| Rank | LW | Release
| Gross | %± LW | Theaters | Change | Average | Total Gross | Weeks | Distributor
| New This Week
| Estimated
|
|---|
| 1 | 3 | A Christmas Story | $3,935,944 | +89.9% | 938 | +52 | $4,196 | $7,291,703 | 2 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | false | false |
| 2 | - | Terms of Endearment | $3,498,813 | - | 260 | - | $13,456 | $4,590,002 | 1 | Paramount Pictures | true | false |
| 3 | 2 | The Big Chill | $2,933,954 | +33.1% | 825 | -1 | $3,556 | $36,151,051 | 9 | Columbia Pictures | false | false |
| 4 | 4 | Never Say Never Again | $2,543,403 | +37.8% | 1,087 | +42 | $2,339 | $48,475,107 | 8 | Warner Bros. | false | false |
| 5 | 1 | Amityville 3-D | $1,862,750 | -21.3% | 1,253 | -1 | $1,486 | $5,321,183 | 2 | Orion Pictures | false | false |
| 6 | 8 | The Smurfs and the Magic Flute | $1,640,979 | +39% | 243 | +60 | $6,753 | $3,389,659 | 8 | Atlantic Releasing Corporation | false | false |
| 7 | 6 | All the Right Moves | $1,470,622 | -1.5% | 807 | -16 | $1,822 | $14,939,694 | 6 | Twentieth Century Fox | false | false |
| 8 | 5 | A Night in Heaven | $1,345,447 | -26.7% | 893 | -8 | $1,506 | $4,089,455 | 2 | Twentieth Century Fox | false | false |
| 9 | 11 | The Right Stuff | $1,190,368 | +28.3% | 233 | +4 | $5,108 | $10,493,765 | 6 | Warner Bros. | false | false |
| 10 | 7 | Richard Pryor... Here and Now | $1,150,063 | -8.9% | 658 | -133 | $1,747 | $15,393,207 | 5 | Columbia Pictures | false | false |
| 11 | 13 | Educating Rita | $1,082,353 | +26.8% | 391 | +23 | $2,768 | $7,828,841 | 10 | Columbia Pictures | false | false |
| 12 | 12 | The Golden Seal | $1,072,275 | +16.5% | 435 | +17 | $2,465 | $5,789,390 | 15 | The Samuel Goldwyn Company | false | false |
| 13 | 10 | The Dead Zone | $1,023,837 | +2% | 688 | -12 | $1,488 | $18,248,950 | 6 | Paramount Pictures | false | false |
| 14 | - | Of Unknown Origin | $540,446 | - | 199 | - | $2,715 | $712,127 | 1 | Warner Bros. | true | false |
| 15 | 14 | Savage Islands | $481,082 | -41% | 585 | -340 | $822 | $1,643,022 | 2 | Paramount Pictures | false | false |
| 16 | 15 | Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi | $365,356 | +40.9% | 103 | -18 | $3,547 | $243,994,526 | 27 | Twentieth Century Fox | false | false |
