| Rank | Release
| Weekly | Weekend | % of Week | Weekdays | % of Week | Theaters | Week | Distributor
| New This Week
| Estimated
|
|---|
| 1 | On Golden Pond | $11,184,287 | - | - | - | - | 934 | 11 | Universal Pictures | - | false |
| 2 | Making Love | $3,748,429 | - | - | - | - | 363 | 1 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 3 | Chariots of Fire | $2,716,348 | - | - | - | - | 292 | 21 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 4 | Reds | $2,275,024 | - | - | - | - | 554 | 11 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 5 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | $1,960,751 | - | - | - | - | 620 | 36 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 6 | Absence of Malice | $1,932,771 | - | - | - | - | 660 | 13 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 7 | Night Crossing | $1,835,770 | - | - | - | - | 600 | 2 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | - | false |
| 8 | Cannery Row | $1,758,311 | - | - | - | - | 700 | 1 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 9 | Taps | $1,680,492 | - | - | - | - | 623 | 11 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 10 | The Beast Within | $1,400,000 | - | - | - | - | 550 | 1 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 11 | One from the Heart | $456,079 | $389,249 | 85.4% | $66,830 | 14.6% | 41 | 1 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 12 | Das Boot | $33,742 | $26,994 | 80% | $6,748 | 20% | 2 | 2 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| - | The Border | - | - | - | - | - | 888 | 3 | Universal Pictures | - | false |
| - | Arthur | - | - | - | - | - | 583 | 31 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| - | Vice Squad | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | Embassy Pictures | - | false |
| - | Venom | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| - | The Seduction | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | Embassy Pictures | - | false |
| - | Cruising | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| - | Saturn 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Associated Film Distribution (AFD) | - | false |
| - | Private Lessons | - | - | - | - | - | - | 25 | Jensen Farley Pictures | - | false |
| - | Sharky's Machine | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
