Raise the Red Lantern backdrop
Raise the Red Lantern poster
#6,229 All-time worldwide
#68 1991 releases

Movie profile

Raise the Red Lantern

1991 · 125 min · Era International

Drama
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $16.6M
Budget $1.0M
Gross minus budget $15.6M
ROI 16.60x

Domestic gross

$8.3M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$8.3M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$1.5M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Raise the Red Lantern ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #6,229 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1991 releases #68 Release-year chart position of 231 titles Ranked against movies released in 1991. Primary genre #2,541 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.

#6,226 Everyone's Hero 2006 · $16.6M #6,227 Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1992 · $16.6M #6,228 Top Cat: The Movie 2011 · $16.6M #6,232 Heart and Souls 1993 · $16.6M #6,233 Shocker 1989 · $16.6M #6,234 Battle of the Year 2013 · $16.5M

Quick answer

How did Raise the Red Lantern (1991) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Raise the Red Lantern (1991) earned a reported $16.6M worldwide against a reported $1.0M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $15.6M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 16.60x. In this database it currently ranks #6,229 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #68 among 1991 releases.

Worldwide gross
$16,600,000
Budget
$1,000,000
Gross minus budget
$15,600,000
ROI
16.60x
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

In 1920s China, 19-year-old Songlian becomes a concubine of a powerful lord and is forced to compete with his three wives for the privileges gained.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Dec 18, 1991
Production
ERA International, China Film Co-Production, Century Communications
Countries
CN, HK, TW

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyEra International Release year chart1991 box office Genre chartDrama

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Where to watch

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1991, Raise the Red Lantern is positioned in this dataset as a Drama title from ERA International. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $16.6M, reported production budget is $1.0M, gross-minus-budget is $15.6M, ROI is 16.60x. For comparison, it currently sits #6,229 all-time in the current chart set and #68 among 1991 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.