| Rank | Release
| Weekly | Weekend | % of Week | Weekdays | % of Week | Theaters | Week | Distributor
| New This Week
| Estimated
|
|---|
| 1 | Tightrope | $5,260,365 | $4,018,355 | 76.4% | $1,242,010 | 23.6% | 1,474 | 4 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 2 | Ghostbusters | $4,705,905 | $3,666,200 | 77.9% | $1,039,705 | 22.1% | 1,435 | 14 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 3 | Purple Rain | $3,486,473 | $2,555,084 | 73.3% | $931,389 | 26.7% | 1,022 | 7 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 4 | The Woman in Red | $3,162,897 | $2,440,930 | 77.2% | $721,967 | 22.8% | 1,032 | 4 | Orion Pictures | - | false |
| 5 | The Karate Kid | $2,875,481 | $2,459,536 | 85.5% | $415,945 | 14.5% | 1,070 | 12 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 6 | Revenge of the Nerds | $2,833,444 | $2,188,176 | 77.2% | $645,268 | 22.8% | 945 | 8 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 7 | Red Dawn | $2,487,857 | $1,875,167 | 75.4% | $612,690 | 24.6% | 1,066 | 5 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 8 | Bolero | $2,249,108 | $1,795,225 | 79.8% | $453,883 | 20.2% | 915 | 2 | Cannon Film Distributors | - | false |
| 9 | Gremlins | $2,062,434 | $1,612,793 | 78.2% | $449,641 | 21.8% | 1,050 | 14 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 10 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | $1,509,458 | $1,136,221 | 75.3% | $373,237 | 24.7% | 686 | 17 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 11 | Dreamscape | $1,274,868 | $968,112 | 75.9% | $306,756 | 24.1% | 567 | 4 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 12 | Oxford Blues | $1,247,883 | $982,049 | 78.7% | $265,834 | 21.3% | 632 | 3 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 13 | Flashpoint | $1,147,319 | $972,405 | 84.8% | $174,914 | 15.2% | 938 | 2 | TriStar Pictures | - | false |
| 14 | C.H.U.D. | $981,560 | $834,465 | 85% | $147,095 | 15% | 297 | 2 | New World Pictures | - | false |
| 15 | The Warrior and the Sorceress | $958,425 | $574,210 | 59.9% | $384,215 | 40.1% | 238 | 1 | New World Pictures | - | false |
| 16 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | $156,454 | $110,963 | 70.9% | $45,491 | 29.1% | 50 | 5 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| - | Endangered Species | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
