Poltergeist backdrop
Poltergeist movie poster

Poltergeist

1982 • PG • 1h 54m • Horror, Thriller • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

"They're here."

🍅 89% 79% MC 79 LB 3.50 IMDb 7.3

Box office summary

Opening Weekend
$6.9M
3-day opening
Domestic Total
$74.8M
Final
Worldwide Total
$121.8M
$47M international
Domestic Legs10.8x
Budget$10.7M
1982 Rank#8
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Cast & Crew

Directed byTobe Hooper ScreenplaySteven Spielberg, Michael Grais, Mark Victor Story bySteven Spielberg Produced bySteven Spielberg, Frank Marshall CinematographyMatthew F. Leonetti Music byJerry Goldsmith Edited byMichael Kahn StarringJoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke StudioMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer SeriesPoltergeist
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The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal
1 Jun 4-6 3 $6.9M — 890 $7,749 $6.9M
2 Jun 11-13 4 $5.4M −22.0% 890 $6,045 $15.8M
3 Jun 18-20 6 $4.7M −12.5% 911 $5,169 $24.3M
4 Jun 25-27 7 $4.1M −12.9% 911 $4,504 $31.3M
5 Jul 2-4 7 $4.3M +3.8% 1,060 $4,017 $38.0M
6 Jul 9-11 5 $3.2M −23.8% 1,030 $3,152 $42.7M
7 Jul 16-18 7 $2.6M −18.4% 1,030 $2,572 $47.4M
8 Jul 23-25 8 $2.1M −19.8% 926 $2,295 $51.3M
9 Jul 30-Aug 1 9 $1.8M −13.1% 867 $2,130 $54.9M
10 Aug 6-8 9 $1.9M +3.1% 805 $2,365 $58.1M
11 Aug 13-15 12 $1.4M −25.1% 699 $2,039 $60.6M
12 Aug 20-22 14 $1.3M −10.2% 739 $1,732 $62.3M
13 Aug 27-29 17 $920.5K −28.1% 681 $1,352 $64.2M
14 Sep 3-5 19 $1.1M +17.7% 596 $1,818 $65.7M
15 Sep 10-12 9 $1.1M −1.7% 680 $1,567 $66.9M
16 Sep 17-19 13 $738.3K −30.7% 530 $1,393 $67.9M
17 Sep 24-26 13 $720.0K −2.5% 440 $1,636 $68.9M
18 Oct 1-3 19 $414.7K −42.4% 368 $1,127 $69.6M
19 Oct 8-10 20 $389.2K −6.2% 308 $1,264 $70.5M
20 Oct 15-17 22 $206.2K −47.0% 246 $838 $71.3M
21 Oct 22-24 18 $183.3K −11.1% 171 $1,072 $71.6M
22 Oct 29-31 9 $1.0M +447.2% 879 $1,141 $72.7M
23 Nov 5-7 12 $385.6K −61.6% 323 $1,194 $73.5M
24 Nov 12-14 13 $223.2K −42.1% 288 $775 $73.9M
25 Nov 19-21 16 $186.7K −16.4% 211 $885 $74.1M
26 Nov 26-28 15 $290.9K +55.9% 213 $1,366 $74.5M
27 Dec 3-5 15 $143.3K −50.7% 193 $743 $74.7M
Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record
Weekend grossWk 10 · $1.9M
$6.9M
$5.4M
$4.7M
$4.1M
$4.3M
$3.2M
$2.6M
$2.1M
$1.8M
$1.9M
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10
Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · +3.1%
−22.0%
W1→2
−12.5%
W2→3
−12.9%
W3→4
+3.8%
W4→5
−23.8%
W5→6
−18.4%
W6→7
−19.8%
W7→8
−13.1%
W8→9
+3.1%
W9→10
Steepest −23.8%Biggest gain +3.8%

Profitability

Return on Budget
Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

Poltergeist II: The Other Side 1986 · Gibson $41M Poltergeist 2015 · Kenan $47.4M The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 · Hooper $26.6M Halloween 1978 · Carpenter $47.3M Child's Play 1988 · Holland $33.2M Child's Play 2 1990 · Lafia $28.5M

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