# List of 1981 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 1981.

## Number-one films

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Week ending | Film | Gross | Notes |
| 1 | January 4, 1981 | 9 to 5 | $7,111,919 | |
| 2 | January 11, 1981 | 9 to 5 | $6,388,982 | |
| 3 | January 18, 1981 | 9 to 5 | $6,014,902 | |
| 4 | January 25, 1981 | Stir Crazy | TBD | |
| 5 | February 1, 1981 | The Incredible Shrinking Woman | $4,279,264 | |
| 6 | February 8, 1981 | Fort Apache, The Bronx | $4,565,000 | |
| 7 | February 15, 1981 | Fort Apache, The Bronx | $4,000,000 | |
| 8 | February 22, 1981 | Fort Apache, The Bronx | TBD | |
| 9 | March 1, 1981 | Fort Apache, The Bronx | TBD | |
| 10 | March 8, 1981 | Fort Apache, The Bronx | TBD | |
| 11 | March 15, 1981 | Back Roads | $3,046,339 | |
| 12 | March 22, 1981 | Omen III: The Final Conflict | $5,571,675 | |
| 13 | March 29, 1981 | Omen III: The Final Conflict | TBD | |
| 14 | April 5, 1981 | Hardly Working | $4,160,193 | |
| 15 | April 12, 1981 | Star Wars (reissue) | $6,549,751 | |
| 16 | April 19, 1981 | Star Wars (reissue) | $4,564,616 | |
| 17 | April 26, 1981 | Excalibur | $3,144,818 | |
| 18 | May 3, 1981 | Friday the 13th Part 2 | $6,420,784 | |
| 19 | May 10, 1981 | Friday the 13th Part 2 | TBD | |
| 20 | May 17, 1981 | Happy Birthday to Me | $3,712,597 | |
| 21 | May 25, 1981$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Bustin' Loose | $6,622,753 | |
| 22 | May 31, 1981 | The Four Seasons | $4,355,238 | |
| 23 | June 7, 1981 | Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams | $8,153,738 | |
| 24 | June 14, 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $8,305,823 | |
| 25 | June 21, 1981 | Superman II | $14,100,523 | Superman II had the highest weekend debut of all-time beating the record of $11.9 million set by Star Trek: The Motion Picture. |
| 26 | June 28, 1981 | Superman II | $10,765,687 | Superman II becomes the first film to have more than one weekend with a gross over $10 million. |
| 27 | July 5, 1981 | Superman II | $10,905,892 | |
| 28 | July 12, 1981 | Superman II | $6,745,678 | |
| 29 | July 19, 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $6,450,189 | Raiders of the Lost Ark reclaimed number 1 in its sixth weekend of release. |
| 30 | July 26, 1981 | Tarzan, the Ape Man | $6,700,809 | |
| 31 | August 2, 1981 | The Empire Strikes Back (reissue) | $7,001,282 | |
| 32 | August 9, 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $4,046,228 | Raiders of the Lost Ark reclaimed number 1 in its ninth weekend of release. |
| 33 | August 16, 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $5,157,432 | |
| 34 | August 23, 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $4,183,784 | |
| 35 | August 30, 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $3,909,879 | |
| 36 | September 7, 1981$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $5,406,403 | |
| 37 | September 13, 1981 | Arthur | $3,002,255 | |
| 38 | September 20, 1981 | Continental Divide | $3,218,347 | |
| 39 | September 27, 1981 | Mommie Dearest | $4,667,761 | |
| 40 | October 4, 1981 | Paternity | $3,610,147 | |
| 41 | October 11, 1981 | Paternity | $3,227,174 | |
| 42 | October 18, 1981 | Paternity | $2,442,503 | |
| 43 | October 25, 1981 | The French Lieutenant's Woman | TBD | |
| 44 | November 1, 1981 | Halloween II | $7,676,836 | |
| 45 | November 8, 1981 | Time Bandits | $6,507,356 | |
| 46 | November 15, 1981 | Time Bandits | $5,336,032 | |
| 47 | November 22, 1981 | Time Bandits | $3,700,000 | |
| 48 | November 29, 1981 | Time Bandits | $5,000,000 | |
| 49 | December 6, 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark † | $2,441,000 | Raiders of the Lost Ark reclaimed number 1 in its 26th weekend of release. |
| 50 | December 13, 1981 | Rollover | $2,260,889 | |
| 51 | December 20, 1981 | Neighbors | $6,481,386 | |
| 52 | December 27, 1981 | Neighbors | $5,821,835 | |

## Highest-grossing films

The top ten films released in 1981 by box office gross in the United States and Canada are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1981 based on year of release :
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic gross |
| 1 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Paramount | $212,222,025 |
| 2 | On Golden Pond | Universal | $119,285,432 |
| 3 | Superman II | Warner Bros. | $108,185,706 |
| 4 | Arthur | Warner Bros. | $95,461,682 |
| 5 | Stripes | Columbia | $85,297,000 |
| 6 | The Cannonball Run | 20th Century Fox | $72,179,579 |
| 7 | Chariots of Fire | Warner Bros. | $58,972,904 |
| 8 | For Your Eyes Only | United Artists | $54,812,802 |
| 9 | The Four Seasons | Universal | $50,427,646 |
| 10 | Time Bandits | Embassy | $42,365,581 |