Do the Right Thing backdrop
Do the Right Thing poster
#4,022 All-time worldwide
#40 1989 releases

Movie profile

Do the Right Thing

1989 · 120 min · Universal Pictures

Drama
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $37.3M
Budget $6.5M
Gross minus budget $30.8M
ROI 5.74x

Domestic gross

$18.7M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$18.7M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$3.4M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Do the Right Thing ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #4,022 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1989 releases #40 Release-year chart position of 218 titles Ranked against movies released in 1989. Studio / company #191 Universal Pictures of 377 titles Position inside the mapped Universal Pictures movie set. Primary genre #1,494 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.

#4,019 Snowden 2016 · $37.4M #4,020 A Gilded Game 2025 · $37.3M #4,021 The Majestic 2001 · $37.3M #4,023 Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical 2022 · $37.3M #4,024 Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew 2005 · $37.2M #4,025 We Live in Time 2024 · $37.2M

Quick answer

How did Do the Right Thing (1989) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Do the Right Thing (1989) earned a reported $37.3M worldwide against a reported $6.5M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $30.8M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 5.74x. In this database it currently ranks #4,022 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #40 among 1989 releases.

Worldwide gross
$37,300,000
Budget
$6,500,000
Gross minus budget
$30,800,000
ROI
5.74x
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

Sal is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Jun 14, 1989
Production
Universal Pictures, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
Countries
US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyUniversal Pictures Release year chart1989 box office Genre chartDrama

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1989, Do the Right Thing is positioned in this dataset as a Drama title from Universal Pictures. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $37.3M, reported production budget is $6.5M, gross-minus-budget is $30.8M, ROI is 5.74x. For comparison, it currently sits #4,022 all-time in the current chart set and #40 among 1989 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.