| Rank | Release
| Weekly | Weekend | % of Week | Weekdays | % of Week | Theaters | Week | Distributor
| New This Week
| Estimated
|
|---|
| 1 | Ghostbusters | $4,364,234 | $3,457,626 | 79.2% | $906,608 | 20.8% | 1,437 | 15 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 2 | Tightrope | $4,255,493 | $3,329,118 | 78.2% | $926,375 | 21.8% | 1,377 | 5 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 3 | Purple Rain | $3,353,959 | $2,474,970 | 73.8% | $878,989 | 26.2% | 1,019 | 8 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 4 | The Karate Kid | $2,975,412 | $2,210,145 | 74.3% | $765,267 | 25.7% | 1,086 | 13 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 5 | The Woman in Red | $2,779,750 | $2,132,776 | 76.7% | $646,974 | 23.3% | 1,005 | 5 | Orion Pictures | - | false |
| 6 | Revenge of the Nerds | $2,532,429 | $1,984,597 | 78.4% | $547,832 | 21.6% | 908 | 9 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 7 | Ninja III: The Domination | $2,257,127 | $1,727,546 | 76.5% | $529,581 | 23.5% | 530 | 1 | Cannon Film Distributors | - | false |
| 8 | Red Dawn | $1,930,825 | $1,503,784 | 77.9% | $427,041 | 22.1% | 960 | 6 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| 9 | Gremlins | $1,824,490 | $1,441,837 | 79% | $382,653 | 21% | 1,016 | 15 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
| 10 | Exterminator 2 | $1,550,183 | $1,204,197 | 77.7% | $345,986 | 22.3% | 535 | 1 | Cannon Film Distributors | - | false |
| 11 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | $1,377,820 | $1,065,032 | 77.3% | $312,788 | 22.7% | 666 | 18 | Paramount Pictures | - | false |
| 12 | Dreamscape | $986,644 | $753,661 | 76.4% | $232,983 | 23.6% | 509 | 5 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| 13 | A Soldier's Story | $251,254 | $156,383 | 62.2% | $94,871 | 37.8% | 5 | 1 | Columbia Pictures | - | false |
| 14 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | $171,688 | $126,558 | 73.7% | $45,130 | 26.3% | 60 | 6 | Twentieth Century Fox | - | false |
| - | Bolero | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | Cannon Film Distributors | - | false |
| - | Oxford Blues | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | - | false |
| - | C.H.U.D. | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | New World Pictures | - | false |
| - | Flashpoint | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | TriStar Pictures | - | false |
| - | The Warrior and the Sorceress | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | New World Pictures | - | false |
| - | Hammett | - | - | - | - | - | - | 105 | Warner Bros. | - | false |
