Over the past few days, Guardians Of The Galaxy officially won the weekend box office for the fourth time since its release. That might not sound like a huge deal, but that almost never happens. In fact, only 4 movies including Guardians have done that since 2000, and only 32 movies have done it since these things started being closely tracked and made available in the early 1980s.
So, yeah, Guardians Of The Galaxy is a hit. You probably knew that already, but in order to properly contextualize it, let’s take a closer look at those 32 movies that won five or more consecutive weekends. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to revisit these incredibly popular movies from our past and remember why they had such a huge impact at the box office.
#32) Mr. Mom
Release Date: July 22, 1983
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull
Domestic Gross: $64,783,827
Plot: Michael Keaton loses his job, forcing his wife to take a job. He does his best to keep the house clean and the children fed, but he’s absolutely horrible at it. Fortunately, the neighborhood mothers take a liking too him, and he finds amusing enough ways to pass the time.
#31) Police Academy
Release Date: March 23, 1984
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow
Domestic Gross: $81,198,894
Plot: The requirements for becoming a police officer are severely relaxed in order to up the number of recruits. An influx of dumbasses then sign up, and to combat it, the city decides to make the Academy as difficult as possible in order to make people quit. Eventually, some real police work happens, and the main characters learn the required lessons.
#30) The Golden Child
Release Date: December 12, 1986
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, J.L. Reate and Charlotte Lewis
Domestic Gross: $79,817,937
Plot: Eddie Murphy gets dragged into a weird Tibetan conflict after he’s revealed to be The Chosen One who must save the title Golden Child. He fights it as best as he can, but eventually, he accepts the situation he’s in and does everything he can to save the kid, even when it means fighting a bunch of warriors who are more powerful than him.
#29) The Secret Of My Success
Release Date: April 10, 1987
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Michael J Fox, Helen Slater and Richard Jordan
Domestic Gross: $66,995,879
Plot: Michael J Fox is an overeducated financial wizard working in the mail room of a large company. In true 80s fashion, he decides to manufacture a secret identity for himself as an executive in order to right the ship. There’s also a woman involved. He falls in love with her, but she has no idea he’s been lying to her the entire time.
#28) Stakeout
Release Date: August 7, 1987
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez
Domestic Gross: $65,673,233
Plot: Two bumbling detectives stakeout a waitress’ apartment. One of them falls in love with her. The waitress’ ex-boyfriend breaks out of jail. Full blown shenanigans ensue. The police force turns against the stakeout guys. There’s a lot of shooting and running around, and eventually, they made a sequel.
#27) Three Men And A Baby
Release Date: November 25, 1987
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson
Domestic Gross: $167,780,960
Plot: Three successful dudes live in an apartment together. One day, a baby arrives. Through an only-in-the-movies-type misunderstanding, two of them decide to take care of the baby for a few days until the third returns. A side plot involving drug dealers and the police eventually becomes the plot, and all involved fall in love with the baby.
#26) Look Who’s Talking
Release Date: October 13, 1989
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, George Segal
Domestic Gross: $140,088,813
Plot: A woman falls in love with and later has a child with a married man. He wants nothing to do with her or the baby, and she vows to find the kid a father. Eventually, she becomes involved with the cab driver who rushed her to the hospital, but she’s unwilling to commit since she doesn’t respect his job and thinks he’s too immature.
#25) The Silence Of The Lambs
Release Date: February 14, 1991
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine, Scott Glenn
Domestic Gross: $130,742,922
Plot: An FBI trainee is sent to interview a sociopathic serial killer and cannibal who is of extreme intelligence. She’s trying to hunt down a different serial killer who kidnapped a politician’s daughter and has done all sorts of other gross and disgusting things to his victims. A clever game of cat and mouse commences involving information and misinformation in equal doses. Somewhere along the line, the viewer realizes how incredibly talented Anthony Hopkins is.
