October Sky backdrop
October Sky poster
#4,211 All-time worldwide
#76 1999 releases

Movie profile

October Sky

1999 · 108 min · Universal Pictures

Drama History
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $34.7M
Budget $25.0M
Gross minus budget $9.7M
ROI 1.39x

Domestic gross

$17.3M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$17.3M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$3.1M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where October Sky ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #4,211 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1999 releases #76 Release-year chart position of 249 titles Ranked against movies released in 1999. Studio / company #200 Universal Pictures of 377 titles Position inside the mapped Universal Pictures movie set. Primary genre #1,578 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.

#4,208 The Kids Are All Right 2010 · $34.7M #4,209 Doraemon: Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King 2010 · $34.7M #4,210 The Killing Fields 1984 · $34.7M #4,212 Addicted to Love 1997 · $34.7M #4,213 Dangerous Liaisons 1988 · $34.7M #4,214 Deliver Us from Evil 2020 · $34.7M

Quick answer

How did October Sky (1999) perform at the box office?

High confidence

October Sky (1999) earned a reported $34.7M worldwide against a reported $25.0M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $9.7M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 1.39x. In this database it currently ranks #4,211 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #76 among 1999 releases.

Worldwide gross
$34,698,685
Budget
$25,000,000
Gross minus budget
$9,698,685
ROI
1.39x
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

The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Feb 19, 1999
Production
Universal Pictures
Countries
US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyUniversal Pictures Release year chart1999 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 1999, October Sky is positioned in this dataset as a Drama, History title from Universal Pictures. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $34.7M, reported production budget is $25.0M, gross-minus-budget is $9.7M, ROI is 1.39x. For comparison, it currently sits #4,211 all-time in the current chart set and #76 among 1999 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.