| Rank | Release
| Weekly | Weekend | % of Week | Weekdays | % of Week | Theaters | Week | Distributor
| New This Week
| Estimated
|
|---|
| 1 | Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi | $20,666,828 | $11,995,064 | 58% | $8,671,764 | 42% | 1,002 | 4 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 2 | Octopussy | $14,143,013 | $8,902,564 | 63% | $5,240,449 | 37% | 1,311 | 1 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 3 | Trading Places | $13,101,348 | $7,348,200 | 56.1% | $5,753,148 | 43.9% | 1,375 | 1 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 4 | WarGames | $7,566,047 | $4,824,970 | 63.8% | $2,741,077 | 36.2% | 843 | 2 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 5 | Psycho II | $7,005,676 | $4,898,496 | 69.9% | $2,107,180 | 30.1% | 1,488 | 2 | Universal Pictures | - | false |
| 6 | Flashdance | $3,492,602 | $2,105,030 | 60.3% | $1,387,572 | 39.7% | 996 | 9 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 7 | Blue Thunder | $2,869,255 | $1,908,080 | 66.5% | $961,175 | 33.5% | 1,205 | 5 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 8 | The Man with Two Brains | $2,416,973 | $1,611,448 | 66.7% | $805,525 | 33.3% | 1,203 | 2 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 9 | Tootsie | $1,339,121 | $948,251 | 70.8% | $390,870 | 29.2% | 723 | 26 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 10 | My Tutor | $1,207,504 | $509,525 | 42.2% | $697,979 | 57.8% | 302 | 15 | Crown | - | false |
| 11 | Still Smokin | $1,033,862 | $715,806 | 69.2% | $318,056 | 30.8% | 542 | 6 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 12 | Valley Girl | $983,111 | $742,000 | 75.5% | $241,111 | 24.5% | 312 | 7 | Atlantic Releasing Corporation | - | false |
| 13 | Breathless | $982,086 | $798,676 | 81.3% | $183,410 | 18.7% | 681 | 5 | Orion Pictures | - | false |
| - | Herbie Goes Bananas 1981 Re-release | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | - | false |
| - | Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo 1981 Re-release | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | - | false |
| - | Freaky Friday 1981 Re-release | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | - | false |
| - | Clash of the Titans | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| - | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | - | - | - | - | - | - | 53 | Universal Pictures | - | false |