#24) Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Release Date: July 3rd, 1991
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
Domestic Gross: $204,843,345
Plot: It would take nine paragraphs to explain this movie properly. Let’s go ahead and give the cliff notes. John Connor is ten-years-old and being hunted by a T-1000. Fortunately, he has a T-800 which has been reprogrammed to protect him by his future self who knows he’s in trouble. Sarah Connor is in a mental institution at the beginning of the movie, though she’s later freed in order to help all involved prevent Judgment Day from happening.
#23) Wayne’s World
Release Date: February 14, 1992
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe, Lara Flynn Boyle, Tia Carrere
Domestic Gross: $121,697,323
Plot: Two dumbasses and local television hosts in Aurora, Illinois decide to sell the rights to their beloved show in order to earn a quick $10,000. Unfortunately, they regret the move almost instantly when the show suddenly turns into a real job with sponsors and comments about what they can and cannot do. So, they embark on a quest to get their old show back and in short, return their lives to a more relaxed and enjoyable position.
#22) Basic Instinct
Release Date: March 20, 1992
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone
Domestic Gross: $117,727,224
Plot: A detective gets involved with a manipulative, sexually adventurous writer who may or may not have murdered a famous rock star with an ice pick while they were having sex. As he digs further into the case, he starts acting more and more impulsively, having sex with women, assaulting co-workers and running his mouth. All of that leads him further down the rabbit hole and clouds his judgment as he starts behaving like a madman living for the moment.
#21) Mrs. Doubtfire
Release Date: November 24, 1993
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Mara Wilson
Domestic Gross: $219,195,243
Plot: A voice actor who was recently kicked out by his estranged wife decides to dress as an elderly housekeeper/ nanny in order to continue seeing his children on a regular basis. The ruse goes over remarkably well until he’s discovered first by his children and later by his wife. While the gig lasts, however, it provides plenty of laughs and more than a few sentimental moments too.
#20) Forrest Gump
Release Date: July 6, 1994
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson
Domestic Gross: $329,694,499
Plot: A kind, unintelligent man from Alabama spends his life criss-crossing through many of the most important events of the 20th Century. Through wars, political shake-ups and pop cultural changes, he carves out his own little place in the world and somehow helps a remarkable number of people through difficult times in their own lives, all of which he explains to random people sitting on a bench.
#19) The Sixth Sense
Release Date: August 6, 1999
Number Of Weeks Won: 5
Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Domestic Gross: $293,506,292
Plot: A young boy sees ghosts. A doctor sees his marriage slowly failing. Together, they start helping random ghosts with their problems and reasons why they are unable to depart the world. In doing so, they learn a ton about their families and themselves, all of which is shocking and awesome in equal doses. Seriously, let’s all take a second to appreciate how incredible this movie was that fifteen years later, we’re still giving M Night money to try and top it.
#18) Return Of The Jedi
Release Date: May 25, 1983
Number Of Weeks Won: 6
Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fischer
Domestic Gross: $252,583,617
Plot: Han Solo has been taken prisoner by Jabba The Hutt. The Empire seems to have turned everything in their favor. And Luke is reeling from news that (SPOILER) might be his (SPOILER). All of our heroes plan a daring mission to rescue Han and destroy the Death Star. There are a lot of strange creatures and fighting involved. People change allegiances. Characters are redeemed. It’s pretty sweet.
#17) Terms Of Endearment
Release Date: November 23, 1983
Number Of Weeks Won: 6
Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
Domestic Gross: $108,423,489
Plot: A careful, multi-year story about the relationships of a mother and her daughter. The daughter falls for a philandering college professor who can’t stay away from graduate students. The mother falls for a former astronaut who isn’t good with his feelings or staying sober. The finished product is extremely affecting and went on to win a slew of Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.
