| Rank | Release
| Weekly | Weekend | % of Week | Weekdays | % of Week | Theaters | Week | Distributor
| New This Week
| Estimated
|
|---|
| 1 | High Road to China | $8,242,488 | $6,156,049 | 74.7% | $2,086,439 | 25.3% | 1,508 | 1 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 2 | Tootsie | $4,931,349 | $3,579,379 | 72.6% | $1,351,970 | 27.4% | 1,185 | 14 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 3 | Gandhi | $2,781,107 | $1,888,225 | 67.9% | $892,882 | 32.1% | 672 | 15 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 4 | 10 to Midnight | $2,254,672 | $2,149,672 | 95.3% | $105,000 | 4.7% | 595 | 2 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 5 | 48 Hrs. | $1,872,876 | $1,379,770 | 73.7% | $493,106 | 26.3% | 750 | 15 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 6 | Trenchcoat | $1,397,724 | $1,329,426 | 95.1% | $68,298 | 4.9% | 723 | 2 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | - | false |
| 7 | Sophie's Choice | $1,265,000 | $860,353 | 68% | $404,647 | 32% | 415 | 15 | Universal Pictures | - | false |
| 8 | The Verdict | $1,053,971 | $745,111 | 70.7% | $308,860 | 29.3% | 478 | 15 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 9 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $1,012,354 | $749,925 | 74.1% | $262,429 | 25.9% | 385 | 41 | Universal Pictures | - | false |
| 10 | The Lords of Discipline | $889,837 | $631,390 | 71% | $258,447 | 29% | 454 | 5 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 11 | The Man from Snowy River | $866,346 | $617,558 | 71.3% | $248,788 | 28.7% | 408 | 20 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 12 | The Year of Living Dangerously | $830,857 | $633,623 | 76.3% | $197,234 | 23.7% | 290 | 9 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 13 | My Tutor | $675,310 | $375,310 | 55.6% | $300,000 | 44.4% | 117 | 3 | Crown | - | false |
| - | Vigilante | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | Film Ventures International (FVI) | - | false |
| - | The Postman Always Rings Twice | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| - | Cutter's Way | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| - | Lovesick | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| - | Kelly | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
