# 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 | January 3, 1988 | Three Men and a Baby | $13,123,622 | Buena Vista's biggest weekend of all-time. |
| 2 | January 10, 1988 | Three Men and a Baby | $8,103,282 | |
| 3 | January 17, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $11,752,913 | Good Morning, Vietnam reached No. 1 in its fourth weekend of release after expanding to 785 theatres. |
| 4 | January 24, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $10,806,276 | |
| 5 | January 31, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $8,260,432 | |
| 6 | February 7, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $8,564,496 | |
| 7 | February 15, 1988$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Good Morning, Vietnam | $9,011,354 | |
| 8 | February 21, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $6,883,781 | |
| 9 | February 28, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $5,232,945 | |
| 10 | March 6, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $5,141,491 | |
| 11 | March 13, 1988 | Good Morning, Vietnam | $4,369,592 | |
| 12 | March 20, 1988 | 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 | March 27, 1988 | Biloxi Blues | $7,093,325 | |
| 14 | April 3, 1988 | Beetlejuice | $8,030,897 | |
| 15 | April 10, 1988 | Beetlejuice | $8,667,702 | |
| 16 | April 17, 1988 | Beetlejuice | $7,145,123 | |
| 17 | April 24, 1988 | Beetlejuice | $6,201,234 | |
| 18 | May 1, 1988 | Colors | $6,524,536 | Colors reached No. 1 in its third weekend of release. |
| 19 | May 8, 1988 | Colors | $4,007,400 | |
| 20 | May 15, 1988 | Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood | $8,245,038 | |
| 21 | May 22, 1988 | Willow | $8,300,169 | |
| 22 | May 30, 1988$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Crocodile Dundee II | $24,462,976 | Crocodile Dundee II broke National Lampoon's European Vacation's record ($12 million) for the highest weekend debut for a comedy film and had the highest weekend debut of 1988. |
| 23 | June 5, 1988 | Crocodile Dundee II | $12,717,140 | |
| 24 | June 12, 1988 | Crocodile Dundee II | $8,519,246 | |
| 25 | June 19, 1988 | Red Heat | $8,133,822 | |
| 26 | June 26, 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit † | $11,226,239 | Buena Vista's biggest opening weekend beating Three Men and a Baby. |
| 27 | July 4, 1988$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Coming to America | $21,404,420 | Coming to America broke Back to the Future's record ($11.1 million) for the highest Fourth of July weekend debut. |
| 28 | July 10, 1988 | Coming to America | $13,342,707 | |
| 29 | July 17, 1988 | Coming to America | $10,417,790 | |
| 30 | July 24, 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit † | $8,919,732 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit reclaimed #1 in its fifth weekend of release. |
| 31 | July 31, 1988 | Cocktail | $11,789,466 | |
| 32 | August 7, 1988 | Cocktail | $8,204,479 | |
| 33 | August 14, 1988 | Young Guns | $7,011,393 | |
| 34 | August 21, 1988 | A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master | $12,833,403 | A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master broke Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter's record ($11.1 million) for highest weekend debut for a slasher film, and also broke Smokey and the Bandit II's record ($10.8 million) for the highest weekend debut in the month of August. |
| 35 | August 28, 1988 | A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master | $6,989,358 | |
| 36 | September 5, 1988$^{4-dayweekend}$ | A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master | $6,435,710 | |
| 37 | September 11, 1988 | Moon over Parador | $3,268,975 | |
| 38 | September 18, 1988 | A Fish Called Wanda | $2,555,291 | A Fish Called Wanda reached No. 1 in its tenth weekend of release. |
| 39 | September 25, 1988 | Dead Ringers | $3,012,180 | |
| 40 | October 2, 1988 | Gorillas in the Mist | $3,451,230 | Gorillas in the Mist reached No. 1 in its second week of release. |
| 41 | October 10, 1988$^{4-dayweekend}$ | Alien Nation | $8,421,429 | |
| 42 | October 16, 1988 | The Accused | $4,316,369 | |
| 43 | October 23, 1988 | Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers | $6,831,250 | |
| 44 | October 30, 1988 | Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers | $4,510,500 | |
| 45 | November 6, 1988 | They Live | $4,827,903 | |
| 46 | November 13, 1988 | Child's Play | $6,583,963 | |
| 47 | November 20, 1988 | The Land Before Time | $7,526,025 | The Land Before Time broke An American Tail's record ($5.2 million) for the highest weekend debut for an animated film and for a non-Disney animated film. |
| 48 | November 27, 1988 | Scrooged | $13,027,842 | |
| 49 | December 4, 1988 | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | $9,331,746 | |
| 50 | December 11, 1988 | Twins | $11,174,980 | |
| 51 | December 18, 1988 | Twins | $7,781,130 | |
| 52 | December 26, 1988 | Twins | $8,958,675 | |
| 53 | January 2, 1989 | 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 |