1988 Top-Grossing Domestic Movies

This chart ranks movies by their total cumulative Domestic box office earnings for movies released in 1988. Each movie is ranked by its total gross across all years it played, not just earnings during 1988.

To see the top-grossing movies that earned money during 1988 (including movies released in previous years), click the “Earned in 1988” button above.

Worldwide Domestic International

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Earned in 1988

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Rank	Movie	Release Date	Distributor	Genre	1988 Domestic Gross	Tickets Sold
1	Rain Man	Dec 16, 1988	MGM	Comedy	$172,825,435	42,969,432
2	Who Framed Roger Rabbit?	Jun 22, 1988	Walt Disney	Comedy	$154,112,492	37,514,838
3	Coming to America	Jun 29, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$128,152,301	31,180,608
4	Big	Jun 3, 1988	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$114,968,774	27,990,599
5	Twins	Dec 9, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$111,936,388	27,519,324
6	Crocodile Dundee 2	May 25, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Action	$109,306,210	26,595,184
7	Die Hard	Jul 15, 1988	20th Century Fox	Action	$85,892,546	20,495,612
8	Cocktail	Jul 29, 1988	Walt Disney	Drama	$78,222,753	19,032,300
9	The Naked Gun: From the Files…	Dec 2, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$78,041,829	19,156,966
10	Beetlejuice	Mar 30, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$77,475,359	18,652,288
11	Oliver & Company	Nov 18, 1988	Walt Disney	Adventure	$74,151,346	18,109,073
12	Working Girl	Dec 20, 1988	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$63,800,000	15,852,222
13	A Fish Called Wanda	Jul 15, 1988	MGM	Comedy	$63,493,000	15,448,418
14	Scrooged	Nov 23, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Comedy	$59,450,353	14,497,981
15	Willow	May 20, 1988	Sony Pictures	Adventure	$57,269,863	13,934,273
16	Beaches	Dec 21, 1988	Walt Disney	Drama	$57,041,866	14,280,161
17	Rambo III	May 25, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Action	$53,715,611	13,069,491
18	Bull Durham	Jun 15, 1988	Orion Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$50,888,729	12,381,685
19	A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: …	Aug 19, 1988	New Line	Horror	$49,369,899	12,012,140
20	The Land Before Time	Nov 18, 1988	Universal	Adventure	$48,578,636	11,819,491
21	Colors	Apr 15, 1988	Orion Pictures	Action	$46,616,067	11,342,108
22	Young Guns	Aug 12, 1988	20th Century Fox	Western	$44,726,644	10,882,395
23	Biloxi Blues	Mar 25, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$43,184,798	10,507,250
24	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Dec 14, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$42,039,000	10,332,017
25	The Great Outdoors	Jun 17, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$41,455,230	10,086,430
26	Big Business	Jun 10, 1988	Walt Disney	Comedy	$40,150,487	9,768,974
27	Tequila Sunrise	Dec 2, 1988	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$39,703,427	9,729,573
28	Midnight Run	Jul 20, 1988	Universal	Action	$38,413,606	9,346,376
29	The Dead Pool	Jul 13, 1988	Warner Bros.	Action	$37,903,000	9,222,141
30	Red Heat	Jun 17, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Action	$34,994,648	8,514,512
31	Dangerous Liaisons	Dec 21, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$34,700,000	8,681,841
32	Mississippi Burning	Dec 9, 1988	Orion Pictures	Drama	$34,603,000	8,552,802
33	Child’s Play	Nov 9, 1988	United Artists	Horror	$33,244,684	8,121,706
34	The Accidental Tourist	Dec 23, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$32,632,000	8,115,411
35	The Accused	Oct 14, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$32,078,318	7,804,943
36	Shoot to Kill	Feb 12, 1988	Walt Disney	Action	$29,300,000	7,128,953
37	Ernest Saves Christmas	Nov 11, 1988	Walt Disney	Comedy	$28,202,109	6,861,827
38	Betrayed	Aug 26, 1988	United Artists	Thriller/Suspense	$25,816,139	6,281,299
39	Funny Farm	Jun 3, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$25,537,221	6,213,435
40	Alien Nation	Oct 7, 1988	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$25,216,243	6,135,338
41	Gorillas in the Mist	Sep 23, 1988	Universal	Drama	$24,720,479	6,014,715
42	License to Drive	Jul 6, 1988	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$22,434,275	5,458,461
43	Married to the Mob	Aug 19, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$21,486,757	5,227,921
44	Punchline	Sep 30, 1988	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$21,032,000	5,117,274
45	Short Circuit 2	Jul 6, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Comedy	$20,882,000	5,080,778
46	Action Jackson	Feb 12, 1988	Lorimar Motion Pi…	Action	$20,257,000	4,907,938
