Matewan backdrop
Matewan poster
#10,695 All-time worldwide
#147 1987 releases

Movie profile

Matewan

1987 · 132 min · Cinecom Entertainment Group

Drama History
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $1.7M
Budget $4.0M
Gross minus budget -$2.3M
ROI 0.42x

Domestic gross

$840,179

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$840,179

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$151,232

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Matewan ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #10,695 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1987 releases #147 Release-year chart position of 235 titles Ranked against movies released in 1987. Studio / company #2 Cinecom Entertainment Group of 2 titles Position inside the mapped Cinecom Entertainment Group movie set. Primary genre #4,682 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.

#10,692 City War 1988 · $1.7M #10,693 Body Rock 1984 · $1.7M #10,694 Steel 1997 · $1.7M #10,696 Little Vampire 2020 · $1.7M #10,697 New Mr. Vampire 1986 · $1.7M #10,698 The Saint of Gamblers 1995 · $1.7M

Quick answer

How did Matewan (1987) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Matewan (1987) earned a reported $1.7M worldwide against a reported $4.0M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about -$2.3M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 0.42x. In this database it currently ranks #10,695 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #147 among 1987 releases.

Worldwide gross
$1,680,358
Budget
$4,000,000
Gross minus budget
-$2,319,642
ROI
0.42x
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

Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Aug 28, 1987
Production
Cinecom Entertainment Group, Film Gallery, Goldcrest
Countries
US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyCinecom Entertainment Group Release year chart1987 box office Genre chartDrama Genre chartHistory

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Where to watch

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1987, Matewan is positioned in this dataset as a Drama, History title from Cinecom Entertainment Group. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $1.7M, reported production budget is $4.0M, gross-minus-budget is -$2.3M, ROI is 0.42x. For comparison, it currently sits #10,695 all-time in the current chart set and #147 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.