#3,239 All-time worldwide

#15 1979 releases

Movie profile

The China Syndrome

Name: The China Syndrome
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: 1979-03-16
Duration: 122 min

1979 · 122 min · Columbia Pictures

Drama Thriller

IMDb View on FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.

Worldwide gross $51.7M

Budget $5.9M

Gross minus budget $45.8M

ROI 8.77x

Domestic gross

$25.9M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$25.9M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$4.7M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where The China Syndrome ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.

Open rankings

All-time worldwide #3,239 All-time chart position of 13,006 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1979 releases #15 Release-year chart position of 92 titles Ranked against movies released in 1979. Studio / company #133 Columbia Pictures of 272 titles Position inside the mapped Columbia Pictures movie set. Primary genre #1,149 Drama of 6,006 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.

#3,236 Slender Man 2018 · $51.7M #3,237 I Can Do Bad All By Myself 2009 · $51.7M #3,238 Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 2010 · $51.7M #3,240 Bureau 749 2024 · $51.7M #3,241 Maximum Risk 1996 · $51.7M #3,242 Homefront 2013 · $51.7M

Quick answer

How did The China Syndrome (1979) perform at the box office?

High confidence

The China Syndrome (1979) earned a reported $51.7M worldwide against a reported $5.9M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $45.8M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 8.77x. In this database it currently ranks #3,239 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #15 among 1979 releases.

Worldwide gross: $51,718,367
Budget: $5,900,000
Gross minus budget: $45,818,367
ROI: 8.77x

Source: Reported box office data. Last updated: Jul 8, 2026. Gross-minus-budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and later home/streaming revenue.

Synopsis

Story

Synopsis is not available for this title yet.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date: Mar 16, 1979
Production: Columbia Pictures, IPC Films
Countries: US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyColumbia Pictures Release year chart1979 box office Genre chartDrama Genre chartThriller

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1979, The China Syndrome is positioned in this dataset as a Drama, Thriller title from Columbia Pictures. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $51.7M, reported production budget is $5.9M, gross-minus-budget is $45.8M, ROI is 8.77x. For comparison, it currently sits #3,239 all-time in the current chart set and #15 among 1979 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.