Box Office

Top Grossing English Movies in 1981

Rank	Title	Genre(s)	Domestic	Worldwide
1	Superman II	Action Adventure Sci-Fi	$108,185,706	$216,385,706
2	On Golden Pond	Drama	$119,285,432	$119,285,810
3	Arthur	Comedy Romance	$95,461,682	$95,461,682
4	Stripes	Comedy War	$85,297,000	$85,297,000
5	The Cannonball Run	Action Sport Comedy	$72,179,579	$72,179,579
6	The Fox and the Hound	Adventure Drama Animation	$63,456,988	$63,456,988
7	For Your Eyes Only	Action Adventure Thriller	$54,812,802	$54,837,696
8	The Four Seasons	Romance Drama Comedy	$50,427,646	$50,427,646
9	Time Bandits	Adventure Sci-Fi Fantasy	$42,365,581	$42,368,025
10	Clash of the Titans	Action Adventure Fantasy	$41,092,328	$41,092,328
11	Absence of Malice	Drama Thriller Romance	$40,716,963	$40,716,963
12	Reds	Biography Drama History	$40,382,659	$40,382,788
13	Tarzan the Ape Man	Adventure Drama	$36,565,280	$36,565,280
14	Taps	Drama	$35,856,053	$35,856,053
15	Sharky's Machine	Action Drama Thriller	$35,610,100	$35,610,100
16	Excalibur	Adventure Drama Fantasy	$34,967,437	$34,971,136
17	Endless Love	Drama Romance	$31,184,024	$32,492,674
18	History of the World: Part I	History Comedy	$31,672,907	$31,672,907
19	Bustin’ Loose	Drama Comedy	$31,261,269	$31,261,269
20	The Great Muppet Caper	Adventure Mystery Comedy	$31,206,251	$31,206,251
21	An American Werewolf in London	Horror	$30,565,292	$30,820,576
22	Neighbors	Comedy	$29,916,207	$29,916,207
23	Fort Apache the Bronx	Drama Crime	$29,200,000	$29,200,000
24	The French Lieutenant's Woman	Drama Romance	$26,890,068	$26,890,068
25	Modern Problems	Sci-Fi Fantasy Comedy	$26,154,211	$26,154,211
26	Halloween II	Thriller Horror	$25,533,818	$25,533,818
27	Only When I Laugh	Comedy Drama	$25,524,778	$25,524,778
28	Escape from New York	Action Sci-Fi	$25,244,626	$25,276,664
29	Body Heat	Drama Thriller Crime	$24,058,838	$24,058,838
30	Ghost Story	Thriller Drama Horror	$23,371,905	$23,371,905
31	Friday the 13th Part 2	Mystery Thriller Horror	$21,722,776	$21,722,975
32	The Final Conflict	Horror	$20,471,382	$20,471,382
33	The Incredible Shrinking Woman	Family Comedy	$20,259,961	$20,259,961
34	Nighthawks	Action Thriller Crime	$14,905,359	$19,905,359
35	Mommie Dearest	Biography Drama	$19,032,261	$19,034,156
36	Paternity	Comedy Romance	$18,838,812	$18,838,812
37	Under the Rainbow	Comedy	$18,826,490	$18,826,490
38	The Howling	Horror	$17,985,893	$17,985,893
39	Eye of the Needle	Thriller Romance War	$17,583,634	$17,583,686
40	Take This Job and Shove It	Romance Comedy	$17,569,027	$17,569,027
41	Outland	Action Sci-Fi Thriller	$17,374,595	$17,374,595
42	The Devil and Max Devlin	Comedy Fantasy	$16,000,000	$16,000,000
43	Caveman	Comedy Romance	$15,965,924	$15,965,924
44	Continental Divide	Comedy Romance	$15,578,237	$15,578,237
45	The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia	Drama Music	$14,923,752	$14,923,752
46	Ragtime	Drama	$14,920,781	$14,920,781
47	S.O.B.	Drama Comedy	$14,867,086	$14,867,086
48	Scanners	Sci-Fi Thriller Horror	$14,225,876	$14,225,876
49	Dragonslayer	Action Adventure Fantasy	$14,110,013	$14,110,013
50	True Confessions	Drama Crime	$12,850,276	$12,850,276