List of 1988 box office number-one films in the United States

This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 1988.

Number-one films †This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. Weekend end date Film Box office Notes 1 Three Men and a Baby $13,123,622 Buena Vista's biggest weekend of all-time. 2 $8,103,282 3 Good Morning, Vietnam $11,752,913 Good Morning, Vietnam reached No. 1 in its fourth weekend of release after expanding to 785 theatres. 4 $10,806,276 5 $8,260,432 6 $8,564,496 7 4-day weekend $9,011,354 8 $6,883,781 9 $5,232,945 10 $5,141,491 11 $4,369,592 12 Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach $6,106,661 Police Academy 5 was the first non-Buena Vista film at number one for 12 weeks. 13 Biloxi Blues $7,093,325 14 Beetlejuice $8,030,897 15 $8,667,702 16 $7,145,123 17 $6,201,234 18 Colors $6,524,536 Colors reached No. 1 in its third weekend of release. 19 $4,007,400 20 Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood $8,245,038 21 Willow $8,300,169 22 4-day weekend Crocodile Dundee II $24,462,976 Crocodile Dundee II broke National Lampoon's European Vacations record ($12 million) for the highest weekend debut for a comedy film and had the highest weekend debut of 1988. 23 $12,717,140 24 $8,519,246 25 Red Heat $8,133,822 26 Who Framed Roger Rabbit † $11,226,239 Buena Vista's biggest opening weekend beating Three Men and a Baby. 27 4-day weekend Coming to America $21,404,420 Coming to America broke Back to the Futures record ($11.1 million) for the highest Fourth of July weekend debut. 28 $13,342,707 29 $10,417,790 30 Who Framed Roger Rabbit † $8,919,732 Who Framed Roger Rabbit reclaimed #1 in its fifth weekend of release. 31 Cocktail $11,789,466 32 $8,204,479 33 Young Guns $7,011,393 34 A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master $12,833,403 A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was the highest opening for an independent film and broke Friday the 13th: The Final Chapters record ($11.1 million) for highest weekend debut for a slasher film, and also broke Smokey and the Bandit IIs record ($10.8 million) for the highest weekend debut in the month of August. 35 $6,989,358 36 4-day weekend $6,435,710 37 Moon over Parador $3,268,975 38 A Fish Called Wanda $2,555,291 A Fish Called Wanda reached No. 1 in its tenth weekend of release. 39 Dead Ringers $3,012,180 40 Gorillas in the Mist $3,451,230 Gorillas in the Mist reached No. 1 in its second week of release. 41 4-day weekend Alien Nation $8,421,429 42 The Accused $4,316,369 43 Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers $6,831,250 44 $4,510,500 45 They Live $4,827,903 46 Child's Play $6,583,963 47 The Land Before Time $7,526,025 The Land Before Time broke An American Tails record ($5.2 million) for the highest weekend debut for an animated film and for a non-Disney animated film. 48 Scrooged $13,027,842 49 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! $9,331,746 50 Twins $11,174,980 51 $7,781,130 52 $8,958,675 53 Rain Man $14,350,610 Rain Man reached No. 1 in its third weekend of release.

Highest-grossing films

Calendar Gross Highest-grossing films of 1988 by Calendar Gross Rank Title Studio(s) Actor(s) Director(s) Gross 1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit Walt Disney Studios Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye and Joanna Cassidy Robert Zemeckis $156,452,370 2. Coming to America Paramount Pictures Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Madge Sinclair and Shari Headley John Landis $128,152,301 3. Good Morning, Vietnam Walt Disney Studios Robin Williams and Forest Whitaker Barry Levinson $122,231,991 4. Big 20th Century Fox Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia and John Heard Penny Marshall $114,968,774 5. Crocodile Dundee II Paramount Pictures Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski and John Meillon John Cornell $109,306,210 6. Three Men and a Baby Walt Disney Studios Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson Leonard Nimoy $90,528,478 7. Die Hard 20th Century Fox Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Reginald VelJohnson, Hart Bochner, Paul Gleason and Robert Davi John McTiernan $83,008,852 8. Moonstruck Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis and Danny Aiello Norman Jewison $80,034,239 9. Cocktail Walt Disney Studios Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue Roger Donaldson $78,222,753 10. Beetlejuice Warner Bros. Pictures Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton Tim Burton $73,707,461

In-Year Release + Highest-grossing films of 1988 by In-year release Rank Title Distributor Domestic gross 1. Rain Man Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $172,825,435 2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit Disney $156,452,370 3. Coming to America Paramount $128,152,301 4. Big 20th Century Fox $114,968,774 5. Twins Universal $111,938,388 6. Crocodile Dundee II Paramount $109,306,210 7. Die Hard 20th Century Fox $83,008,852 8. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! Paramount $78,756,177 9. Cocktail Disney $78,222,753 10. Beetlejuice Warner Bros. $73,707,461

+ Highest-grossing films by MPAA rating of 1988 G Oliver & Company PG Who Framed Roger Rabbit PG-13 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! R Rain Man

See also List of American films — American films by year Lists of box office number-one films

References

Chronology