The Top 100 Biggest Movies of the '80s

The Top 100 Biggest Movies of the ’80s

Ahhh, the ’80s, a beloved decade full of incredible movies, but let’s see what were the most popular films at the North American box office based on ticket sales, as this is the fairest way to compare how movies fared against each other. All data was obtained from ‘The Numbers’ website.

Quick Nerdy Financial Facts:
So to help you understand the ticket sales numbers more clearly, a film’s budget is relevant to the number of sold tickets required for a movie to be profitable. But, if we take an average, if a movie has sold 15 million tickets in the North American market, then I’d consider that movie to have done pretty good! (unless it’s a huge budget picture) If it has managed 25 million tickets, then it’s a bona fide massive hit. 35 million, and its party poppers all round. Above this, it’s in the upper realms of movie history forever.

To give some perspective, after weeks of crunching data for this, The Number 1 film of the ’80s sold over 121 million tickets ( I won’t tell you what that is, read on to find out), Star Wars (1977) on it’s initial run and re-releases has sold over 164 million tickets!! amazing, Titanic (1998) only managed 128 million. But Gone With The Wind (1939), over all it’s releases has sold over 340 million tickets! That is a record which will never be beaten! Imagine having gross points on that bad boy!

SIDE NOTE: Why is the North American market so important? Well, before the ’90’s, It was way the biggest market in terms of screens showing movies per day, The UK, for instance, used to have a one screen cinema playing per town, so limited numbers of tickets sold based on seats available, rather than demand (In the ’80s, it was normal to have to queue for atleast an hour outside the cinema [imagine 1000+ people queuing for a 700 seater theatre), and then find out it was now sold out, so you went home with no film). From the ’90s onwards, multi-screen cinemas (10 screens plus) were built showing the latest hits over many screens, which meant more tickets sold each day compared to the old days.

100 – Splash (1984)

TICKETS SOLD:

18,630,802

SYNOPSIS:

A successful businessman falls in love with the girl of his dreams. There’s one big complication though; he’s fallen hook, line and sinker for a mermaid.

99 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

TICKETS SOLD:

18,904,681

SYNOPSIS:

After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.

98 – The Jewel of the Nile (1985)

TICKETS SOLD:

18,934,553

SYNOPSIS:

Joan Wilder is thrust back into a world of murder, chases, foreign intrigue… and love. This time out she’s duped by a duplicitous Arab dignitary who brings her to the Middle East, ostensibly to write a book about his life. Of course, he’s up to no good, and Joan is just another pawn in his wicked game. But Jack Colton and his sidekick Ralph show up to help our intrepid heroine save the day.

97 – Superman III (1983)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,031,943

SYNOPSIS:

Aiming to defeat the Man of Steel, wealthy executive Ross Webster hires bumbling but brilliant Gus Gorman to develop synthetic kryptonite, which yields some unexpected psychological effects in the third installment of the 1980s Superman franchise. Between rekindling romance with his high school sweetheart and saving himself, Superman must contend with a powerful supercomputer.

96 – Cocktail (1988)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,032,300

SYNOPSIS:

After being discharged from the Army, Brian Flanagan moves back to Queens and takes a job in a bar run by Doug Coughlin, who teaches Brian the fine art of bar-tending. Brian quickly becomes a patron favorite with his flashy drink-mixing style, and Brian adopts his mentor’s cynical philosophy on life and goes for the money.

95 – The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,156,966

SYNOPSIS:

When the incompetent Lieutenant Frank Drebin seeks the ruthless killer of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

94 – Ruthless People (1986)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,156,966

SYNOPSIS:

Millionaire Sam Stone hates his wife Barbara. He plans on murdering her to gain control of her $15 million family fortune and run off with his mistress Carol. He goes home to murder his wife, but he can’t find her. The phone rings and an anonymous man tells him that Barbara has been kidnapped and if Sam informs the media or the police, or if any of their detailed demands are not met, they will kill his wife.

93 – Annie (1982)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,407,824

SYNOPSIS:

In 1933 during the Great Depression, a young orphan named Annie is living in the Hudson Street Orphanage in New York City which is run by Miss Hannigan, a cruel alcoholic who forces the orphans to clean the building daily. With half of a locket as her only possession, she remains optimistic that her parents, who left her on the doorstep as a baby will return for her. Annie sneaks out with help from a laundry man named Mr. Jules Bundles and adopts a stray dog which she names Sandy. Annie is returned to the orphanage shortly after by a police officer.

92 – Ordinary People (1980)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,443,486

SYNOPSIS:

The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son.

