# List of 1986 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 1986.

## Number-one films

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Weekend end date | Film | Box office | Notes |
| 1 | January 5, 1986 | Rocky IV | $7,147,074 | |
| 2 | January 12, 1986 | Out of Africa | $5,137,370 | Out of Africa reached number 1 in its fourth weekend of release. |
| 3 | January 19, 1986 | Iron Eagle | $6,104,754 | |
| 4 | January 26, 1986 | The Color Purple | $4,412,456 | The Color Purple reached number 1 in its seventh weekend of release. |
| 5 | February 2, 1986 | Down and Out in Beverly Hills | $5,726,495 | |
| 6 | February 9, 1986 | Down and Out in Beverly Hills | $6,112,115 | |
| 7 | February 17, 1986$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Down and Out in Beverly Hills | $7,023,743 | |
| 8 | February 23, 1986 | Down and Out in Beverly Hills | $5,042,912 | |
| 9 | March 2, 1986 | Pretty in Pink | $6,065,870 | |
| 10 | March 9, 1986 | Pretty in Pink | $4,919,668 | |
| 11 | March 16, 1986 | Gung Ho | $7,170,830 | |
| 12 | March 23, 1986 | Police Academy 3: Back in Training | $9,049,586 | |
| 13 | March 30, 1986 | Police Academy 3: Back in Training | $5,750,986 | |
| 14 | April 6, 1986 | Police Academy 3: Back in Training | $5,089,751 | |
| 15 | April 13, 1986 | The Money Pit | $3,646,200 | The Money Pit reached number 1 in its third weekend of release. |
| 16 | April 20, 1986 | Legend | $4,261,154 | |
| 17 | April 27, 1986 | Legend | $2,591,751 | |
| 18 | May 4, 1986 | Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling | $4,879,107 | |
| 19 | May 11, 1986 | Short Circuit | $5,346,808 | Independent sources suggested that the film only grossed between $4.5 to $4.725 million. |
| 20 | May 18, 1986 | Top Gun † | $8,193,052 | |
| 21 | May 26, 1986$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Cobra | $15,652,147 | Cobra broke Superman II's record ($14.1 million) for highest weekend debut for a Warner Bros. film. |
| 22 | June 1, 1986 | Cobra | $7,511,542 | |
| 23 | June 8, 1986 | Top Gun † | $8,231,279 | Top Gun reclaimed number 1 in fourth weekend of release. |
| 24 | June 15, 1986 | Back to School | $8,881,035 | |
| 25 | June 22, 1986 | The Karate Kid Part II | $12,652,336 | |
| 26 | June 29, 1986 | The Karate Kid Part II | $8,870,625 | |
| 27 | July 6, 1986 | The Karate Kid Part II | $6,284,953 | |
| 28 | July 13, 1986 | The Karate Kid Part II | $6,667,787 | |
| 29 | July 20, 1986 | Aliens | $10,052,042 | Aliens broke Halloween II's record ($7.67 million) for highest weekend debut for a film featuring a female protagonist. |
| 30 | July 27, 1986 | Aliens | $8,640,292 | |
| 31 | August 3, 1986 | Aliens | $7,060,101 | Initial estimates had Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives ahead of Aliens. |
| 32 | August 10, 1986 | Aliens | $5,779,352 | |
| 33 | August 17, 1986 | The Fly | $7,007,423 | |
| 34 | August 24, 1986 | The Fly | $4,725,970 | |
| 35 | September 1, 1986$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Stand by Me | $5,037,343 | Stand by Me reached number 1 in its second weekend of release. |
| 36 | September 7, 1986 | Stand by Me | $3,426,615 | |
| 37 | September 14, 1986 | Stand by Me | $3,010,922 | |
| 38 | September 21, 1986 | Top Gun † | $3,292,817 | Top Gun reclaimed number 1 in its nineteenth week of release, with the 14 week gap since it was last number one, the longest gap for a film since 1982. |
| 39 | September 28, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $8,038,855 | Crocodile Dundee set the record for highest-grossing weekend in September. |
| 40 | October 5, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $8,207,503 | |
| 41 | October 13, 1986$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Crocodile Dundee | $10,560,827 | |
| 42 | October 19, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $7,434,202 | |
| 43 | October 26, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $6,745,249 | |
| 44 | November 2, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $5,716,215 | |
| 45 | November 9, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $6,392,661 | |
| 46 | November 16, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $5,521,551 | |
| 47 | November 23, 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | $5,537,875 | In second place, An American Tail's opening ($5.2 million) broke The Fox and the Hound's record ($4.2 million) for the highest weekend debut for an animated film and The Care Bears Movie's record ($3.7 million) for the highest weekend debut for a non-Disney animated film. |
| 48 | November 30, 1986 | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | $16,881,888 | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home had the highest weekend debut of 1986. |
| 49 | December 7, 1986 | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | $8,833,818 | |
| 50 | December 14, 1986 | The Golden Child | $11,549,711 | |
| 51 | December 21, 1986 | The Golden Child | $7,877,899 | |
| 52 | December 28, 1986 | The Golden Child | $10,118,277 | |

