List of American films of 1981
American films by year |
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1890s |
1890–1899 |
1900s |
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1910s |
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 |
1920s |
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1930s |
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 |
1940s |
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 |
1950s |
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1960s |
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 |
1970s |
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 |
1980s |
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 |
1990s |
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 |
2000s |
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 |
2010s |
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 |
2020s |
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 |
This is a list of American films released in 1981.
Box office
The highest-grossing American films released in 1981, by domestic box office gross revenue, are as follows:[1]
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 | $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 |
January–March
Opening | Title | Production company | Cast and crew | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J A N U A R Y | 7 | Scream | Cal-Com | Byron Quisenberry (director/screenplay); Pepper Martin, Hank Worden, Ethan Wayne, Alvy Moore, Bobby Diamond, Woody Strode, Ann Bronston, Julie Marine, Nancy St. Marie, Joseph Alvarado, John Nowak, Joe Allaine, Cynthia Faria, Bella Bluck, Dee Cooper, Bob Macgonigal, Gino Difirelli, Gregg Palmer | |
14 | Scanners | AVCO Embassy Pictures | David Cronenberg (director/screenplay); Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironside, Robert Silverman, Mavor Moore, Anthony Sherwood, Fred Doederlein, Victor Désy, Louis Del Grande, Alex Stevens, William Hope, Christopher Britton, Leon Herbert, Neil Affleck | ||
28 | Blood Beach | Compass International Pictures / The Jerry Gross Organization | Jeffrey Bloom (director/screenplay); David Huffman, Marianna Hill, Burt Young, John Saxon, Stefan Gierasch, Harriet Medin, Otis Young, Darrell Fetty, Lena Pousette, Mickey Fox, Marleta Giles, Pamela McMyler, Eleanor Zee, Laura Burkett, Jacqueline Randall | ||
Zombi 2 | Variety Film / The Jerry Gross Organization | Lucio Fulci (director); Elisa Briganti, Dardano Sacchetti (screenplay); Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay, Stefania D'Amario, Olga Karlatos | |||
30 | Earthbound | Taft International Pictures | James L. Conway (director); Michael Fisher (screenplay); Burl Ives, Todd Porter, Christopher Connelly, Meredith MacRae, Joseph Campanella, Marc Gilpin, John Schuck, Joey Forman, Stuart Pankin, H.M. Wynant, Doodles Weaver, Anne Lockhart, Mindy Dow, Elissa Leeds, Peter Isacksen, Jesse Bennett, Cindy Bertagnolli, Allen Tatomer, Scottie Anderson | ||
The Incredible Shrinking Woman | Universal Pictures | Joel Schumacher (director); Jane Wagner (screenplay); Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, Henry Gibson, Elizabeth Wilson, Mark Blankfield, Maria Smith, Pamela Bellwood, John Glover, Nicholas Hormann, James McMullan, Shelby Balik, Justin Dana, Rick Baker, Frank Welker, Mike Douglas, Dick Wilson, Sally Kirkland, Pat Ast, Marneen Fields | |||
F E B R U A R Y | 6 | Fort Apache, The Bronx | 20th Century Fox / Producers Circle / Time-Life Films | Daniel Petrie (director); Heywood Gould (screenplay); Paul Newman, Ed Asner, Ken Wahl, Danny Aiello, Rachel Ticotin, Pam Grier, Kathleen Beller, Tito Goya, Miguel Piñero, Jaime Tirelli, Clifford David, Sully Boyar, Dominic Chianese, Michael Higgins, Paul Gleason, Randy Jurgensen, Gilbert Lewis, Cleavant Derricks, Reynaldo Medina, Norman Matlock | |