#16) Rocky IV
Release Date: November 27, 1985
Number Of Weeks Won: 6
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Carl Weathers, Talia Shire
Domestic Gross: $127,873,716
Plot: Rocky’s old buddy Apollo Creed agrees to an exhibition match against a monster of a Russian. It does not go as planned. The huge Russian dude straight up kills Apollo, then adds insult to injury by not caring in the slightest during a ringside interview. Rocky, of course, can’t let that stand because ‘Merica. So, he heads to Russia to avenge his friend and engage in a whole bunch of old world training exercises.
#15) Rain Man
Release Date: December 16, 1988
Number Of Weeks Won: 6
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise
Domestic Gross: $172,825,435
Plot: A selfish, money-obsessed importer meets his highly autistic older brother after the death of their father. Furious over how the estate was divided, Tom Cruise takes Dustin Hoffman on a road trip across the country in a scheme to be granted legal custody and control over the money. Along the way, they, of course, bond and decide to hit up a casino in order to count cards and win as much money as possible.
#14) The Fugitive
Release Date: August 6, 1993
Number Of Weeks Won: 6
Stars: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pantoliano
Domestic Gross: $183,875,760
Plot: After Harrison Ford’s wife is murdered, he’s wrongly put on trial and sentenced to death. By sheer happenstance, the transport vehicle he’s taking to jail is overthrown in an escape attempt by numerous inmates. Ford uses the good fortune to escape and try to hunt down his wife’s real killer. Along the way, he’s pursued by Tommy Lee Jones who starts to look into the larger mystery of what the hell happened here too.
#13) On Golden Pond
Release Date: December 4, 1981
Number Of Weeks Won: 7
Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda
Domestic Gross: $119,285,432
Plot: An elderly couple invites their estranged daughter, her fiancé and his son out to visit by their beloved lake, Golden Pond. At first, a lot of old wounds are reopened but when the daughter and her fiancé leave for Europe and leave their son behind, the grandparents are able to relax and start really enjoying his company. There’s also a side-plot about catching an epic fish involved.
#12) Avatar
Release Date: December 18, 2009
Number Of Weeks Won: 7
Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore
Domestic Gross: $749,766,139
Plot: Humans have run out of resources and are now mining as many other planets and moons as possible. To gather information, a complicated system of Avatars are built that allow humans to resemble and interact with the natives. Of course a large deposit of Unobtanium is discovered underneath a spiritual landmark of the native people and all involved must decide whether it’s more important to do their jobs or protect these nice people who cared for them. You know what they choose.
#11) Porky’s
Release Date: March 19, 1982
Number Of Weeks Won: 8
Stars: Don Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight
Domestic Gross: $105,492,483
Plot: After a group of high school students try to lose their virginities and are humiliated for it, they enact a wild scheme to get even with the owner of Porky’s. Along the way, they also spy on a bunch of different girls in the shower, run afoul of the local gym teacher and flee from rogue cops who are aligned with Porky. It’s like American Pie with less thoughtfulness.
#10) Fatal Attraction
Release Date: September 18, 1987
Number Of Weeks Won: 8
Stars: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer
Domestic Gross: $156,645,693
Plot: Michael Douglas decides to have an affair while his wife and child are out of town. He thinks it’s a one-off thing that will never be discussed again. The woman, Glenn Close, however, is irate that he doesn’t leave his wife and start a new life with her. She begins stalking the entire family, leading the police to become involved and Michael Douglas’ wife to get royally pissed off about his philandering. It does not end well, as you might expect.
#9) Crocodile Dundee
Release Date: September 26, 1986
Number Of Weeks Won: 9
Stars: Paul Hogan
Domestic Gross: $174,803,506
Plot: A llikeable and fearless Australian crocodile hunter is the subject of a magazine article by a journalist from New York City. She flies Down Under to meet him and his friends and quickly becomes enchanted by his entire environment. She later invites him back to New York City where his unusual methods take the City by storm and eventually win the heart of the journalist. There are a lot of knives and snakes involved.