91 – National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,492,063

SYNOPSIS:

Clark Griswold is on a quest to take his family on a quest to Walley World theme park for a vacation, but things don’t go exactly as planned.

90 – The Untouchables (1987)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,506,509

SYNOPSIS:

Young Treasury Agent Eliot Ness arrives in Chicago and is determined to take down Al Capone, but it’s not going to be easy because Capone has the police in his pocket. Ness meets Jimmy Malone, a veteran patrolman and probably the most honorable one on the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone, but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war.

89 – Moonstruck (1987)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,506,509

SYNOPSIS:

No sooner does Italian-American widow Loretta accept a marriage proposal from her doltish boyfriend, Johnny, than she finds herself falling for his younger brother, Ronny. She tries to resist, but Ronny lost his hand in an accident he blames on his brother, and has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls deeper in love, she comes to learn that she’s not the only one in her family with a secret romance.

88 – Die Hard (1988)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,667,806

SYNOPSIS:

NYPD cop John McClane’s plan to reconcile with his estranged wife is thrown for a serious loop when, minutes after he arrives at her office, the entire building is overtaken by a group of terrorists. With little help from the LAPD, wisecracking McClane sets out to single-handedly rescue the hostages and bring the bad guys down.

87 – For Your Eyes Only (1981)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,712,230

SYNOPSIS:

A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.

86 – The Dream is Alive (1985)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,718,309

SYNOPSIS:

The Dream Is Alive takes you into space alongside the astronauts on the space shuttle. Share with them the delights of zero gravity while working, eating and sleeping in orbit around the Earth. Float as never before over the towering Andes, the boot of Italy, Egypt and the Nile. Witness firsthand a tension-filled satellite capture and repair and the historic first spacewalk by an American woman.

85 – Purple Rain (1984)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,799,077

SYNOPSIS:

A victim of his own anger, the Kid is a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his truculent father, the Kid navigates the club scene and a rocky relationship with a captivating singer, Apollonia. But another musician, Morris, looks to steal the Kid’s spotlight – and his girl.

84 – The Little Mermaid (1989)

TICKETS SOLD:

19,860,206

SYNOPSIS:

This colorful adventure tells the story of an impetuous mermaid princess named Ariel who falls in love with the very human Prince Eric and puts everything on the line for the chance to be with him. Memorable songs and characters – including the villainous sea witch Ursula.

83 – Risky Business (1983)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,171,992

SYNOPSIS:

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.

82 – Staying Alive (1983)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,267,134

SYNOPSIS:

It’s five years later and Tony Manero’s Saturday Night Fever is still burning. Now he’s strutting toward his biggest challenger yet – making it as a dancer on the Broadway stage.

81 – The War of the Roses (1989)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,432,433

SYNOPSIS:

The Roses, Barbara and Oliver, live happily as a married couple. Then she starts to wonder what life would be like without Oliver, and likes what she sees. Both want to stay in the house, and so they begin a campaign to force each other to leave. In the middle of the fighting is D’Amato, the divorce lawyer. He gets to see how far both will go to get rid of the other, and boy do they go far.

80 – Steel Magnolias (1989)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,541,889

SYNOPSIS:

A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship and welcome her into the fold.

79 – Mr. Mom (1983)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,571,428

SYNOPSIS:

Jack and Caroline are a couple making a decent living When Jack suddenly loses his job. They agree that he should stay at home and look after the house while Caroline works. It’s just that he’s never done it before, and really doesn’t have a clue…

78 – The Cannonball Run (1981)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,571,428

SYNOPSIS:

Contestants in a cross-country car race from Connecticut to California include a speed-loving racing driver disguised as an ambulance driver and his dimwitted sidekick, a pair of Ferrari-driving priests, and a James Bond-type character kitted out with secret weapons. Jackie Chan appears in one of his first US film roles.

77 – Sudden Impact (1983)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,962,162

SYNOPSIS:

When a young rape victim takes justice into her own hands and becomes a serial killer, it’s up to Dirty Harry Callahan, on suspension from the SFPD, to bring her to justice.

76 – Chariots of Fire (1981)

TICKETS SOLD:

20,992,380

SYNOPSIS:

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God’s glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.

75 – The Golden Child (1986)

TICKETS SOLD:

21,165,211

SYNOPSIS:

After a Tibetan boy, the mystical Golden Child, is kidnapped by the evil Sardo Numspa, humankind’s fate hangs in the balance. On the other side of the world in Los Angeles, the priestess Kee Nang seeks the Chosen One, who will save the boy from death. When Nang sees social worker Chandler Jarrell on television discussing his ability to find missing children, she solicits his expertise, despite his skepticism over being “chosen.”

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