| Rank | Release
| Genre
| Budget
| Running Time
| Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Release Date | Distributor
| Estimated
|
|---|
| 1 | Good Morning, Vietnam | - | - | - | $79,269,174 | 1,598 | $123,922,370 | Dec 25 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | false |
| 2 | Three Men and a Baby | - | - | - | $54,529,466 | 1,813 | $167,780,960 | Nov 25 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | false |
| 3 | Moonstruck | - | - | - | $41,437,087 | 1,178 | $80,640,528 | Dec 18 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | false |
| 4 | Broadcast News | - | - | - | $24,903,673 | 848 | $51,249,404 | Dec 18 | Twentieth Century Fox | false |
| 5 | Wall Street | - | - | - | $20,022,897 | 989 | $43,848,069 | Dec 11 | Twentieth Century Fox | false |
| 6 | Throw Momma from the Train | - | - | - | $18,889,899 | 1,623 | $57,915,972 | Dec 11 | Orion Pictures | false |
| 7 | Shoot to Kill | - | - | - | $18,111,280 | 1,519 | $29,300,090 | Feb 12 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | false |
| 8 | For Keeps? | - | - | - | $17,514,553 | 959 | $17,514,553 | Jan 15 | TriStar Pictures | false |
| 9 | The Serpent and the Rainbow | - | - | - | $16,933,346 | 1,431 | $19,595,031 | Feb 5 | Universal Pictures | false |
| 10 | Fatal Attraction | - | - | - | $16,428,225 | 1,401 | $156,645,693 | Sep 18 | Paramount Pictures | false |
| 11 | Eddie Murphy: Raw | - | - | - | $15,300,612 | 1,494 | $50,504,655 | Dec 18 | Paramount Pictures | false |
| 12 | Action Jackson | - | - | - | $14,237,128 | 1,249 | $20,256,975 | Feb 12 | Lorimar Motion Pictures | false |
| 13 | She's Having a Baby | - | - | - | $12,806,452 | 1,133 | $16,031,707 | Feb 5 | Paramount Pictures | false |
| 14 | *batteries not included | - | - | - | $12,657,868 | 1,367 | $32,945,797 | Dec 18 | Universal Pictures | false |
| 15 | Overboard | - | - | - | $12,478,887 | 1,135 | $26,713,187 | Dec 18 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | false |
| 16 | The Last Emperor | - | - | - | $12,134,259 | 877 | $43,984,230 | Nov 20 | Columbia Pictures | false |
| 17 | The Couch Trip | - | - | - | $11,005,304 | 1,332 | $11,005,304 | Jan 15 | Lorimar Motion Pictures | false |
| 18 | Empire of the Sun | - | - | - | $9,486,693 | 673 | $22,238,696 | Dec 11 | Warner Bros. | false |
| 19 | Planes, Trains & Automobiles | - | - | - | $9,406,299 | 1,684 | $49,530,280 | Nov 25 | Paramount Pictures | false |
| 20 | Return of the Living Dead II | - | - | - | $9,205,924 | 1,467 | $9,205,924 | Jan 15 | Lorimar Motion Pictures | false |
| 21 | Hope and Glory | - | - | - | $7,227,545 | 328 | $10,021,120 | Oct 16 | Columbia Pictures | false |
| 22 | Dirty Dancing | - | - | - | $7,149,352 | 1,012 | $63,446,382 | Aug 21 | Vestron Pictures | false |
| 23 | Satisfaction | - | - | - | $6,588,044 | 1,018 | $8,253,123 | Feb 12 | Twentieth Century Fox | false |
| 24 | Braddock: Missing in Action III | - | - | - | $6,193,901 | 1,040 | $6,193,901 | Jan 22 | Cannon Film Distributors | false |
| 25 | Frantic | - | - | - | $5,753,683 | 1,101 | $17,637,950 | Feb 26 | Warner Bros. | false |
| 26 | Nuts | - | - | - | $5,366,700 | 1,112 | $30,950,002 | Nov 20 | Warner Bros. | false |
| 27 | Ironweed | - | - | - | $5,191,846 | 600 | $7,393,346 | Dec 18 | TriStar Pictures | false |
| 28 | School Daze | - | - | - | $5,146,030 | 224 | $14,545,844 | Feb 12 | Columbia Pictures | false |
| 29 | Cinderella 1987 Re-release | - | - | - | $3,467,523 | 1,657 | $34,101,149 | Nov 20 | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | false |
| 30 | A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon | - | - | - | $3,247,318 | 882 | $6,264,058 | Feb 26 | Twentieth Century Fox | false |
| 31 | Cry Freedom | - | - | - | $2,923,670 | 479 | $5,899,797 | Nov 6 | Universal Pictures | false |
| 32 | The Running Man | - | - | - | $1,845,199 | 1,694 | $38,122,105 | Nov 13 | TriStar Pictures | false |
| 33 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | - | - | - | $1,735,498 | 140 | $10,006,806 | Feb 5 | Orion Pictures | false |
| 34 | Five Corners | - | - | - | $969,205 | 13 | $969,205 | Jan 22 | Cineplex Odeon Films | false |
| 35 | Hairspray | - | - | - | $808,610 | 227 | $6,671,108 | Feb 26 | New Line Cinema | false |
| 36 | Siesta | - | - | - | $700,000 | 30 | $700,000 | Nov 11 | Lorimar Motion Pictures | false |
| 37 | Bloodsport | - | - | - | $690,524 | 124 | $11,806,119 | Feb 26 | Cannon Film Distributors | false |
| 38 | Aloha Summer | - | - | - | $418,379 | 123 | $418,379 | Feb 26 | - | false |
| 39 | Gandahar | - | - | - | $370,698 | 7 | $370,698 | Jan 29 | Miramax | false |
| 40 | The Family | - | - | - | $346,730 | 1 | $346,730 | Jan 22 | Vestron Pictures | false |
| 41 | Promised Land | - | - | - | $316,199 | 67 | $316,199 | Jan 22 | Vestron Pictures | false |
| 42 | Rent-a-Cop | - | - | - | $295,000 | 193 | $295,000 | Jan 15 | - | false |
| 43 | I've Heard the Mermaids Singing | - | - | - | $211,714 | 27 | $1,408,491 | Sep 11 | Miramax | false |
| 44 | Taffin | - | - | - | $159,969 | 204 | $159,969 | Feb 26 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | false |
| 45 | The in Crowd | - | - | - | $136,567 | 37 | $136,567 | Feb 5 | Orion Pictures | false |
| 46 | The Manchurian Candidate 1988 Re-release | - | - | - | $114,203 | 49 | $2,757,256 | Feb 12 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | false |
| 47 | The Telephone | - | - | - | $99,978 | 50 | $99,978 | Jan 22 | New World Pictures | false |
| 48 | King Lear | - | - | - | $61,821 | 1 | $61,821 | Jan 22 | Cannon Film Distributors | false |