47	The Presidio	Jun 10, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Thriller/Suspense	$20,036,000	4,874,939
48	Tucker: The Man and His Dream	Aug 12, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Drama	$19,657,565	4,003,570
49	The Serpent and the Rainbow	Feb 5, 1988	Universal	Horror	$19,595,000	4,767,639
50	Police Academy 5: Assignment:…	Mar 18, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$19,510,000	4,746,958
51	Friday the 13th Part VII: The…	May 13, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Horror	$19,170,001	4,664,233
52	Cocoon: The Return	Nov 23, 1988	20th Century Fox	Adventure	$18,924,919	4,648,532
53	The Seventh Sign	Apr 1, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Horror	$18,875,011	4,592,460
54	Above the Law	Apr 8, 1988	Warner Bros.	Action	$18,869,631	4,591,151
55	Halloween 4: The Return of Mi…	Oct 1, 1988	Galaxy Internatio…	Horror	$17,768,757	4,323,298
56	Frantic	Feb 26, 1988	Warner Bros.	Thriller/Suspense	$17,637,000	4,291,240
57	Johnny Be Good	Mar 25, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$17,500,399	4,258,004
58	For Keeps?	Jan 15, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Drama	$17,000,000	4,136,253
59	Crossing Delancey	Aug 24, 1988	Warner Bros.	Romantic Comedy	$16,262,000	3,989,932
60	Bright Lights, Big City	Apr 1, 1988	United Artists	Drama	$16,118,077	3,921,673
61	She's Having a Baby	Feb 5, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$16,031,707	3,900,658
62	Masquerade	Mar 11, 1988	MGM	Thriller/Suspense	$15,855,828	3,857,865
63	Big Top Pee-Wee	Jul 22, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Adventure	$15,122,324	3,679,397
64	Arthur 2: On the Rocks	Jul 8, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$14,681,192	3,572,066
65	School Daze	Feb 12, 1988	Sony Pictures	Drama	$14,545,844	3,539,134
66	Poltergeist III	Jun 10, 1988	MGM	Horror	$14,114,000	3,434,063
67	Stand and Deliver	Apr 1, 1988		Drama	$13,994,920	3,405,090
68	My Stepmother Is an Alien	Dec 9, 1988	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$13,854,000	3,434,284
69	The Milagro Beanfield War	Mar 18, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$13,825,794	3,363,940
70	Return to Snowy River	Apr 15, 1988	Walt Disney	Western	$13,687,027	3,330,176
71	Vice Versa	Mar 11, 1988	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$13,664,060	3,324,588
72	I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	Dec 14, 1988	MGM/UA Classics	Comedy	$13,030,057	3,222,406
73	They Live	Nov 4, 1988	Universal	Thriller/Suspense	$13,000,000	3,205,322
74	Mystic Pizza	Oct 21, 1988	Samuel Goldwyn Fi…	Comedy	$12,793,213	3,134,138
75	D.O.A.	Mar 18, 1988	Walt Disney	Thriller/Suspense	$12,706,478	3,091,600
76	Everybody’s All-American	Nov 4, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$12,638,294	3,075,010
77	Casual Sex?	Apr 22, 1988	Universal	Comedy	$12,277,096	2,987,127
78	Bloodsport	Feb 26, 1988	Cannon	Action	$11,806,119	2,872,535
79	Caddyshack II	Jul 22, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$11,798,302	2,870,633
80	Hellbound: Hellraiser II	Dec 23, 1988	New World	Horror	$11,611,883	2,855,932
81	Moon Over Parador	Sep 9, 1988	Universal	Romantic Comedy	$11,444,204	2,784,477
82	The Couch Trip	Jan 15, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$11,005,304	2,677,689
83	Moving	Mar 4, 1988	Warner Bros.	Comedy	$10,815,378	2,631,478
84	Shakedown	May 6, 1988	Universal	Action	$10,068,039	2,449,644
85	The Unbearable Lightness of B…	Feb 5, 1988	Orion Pictures	Drama	$10,006,000	2,434,549
86	Iron Eagle II	Nov 11, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Action	$10,000,000	2,433,090
87	Return of the Living Dead Par…	Jan 15, 1988	Lorimar Motion Pi…	Horror	$9,205,924	2,239,884
88	Dead Ringers	Sep 23, 1988	20th Century Fox	Thriller/Suspense	$9,134,733	2,222,562
89	Bad Dreams	Apr 8, 1988	20th Century Fox	Horror	$9,000,000	2,189,781
90	Switching Channels	Mar 4, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Comedy	$9,000,000	2,189,781
91	Clean and Sober	Aug 10, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$8,674,093	2,110,484
92	U2: Rattle and Hum	Nov 4, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Concert/Performance	$8,600,823	2,092,657
93	High Spirits	Nov 18, 1988	Sony Pictures	Comedy	$8,578,231	2,087,160
94	The Last Temptation of Christ	Aug 12, 1988	Universal	Drama	$8,373,585	2,037,368
95	Satisfaction	Feb 12, 1988	20th Century Fox	Comedy	$8,253,123	2,008,059
96	The Blob	Aug 5, 1988	Sony/TriStar	Horror	$8,247,943	2,006,798
97	Without a Clue	Oct 21, 1988	Orion Pictures	Comedy	$8,000,000	1,946,472
98	Salsa	May 6, 1988	Cannon	Drama	$8,000,000	1,946,472
99	A New Life	Mar 25, 1988	Paramount Pictures	Romantic Comedy	$7,721,851	1,878,795
100	Stealing Home	Aug 26, 1988	Warner Bros.	Drama	$7,467,504	1,816,910