11 | My Bloody Valentine | Paramount Pictures / Canadian Film Development Corporation / Secret Film Company | George Mihalka (director); John Beaird (screenplay); Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Don Francks, Cynthia Dale, Alf Humphreys, Keith Knight, Patricia Hamilton, Terry Waterland, Thomas Kovacs, Helene Udy, Rob Stein, Gina Dick, Larry Reynolds, Jim Murchison, Carl Marotte, Jack Van Evera, Peter Cowper | ||
Sphinx | Orion Pictures / Warner Bros. | Franklin J. Schaffner (director); John Byrum (screenplay); Lesley-Anne Down, Frank Langella, Maurice Ronet, John Gielgud, Vic Tablian, Martin Benson, John Rhys-Davies, Nadim Sawalha, Tutte Lemkow, Saeed Jaffrey, Eileen Way, William Hootkins, James Cossins, Victoria Tennant, Behrouz Vossoughi | |||
13 | American Pop | Columbia Pictures / Bakshi Productions | Ralph Bakshi (director); Ronni Kern (screenplay); Ron Thompson, Lisa Jane Persky, Jeffrey Lippa, Marya Small, Beatrice Colen, Frank Dekova, Roz Kelly, Richard Moll, Joey Camen, Elsa Raven, Vincent Schiavelli, Leonard Stone, Eric Taslitz, Lynda Wiesmeier, Elya Baskin, Lee Ving, Ralph Bakshi, Richard Singer, Jerry Holland, Hilary Beane, Robert Beecher, Gene Borkan, Ben Frommer, Amy Levitt | ||
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen | American Cinema Productions / Jerry Sherlock Productions | Clive Donner (director); Stan Burns, David Axelrod (screenplay); Peter Ustinov, Lee Grant, Angie Dickinson, Richard Hatch, Brian Keith, Roddy McDowall, Rachel Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Ryan, Johnny Sekka | |||
Eyewitness | 20th Century Fox | Peter Yates (director); Steve Tesich (screenplay); William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer, James Woods, Irene Worth, Kenneth McMillan, Pamela Reed, Steven Hill, Morgan Freeman, Alice Drummond, Keone Young | |||
M A R C H | 6 | All Night Long | Universal Pictures | Jean-Claude Tramont (director); W.D. Richter (screenplay); Gene Hackman, Barbra Streisand, Dennis Quaid, Diane Ladd, Kevin Dobson, William Daniels, Hamilton Camp, Terry Kiser, Charles Siebert, Vernee Watson, Annie Girardot, Ann Doran, Raleigh Bond, Jim Nolan, Judy Kerr, Marlyn Gates | |
The Devil and Max Devlin | Buena Vista Distribution / Walt Disney Productions | Steven Hilliard Stern (director); Mary Rodgers (screenplay); Elliott Gould, Bill Cosby, Susan Anspach, Adam Rich, Julie Budd, Sonny Shroyer, David Knell, Chuck Shamata, Ronnie Schell, Reggie Nalder | |||
Maniac | Analysis Film Releasing Corporation / Magnum Motion Pictures Inc. | William Lustig (director); C.A. Rosenberg, Joe Spinell (screenplay); Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Gail Lawrence, Tom Savini, Sharon Mitchell, William Lustig, Kelly Piper, Rita Montone, Hyla Marrow, James Brewster, Linda Lee Walter, Tracie Evans, Carol Henry, Neila Bacmeister, Louis Jawitz, Denise Spagnuolo, Billy Spagnuolo, Frank Pesce | |||
On the Right Track | 20th Century Fox | Lee Philips (director); Avery Buddy, Richard Moses, Tina Pine (screenplay); Gary Coleman, Maureen Stapleton, Norman Fell, Michael Lembeck, Lisa Eilbacher, Bill Russell, Herb Edelman, Nathan Davis, Fern Persons, Mike Genovese, Harry Gorsuch, Page Hannah, Jami Gertz, Chelcie Ross, Mike Bacarella, Jack Wasserman, Arthur Smith, Corin Rogers, George Barrow, David Selburg | |||
13 | Back Roads | Warner Bros. / CBS Theatrical Films | Martin Ritt (director); Gary DeVore (screenplay); Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Keith, Michael V. Gazzo, Barbara Babcock, Miriam Colon, M. Emmet Walsh | ||