#8) Good Morning, Vietnam
Release Date: December 25, 1987
Number Of Weeks Won: 9
Stars: Robin Williams
Domestic Gross: $123,922,370
Plot: Robin Williams is a DJ in Vietnam. Most of his superiors hate how loose he is on the air and how willing he is to play Rock N Roll music, but the troops and some of the way higher ups love his attitude. Eventually, he falls in love with a local girl whose brother may or may not be bad news. Some tragic things happen. He’s taken off the radio. He’s put back on the radio, and along the way, he wins all of our hearts.
#7) Ghosbusters
Release Date: June 8, 1984
Number Of Weeks Won: 10
Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson
Domestic Gross: $229,242,989
Plot: Four ghost hunters living in New York City find themselves in the middle of a shitshow after the city shuts them down and all of their captured ghosts are suddenly released back into the world. One of their client, a woman named Dana, has an apartment building that may be a portal that would allow a god to emerge and destroy everything. Also, Bill Murray needs to find love.
#6) Back To The Future
Release Date: July 3, 1985
Number Of Weeks Won: 11
Stars: Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd
Domestic Gross: $210,609,762
Plot: A high school student travels back in time 30 years. There, he meets younger versions of his parents and must play matchmaker after his presence alters their behavior and raises the possibility that he might never be born. While doing so, he must also fix the time machine and figure out a way to prevent his buddy/ the time machine creator’s murder. Crispin Glover is also involved in perhaps his greatest weirdo creation of all-time.
#5) Home Alone
Release Date:November 16, 1990
Number Of Weeks Won: 12
Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern
Domestic Gross: $285,761,243
Plot: A young boy is left home alone after his parents and entire extended family leave for vacation without him. Two burglars, nicknamed The Wet Bandits, decide to use the opportunity to rob the young boy’s beautiful home. Unwilling to watch his stuff get taken, he designs a series of booby traps to try and keep the burglars at bay. There’s a neighbor with a sweet beard and a shovel and John Candy as a polka king.
#4) Tootsie
Release Date: December 17, 1982
Number Of Weeks Won: 14
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Teri Garr, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray
Domestic Gross: $177,200,000
Plot: An actor with a horrible reputation decides to try out for a role by dressing as a woman and disguising his identity. He gets it and is lauded all over town for his work. This, of course, complicates his personal life immensely, especially when the fictional actress he invented starts getting her own suitors and admirers. Pretty much everyone involved was nominated for Oscars, and Jessica Lange actually won for her work.
#3) Beverly Hills Cop
Release Date: December 5, 1984
Number Of Weeks Won: 14
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton
Domestic Gross: $234,760,478
Plot: A fast talking Detroit Cop goes to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his childhood friend, a security guard who worked at a high class art dealership. While in Southern California, he, of course, ruffles more than his share of feathers and confuses the local police with his aggressive, balls to the wall detective style. They eventually grow to love him, however, and team up to solve the case and bring down some smugglers in the process.
#2) Titanic
Release Date: December 19, 1997
Number Of Weeks Won: 15
Stars: Leonardo Dicaprio, Kate Winslet, BILLY ZANE!
Domestic Gross: $600,788,188
Plot: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A luxurious boat stocked with some of the richest passengers in the world and some "lucky" third class guests departs to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. It hits an iceburg which triggers one of the most famous sea disasters in the history of the world. There’s also a love story that cuts through social classes that involves Kate Winslet (rich) and Leonardo Dicaprio (poor). The special effects are awesome, and there’s a lot of sadness involved.
#1) E.T.
Release Date: June 11, 1982
Number Of Weeks Won: 16
Stars: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote
Domestic Gross: $359,197,037
Plot: A young boy and his little sister befriend an alien who visited Earth to collect plan samples. They secretly hang out for awhile before the government catches on to what’s going on and put them all in quarantine. They eventually escape, allowing ET to communicate with other members of his species and finally get off the planet. It’s all extremely touching and the performances director Steven Spielberg was able to get out of children were nothing short of incredible.
