Cry Freedom backdrop
Cry Freedom poster
#4,970 All-time worldwide
#48 1987 releases

Movie profile

Cry Freedom

1987 · 157 min · Universal Pictures

Drama
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $25.9M
Budget $29.0M
Gross minus budget -$3.1M
ROI 0.89x

Domestic gross

$13.0M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$13.0M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$2.3M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Cry Freedom ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #4,970 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1987 releases #48 Release-year chart position of 235 titles Ranked against movies released in 1987. Studio / company #220 Universal Pictures of 377 titles Position inside the mapped Universal Pictures movie set. Primary genre #1,927 Drama of 5,859 titles Genre context based on the first mapped genre on this profile.

Nearby worldwide ranks

Comparable titles immediately around this movie by reported worldwide gross.

#4,967 White Boy Rick 2018 · $26.0M #4,968 Freaky Friday 1976 · $25.9M #4,969 The Cotton Club 1984 · $25.9M #4,972 The Tipping Point 2022 · $25.9M #4,973 Wish Dragon 2021 · $25.9M #4,974 Rollerball 2002 · $25.9M

Quick answer

How did Cry Freedom (1987) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Cry Freedom (1987) earned a reported $25.9M worldwide against a reported $29.0M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about -$3.1M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 0.89x. In this database it currently ranks #4,970 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #48 among 1987 releases.

Worldwide gross
$25,900,000
Budget
$29,000,000
Gross minus budget
-$3,100,000
ROI
0.89x
Source: TMDb. Last updated: Jul 13, 2026. View source Gross-minus-budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and later home/streaming revenue.

Synopsis

Story

A dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko, a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Nov 6, 1987
Production
Universal Pictures, Marble Arch Productions
Countries
GB, ZW

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyUniversal Pictures Release year chart1987 box office Genre chartDrama

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1987, Cry Freedom is positioned in this dataset as a Drama title from Universal Pictures. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $25.9M, reported production budget is $29.0M, gross-minus-budget is -$3.1M, ROI is 0.89x. For comparison, it currently sits #4,970 all-time in the current chart set and #48 among 1987 releases. Streaming availability should be checked against the selected United States region because provider rights can change.

AI-generated contextual summary based on available movie, genre, ranking and box office data. It does not replace official distributor notes or financial reporting.
Data noteGross minus budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and downstream revenue. Domestic, international and opening weekend figures marked as estimated are modelled estimates.