Box Office

Top Grossing Movies in 1981

Rank	Title	Language	Genre(s)	Domestic	Worldwide
1	Superman II	EN	Action Adventure Sci-Fi	$108,185,706	$216,385,706
2	On Golden Pond	EN	Drama	$119,285,432	$119,285,810
3	Arthur	EN	Comedy Romance	$95,461,682	$95,461,682
4	Stripes	EN	Comedy War	$85,297,000	$85,297,000
5	The Cannonball Run	EN	Action Sport Comedy	$72,179,579	$72,179,579
6	The Fox and the Hound	EN	Adventure Drama Animation	$63,456,988	$63,456,988
7	For Your Eyes Only	EN	Action Adventure Thriller	$54,812,802	$54,837,696
8	The Four Seasons	EN	Romance Drama Comedy	$50,427,646	$50,427,646
9	Time Bandits	EN	Adventure Sci-Fi Fantasy	$42,365,581	$42,368,025
10	Clash of the Titans	EN	Action Adventure Fantasy	$41,092,328	$41,092,328
11	Absence of Malice	EN	Drama Thriller Romance	$40,716,963	$40,716,963
12	Reds	EN	Biography Drama History	$40,382,659	$40,382,788
13	Tarzan the Ape Man	EN	Adventure Drama	$36,565,280	$36,565,280
14	Taps	EN	Drama	$35,856,053	$35,856,053
15	Sharky's Machine	EN	Action Drama Thriller	$35,610,100	$35,610,100
16	Excalibur	EN	Adventure Drama Fantasy	$34,967,437	$34,971,136
17	Endless Love	EN	Drama Romance	$31,184,024	$32,492,674
18	History of the World: Part I	EN	History Comedy	$31,672,907	$31,672,907
19	Bustin’ Loose	EN	Drama Comedy	$31,261,269	$31,261,269
20	The Great Muppet Caper	EN	Adventure Mystery Comedy	$31,206,251	$31,206,251
21	An American Werewolf in London	EN	Horror	$30,565,292	$30,820,576
22	Neighbors	EN	Comedy	$29,916,207	$29,916,207
23	Fort Apache the Bronx	EN	Drama Crime	$29,200,000	$29,200,000
24	The French Lieutenant's Woman	EN	Drama Romance	$26,890,068	$26,890,068
25	Private Lessons	FR	Comedy	$26,279,000	$26,279,000
26	Modern Problems	EN	Sci-Fi Fantasy Comedy	$26,154,211	$26,154,211
27	Halloween II	EN	Thriller Horror	$25,533,818	$25,533,818
28	Only When I Laugh	EN	Comedy Drama	$25,524,778	$25,524,778
29	Escape from New York	EN	Action Sci-Fi	$25,244,626	$25,276,664
30	Body Heat	EN	Drama Thriller Crime	$24,058,838	$24,058,838
31	Ghost Story	EN	Thriller Drama Horror	$23,371,905	$23,371,905
32	Friday the 13th Part 2	EN	Mystery Thriller Horror	$21,722,776	$21,722,975
33	The Final Conflict	EN	Horror	$20,471,382	$20,471,382
34	The Incredible Shrinking Woman	EN	Family Comedy	$20,259,961	$20,259,961
35	Nighthawks	EN	Action Thriller Crime	$14,905,359	$19,905,359
36	Mommie Dearest	EN	Biography Drama	$19,032,261	$19,034,156
37	Paternity	EN	Comedy Romance	$18,838,812	$18,838,812
38	Under the Rainbow	EN	Comedy	$18,826,490	$18,826,490
39	The Howling	EN	Horror	$17,985,893	$17,985,893
40	Eye of the Needle	EN	Thriller Romance War	$17,583,634	$17,583,686
41	Take This Job and Shove It	EN	Romance Comedy	$17,569,027	$17,569,027
42	Outland	EN	Action Sci-Fi Thriller	$17,374,595	$17,374,595
43	The Devil and Max Devlin	EN	Comedy Fantasy	$16,000,000	$16,000,000
44	Caveman	EN	Comedy Romance	$15,965,924	$15,965,924
45	Continental Divide	EN	Comedy Romance	$15,578,237	$15,578,237
46	The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia	EN	Drama Music	$14,923,752	$14,923,752
47	Ragtime	EN	Drama	$14,920,781	$14,920,781
48	S.O.B.	EN	Drama Comedy	$14,867,086	$14,867,086
49	Rich and Famous	CN	Drama	$14,492,125	$14,492,125
50	Scanners	EN	Sci-Fi Thriller Horror	$14,225,876	$14,225,876