Stop Making Sense backdrop
Stop Making Sense poster
#7,072 All-time worldwide
#63 1984 releases

Movie profile

Stop Making Sense

1984 · 88 min · Talking Heads Films

Documentary Music
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $12.5M
Budget $1.2M
Gross minus budget $11.3M
ROI 10.39x

Domestic gross

$5.0M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$7.5M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$1.4M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Stop Making Sense ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #7,072 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1984 releases #63 Release-year chart position of 163 titles Ranked against movies released in 1984. Primary genre #73 Documentary of 204 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.

#7,069 Ages of Love 2011 · $12.5M #7,070 The Weather Man 2005 · $12.5M #7,071 First Monday in October 1981 · $12.5M #7,073 Evil 2003 · $12.5M #7,074 The Chosen: Last Supper Part 3 2025 · $12.5M #7,075 The Marrying Man 1991 · $12.5M

Quick answer

How did Stop Making Sense (1984) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Stop Making Sense (1984) earned a reported $12.5M worldwide against a reported $1.2M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $11.3M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 10.39x. In this database it currently ranks #7,072 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #63 among 1984 releases.

Worldwide gross
$12,471,520
Budget
$1,200,000
Gross minus budget
$11,271,520
ROI
10.39x
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

A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Oct 19, 1984
Production
Talking Heads Films, Arnold Stiefel Company
Countries
US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyTalking Heads Films Release year chart1984 box office Genre chartDocumentary Genre chartMusic

JustWatch

Where to watch

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

Rent

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

Buy

Amazon Video Fandango At Home Apple TV Store YouTube 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 1984, Stop Making Sense is positioned in this dataset as a Documentary, Music title from Talking Heads Films. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $12.5M, reported production budget is $1.2M, gross-minus-budget is $11.3M, ROI is 10.39x. For comparison, it currently sits #7,072 all-time in the current chart set and #63 among 1984 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.