BEFORE JUNE 1982…

According to Variety in July 1977, Disney’s Robert Stevenson was Hollywood’s leading director with a total of $188 million in domestic rentals.

And then according to the Hollywood Reporter Book Of Box-Office Hits, George Lucas soon surpassed Robert Stevenson’s $188 million in domestic rentals.

By early 1981, director George Lucas was on top with the success of his two hit films American Graffiti and Star Wars.

• THX 1138:  $2.4 million
• American Graffiti:  $55 million
• Star Wars:  $193.7 million
• Total for Lucas in early 1981:  roughly $251 million

By early 1981, director Steven Spielberg was the runner-up director.

• The Sugarland Express:  Well less than $7.5 million, since that was the domestic box-office gross
• Jaws:  $129.5 million
• Close Encounters Of The Third Kind:  $82.7 million
• 1941:  $23.4 million
• Estimated total for Spielberg in early 1981:  Less than $242 million

And so in June of 1981, Spielberg’s directed film Raiders Of The Lost Ark was released.  Its marathon run at the box-office in 1981 easily put him on top with $115.5 million in domestic rentals.

SOURCES THAT USED DOMESTIC BOX-OFFICE RENTALS 

• The Hollywood Reporter Book Of Box-Office Hits by Susan Sackett.  1996
• Box-Office Champs by Eddie Dorman Kay.  1990
• The World Almanac.  1991
• Variety.  July 1977.  
• Variety.  January 1988 
• Variety.  January 1990 
• Variety.  May 1994 
• Variety.  August 1995