This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 1983.
Number-one films †This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. Weekend end date Film Gross Notes 1 Tootsie $10,553,448 2 $9,487,210 3 $8,407,104 4 $7,325,537 5 $6,523,267 6 $4,747,425 7 4-day weekend $7,524,261 8 $5,236,117 9 $4,349,058 10 $4,044,440 11 High Road to China $6,156,049 12 Spring Break $5,908,574 13 $4,448,821 14 Tootsie $3,430,963 Tootsie reclaimed #1 in seventeenth weekend of release and became Columbia Pictures highest-grossing film in the US and Canada, surpassing Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 15 Lone Wolf McQuade $4,295,300 16 Flashdance $4,085,494 Flashdance reached No. 1 in its second weekend of release. 17 $4,095,000 18 $3,385,578 19 Blue Thunder $8,258,149 20 Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone $7,053,016 21 4-day weekend Return of the Jedi † $30,490,619 Return of the Jedi had the highest weekend of all-time beating E.T. the Extra-Terrestrials 4th weekend gross of $17.3 million, Rocky IIIs 4-day opening weekend gross of $16.0 million and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khans 3-day opening weekend gross of $14.3 million. 22 $17,229,694 Return of the Jedi also claimed the record for highest second weekend beating E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. 23 $11,995,064 24 Superman III $13,352,357 25 Return of the Jedi † $11,127,915 Return of the Jedi reclaimed #1 in fifth weekend of release. 26 4-day weekend $12,038,626 27 $7,337,926 28 Staying Alive $12,146,143 29 Jaws 3-D $13,422,500 Jaws 3-D broke Friday the 13th Part IIIs ($9.40 million) record for highest weekend debut for a 3-D film. 30 National Lampoon's Vacation $8,333,358 31 $7,191,832 32 $6,161,649 33 Easy Money $5,844,974 34 Mr. Mom $6,445,106 Mr. Mom reached No. 1 in its second weekend of release. 35 4-day weekend $8,221,715 36 $4,686,652 37 $3,860,064 38 $3,207,199 39 The Big Chill $3,662,152 40 4-day weekend Never Say Never Again $10,958,157 Never Say Never Again sets a record weekend debut for October over the Columbus Day weekend. 41 $7,233,884 42 $6,011,610 43 $3,781,141 44 Deal of the Century $3,520,605 45 The Big Chill $2,929,243 The Big Chill reclaimed #1 in seventh weekend of release. 46 Amityville 3-D $2,366,472 47 A Christmas Story $3,935,944 A Christmas Story reached No. 1 in its second weekend of release. 48 Terms of Endearment $3,125,453 Terms of Endearment reached No. 1 in its second weekend of release. 49 Sudden Impact $9,688,561 50 $7,143,953 51 4-day weekend $5,957,766 52 4-day weekend Terms of Endearment $9,058,537 Terms of Endearment reclaimed #1 in sixth weekend of release.
Highest-grossing films
Calendar Gross Highest-grossing films of 1983 by Calendar Gross Rank Title Studio(s) Actor(s) Director(s) Gross 1. Return of the Jedi 20th Century Fox Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew and Frank Oz Richard Marquand $247,371,242 2. Tootsie Columbia Pictures Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman and Charles Durning Sydney Pollack $146,259,321 3. FlashdanceParamount Pictures Jennifer Beals and Michael Nouri Adrian Lyne $92,921,203 4. Trading Places Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis John Landis $90,404,800 5. WarGamesUnited Artists Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy John Badham $79,567,667 6. Octopussy Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Kristina Wayborn, Kabir Bedi and Steven Berkoff John Glen $67,893,619 7. Staying Alive Paramount Pictures John Travolta, Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes and Steve Inwood Sylvester Stallone $64,892,670 8. Risky Business Warner Bros. Pictures Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay Paul Brickman $63,541,777 9. Mr. Mom 20th Century Fox Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Martin Mull, Ann Jillian and Christopher Lloyd Stan Dragoti $63,090,965 10. National Lampoon's VacationWarner Bros. Pictures Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, John Candy and Christie Brinkley Harold Ramis $61,399,552
In-Year Release + Highest-grossing films of 1983 by In-year release Rank Title Distributor Domestic gross 1. Return of the Jedi 20th Century Fox $309,306,177 2. Terms of Endearment Paramount $108,423,489 3. Flashdance $92,921,203 4. Trading Places $90,404,800 5. WarGames United Artists $79,567,667 6. Octopussy $67,893,619 7. Sudden Impact Warner Bros. $67,642,693 8. Staying Alive Paramount $64,892,670 9. Mr. Mom 20th Century Fox $64,783,827 10. Risky Business Warner Bros. $63,541,777
+ Highest-grossing films by MPAA rating of 1983 G Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1983 Re-issue) PG Return of the Jedi R Flashdance
See also List of American films — American films by year Lists of box office number-one films
References
Chronology