Do the Right Thing backdrop
Do the Right Thing movie poster

Do the Right ThingFollow

1989 • R • 2h 0m • Comedy, Drama • Universal Pictures

It's the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can...

🍅 92% 89% MC 93 LB 4.40 IMDb 7.9

Box office summary

Opening weekend
$3.60M
Limited · 353 theaters
Domestic total
$26.00M
Final
Worldwide total
$26.10M
$49K international
Domestic legs7.3x
Budget$6M
Compare with other movies

Cast & crew

Full Lee filmography
Spike Lee Spike Lee Director Danny Aiello Danny Aiello Starring Ossie Davis Ossie Davis Starring Ruby Dee Ruby Dee Starring Richard Edson Richard Edson Starring Giancarlo Esposito Giancarlo Esposito Starring
ScreenplaySpike Lee Produced bySpike Lee CinematographyErnest R. Dickerson Edited byBarry Alexander Brown Music byBill Lee StudioUniversal Pictures

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal
1 Jun 30-Jul 2 8 $3.6M — 353 $10,095 $3.6M
2 Jul 7-9 9 $2.9M −18.1% 361 $8,080 $8.8M
3 Jul 14-16 10 $3.0M +3.5% 498 $6,060 $13.4M
4 Jul 21-23 11 $2.1M −30.7% 534 $3,915 $16.9M
5 Jul 28-30 11 $1.5M −27.6% 471 $3,215 $19.4M
6 Aug 4-6 11 $1.1M −29.7% 398 $2,675 $21.2M
7 Aug 11-13 11 $687.5K −35.4% 322 $2,135 $22.4M
8 Aug 18-20 11 $397.8K −42.1% 178 $2,235 $23.1M
9 Aug 25-27 11 $318.6K −19.9% 176 $1,810 $23.6M
10 Sep 1-3 27 $466.3K +46.4% 211 $2,210 $24.3M
11 Sep 8-10 11 $289.2K −38.0% 238 $1,215 $24.7M
12 Sep 15-17 11 $302.6K +4.6% 248 $1,220 $25.1M
13 Sep 22-24 12 $221.6K −26.8% 232 $955 $25.4M
14 Sep 29-Oct 1 12 $169.2K −23.7% 199 $850 $25.7M
15 Oct 6-8 12 $140.2K −17.1% 172 $815 $25.8M
16 Oct 13-15 12 $94.7K −32.4% 148 $640 $25.9M
17 Oct 20-22 14 $30.2K −68.1% 114 $265 $26.0M
18 Oct 27-29 15 $22.9K −24.3% 80 $286 $26.0M
Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record
Weekend grossWk 10 · $466.3K
$3.6M
$2.9M
$3.0M
$2.1M
$1.5M
$1.1M
$687.5K
$397.8K
$318.6K
$466.3K
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10
Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · +46.4%
−18.1%
W1→2
+3.5%
W2→3
−30.7%
W3→4
−27.6%
W4→5
−29.7%
W5→6
−35.4%
W6→7
−42.1%
W7→8
−19.9%
W8→9
+46.4%
W9→10
Steepest −42.1%Biggest gain +46.4%

Profitability

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

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

Jungle Fever 1991 · Lee $31.7M Stranger Than Paradise 1984 · Jarmusch $2.4M Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982 · Heckerling $27.1M Desperately Seeking Susan 1985 · Seidelman $27.4M Edtv 1999 · Howard $22.5M The World According to Garp 1982 · Hill $30.2M

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