Sphinx backdrop
Sphinx poster
#10,425 All-time worldwide
#101 1981 releases

Movie profile

Sphinx

1981 · 118 min · Orion Pictures

Adventure Mystery Thriller
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $2.0M
Budget $14.0M
Gross minus budget -$12.0M
ROI 0.14x

Domestic gross

$809,108

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$1.2M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$226,550

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Sphinx ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #10,425 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1981 releases #101 Release-year chart position of 138 titles Ranked against movies released in 1981. Studio / company #68 Orion Pictures of 80 titles Position inside the mapped Orion Pictures movie set. Primary genre #1,947 Adventure of 2,138 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.

#10,422 This Is Elvis 1981 · $2.0M #10,423 Novocaine 2001 · $2.0M #10,424 Re-Animator 1985 · $2.0M #10,426 Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss 1998 · $2.0M #10,427 Bad Lieutenant 1992 · $2.0M #10,428 Kika 1993 · $2.0M

Quick answer

How did Sphinx (1981) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Sphinx (1981) earned a reported $2.0M worldwide against a reported $14.0M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about -$12.0M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 0.14x. In this database it currently ranks #10,425 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #101 among 1981 releases.

Worldwide gross
$2,022,771
Budget
$14,000,000
Gross minus budget
-$11,977,229
ROI
0.14x
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

Egyptologist Erica Baron finds more than she bargained for during her long-planned trip to The Land of the Pharoahs - murder, theft, betrayal, love, and a mummy's curse!

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Feb 11, 1981
Production
Orion Pictures, S & L Films
Countries
US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyOrion Pictures Release year chart1981 box office Genre chartAdventure Genre chartMystery Genre chartThriller

JustWatch

Where to watch

Streaming availability loaded for the selected region.
View all options
Showing United States availability.

Rent

Amazon Video Apple TV Store YouTube Fandango At Home Google Play Movies

Buy

Amazon Video Apple TV Store YouTube Fandango At Home Google Play Movies

Availability and provider links are powered by JustWatch where available. Provider availability can change by region and date.

AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1981, Sphinx is positioned in this dataset as a Adventure, Mystery, Thriller title from Orion Pictures. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $2.0M, reported production budget is $14.0M, gross-minus-budget is -$12.0M, ROI is 0.14x. For comparison, it currently sits #10,425 all-time in the current chart set and #101 among 1981 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.