## Highest-grossing films
### Calendar Gross

Highest-grossing films of 1986 by Calendar Gross
| Rank | Title | Studio(s) | Actor(s) | Director(s) | Gross |
| 1. | Top Gun | Paramount Pictures | Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Tom Skerritt | Tony Scott | $176,781,728 |
| 2. | Crocodile Dundee | Paramount Pictures | Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Blum, David Gulpilil, Michael Lombard and John Meillon | Peter Faiman | $116,849,307 |
| 3. | The Karate Kid Part II | Columbia Pictures | Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Tamlyn Tomita and Yuji Okumoto | John G. Avildsen | $115,103,979 |
| 4. | Back to School | Orion Pictures | Rodney Dangerfield, Keith Gordon, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Terry Farrell, William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Sam Kinison, Paxton Whitehead, Robert Downey Jr., M. Emmet Walsh and Adrienne Barbeau | Alan Metter | $91,258,000 |
| 5. | Aliens | 20th Century Fox | Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein and Lance Henriksen | James Cameron | $85,160,248 |
| 6. | The Color Purple | Warner Bros. | Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Margaret Avery and Rae Dawn Chong | Steven Spielberg | $83,993,103 |
| 7. | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Paramount Pictures | William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and Catherine Hicks | Leonard Nimoy | $72,742,016 |
| 8. | Ruthless People | Buena Vista Distribution | Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Bette Midler, Anita Morris and Bill Pullman | Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker | $70,788,212 |
| 9. | Out of Africa | Universal Pictures | Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Klaus Maria Brandauer | Sydney Pollack | $70,365,426 |
| 10. | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | Paramount Pictures | Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck, Jennifer Grey, Jeffrey Jones, Cindy Pickett, Edie McClurg, Lyman Ward and Charlie Sheen | John Hughes | $70,136,369 |

### In-Year Release

Highest-grossing films of 1986 by In-year release :
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic gross |
| 1. | Top Gun | Paramount | $176,781,728 |
| 2. | Crocodile Dundee | Paramount | $174,803,506 |
| 3. | Platoon | Orion | $138,530,565 |
| 4. | The Karate Kid Part II | Columbia | $115,103,979 |
| 5. | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Paramount | $109,713,132 |
| 6. | Back to School | Orion | $91,258,000 |
| 7. | Aliens | 20th Century Fox | $85,160,248 |
| 8. | The Golden Child | Paramount | $79,817,937 |
| 9. | Ruthless People | Disney | $71,624,879 |
| 10. | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | Paramount | $70,136,369 |
Highest-grossing films by MPAA rating of 1986 :
| G | An American Tail |
| PG | Top Gun |
| PG-13 | Crocodile Dundee |
| R | Platoon |