Last Temptation of Christ	Aug 12, 1988	Universal	Drama	$24,366,929	2,037,368