The Funhouse | Universal Pictures / Mace Neufeld Productions | Tobe Hooper (director); Larry Block (screenplay); Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff, Miles Chapin, Kevin Conway, Sylvia Miles, William Finley, Wayne Doba, Shawn Carson, Rebuka Hoye, Jack McDermott, Jeanne Austin | |||
Modern Romance | Columbia Pictures | Albert Brooks (director/screenplay); Monica Johnson (screenplay); Albert Brooks, Kathryn Harrold, Bruno Kirby, James L. Brooks, George Kennedy, Albert Henderson | |||
20 | Amy | Buena Vista Distribution / Walt Disney Productions | Vincent McEveety (director); Noreen Stone (screenplay); Jenny Agutter, Barry Newman, Kathleen Nolan, Chris Robinson, Lou Fant, Margaret O'Brien, Nanette Fabray, Lance LeGault, Lucille Benson, Jonathan Daly, Lonny Chapman, Norman Burton, Ronnie Scribner, Seamon Glass, Brian Frishman, Jane Daly, Dawn Jeffory, Peggy McCay, Len Wayland, Virginia Vincent, Otto Rechenberg, David Hollander, Cory 'Bumper' Yothers, Alban Branton, Michelle Downey, Carson Sipes, Diana Boyd, Flavia Fleischer, David Jacob Weiss, Oscar Arturo Aguilar, Kevin van Wieringen, Nancy Jeris, Randy Morton, Lance Gordon, John Arndt, Rick Foster, Elisha Rapson | ||
Cutter's Way | United Artists | Ivan Passer (director); Jeffrey Alan Fiskin (screenplay); Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn, Ann Dusenberry, Stephen Elliott, Arthur Rosenberg, Francis X. McCarthy, Nina van Pallandt, Julia Duffy, Billy Drago, Jonathan Terry, Ted White, Patricia Donahue, Paul Thomas | |||
Omen III: The Final Conflict | 20th Century Fox / Mace Neufeld Productions | Graham Baker (director); Andrew Birkin (screenplay); Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi, Don Gordon, Lisa Harrow, Barnaby Holm, Leueen Willoughby, Marc Boyle, Milos Kirek, Tommy Duggan, Louis Mahoney, Richard Oldfield, Tony Vogel, Hugh Moxey, Mason Adams, Robert Arden, Ruby Wax, Hazel Court | |||
The Postman Always Rings Twice | Paramount Pictures / Lorimar Productions / Northstar International | Bob Rafelson (director); David Mamet (screenplay); Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos, Michael Lerner, John P. Ryan, Anjelica Huston, William Traylor, Ron Flagge, William Newman, Chuck Liddell, Albert Henderson, Christopher Lloyd | |||
23 | Inseminoid (UK) | Butcher's Film Service / Jupiter Film Productions | Norman J. Warren (director); Nick Maley, Gloria Maley (screenplay); Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke, Jennifer Ashley, Stephanie Beacham, Steven Grives, Barrie Houghton, Rosalind Lloyd, Victoria Tennant, Trevor Thomas, Heather Wright, David Baxt, Dominic Jephcott, John Segal, Kevin O'Shea, Robert Pugh | ||
27 | Eyes of a Stranger | Warner Bros. / Georgetown Productions Inc. | Ken Wiederhorn (director); Mark Jackson (screenplay); Lauren Tewes, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Luke Halpin, John DiSanti, Peter DuPre, Gwen Lewis, Kitty Lunn, Timothy Hawkins, Ted Richert, Toni Crabtree, Bob Small, Stella Rivera, Dan Fitzgerald, José Bahamande, Rhonda Flynn | ||
Thief | United Artists | Michael Mann (director/screenplay); James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi, Dennis Farina, William Petersen, Gavin MacFadyen, Chuck Adamson, Tom Signorelli, Nick Nickeas, W.R. Bill Brown, Norm Tobin, John Santucci, Sam Cirone, Spero Anast, Hal Frank, Patti Ross |
April–June
July–September
October–December
See also
References
- ^ "Domestic Box Office for 1981". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1981 films of the United States.
- American films of 1981 at IMDb