The Last Emperor backdrop
The Last Emperor poster
#3,621 All-time worldwide
#29 1987 releases

Movie profile

The Last Emperor

1987 · 163 min · Soprofilms

Drama History
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $44.0M
Budget $23.8M
Gross minus budget $20.2M
ROI 1.85x

Domestic gross

$22.0M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$22.0M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$4.0M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where The Last Emperor ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #3,621 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1987 releases #29 Release-year chart position of 235 titles Ranked against movies released in 1987. Studio / company #1 Soprofilms of 2 titles Position inside the mapped Soprofilms movie set. Primary genre #1,318 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.

#3,618 Sky of Love 2007 · $44.0M #3,619 Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé 2023 · $44.0M #3,620 Winchester 2018 · $44.0M #3,626 Seems Like Old Times 1980 · $44.0M #3,627 Annie Hall 1977 · $44.0M #3,628 Max 2015 · $44.0M

Quick answer

How did The Last Emperor (1987) perform at the box office?

High confidence

The Last Emperor (1987) earned a reported $44.0M worldwide against a reported $23.8M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $20.2M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 1.85x. In this database it currently ranks #3,621 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #29 among 1987 releases.

Worldwide gross
$44,000,000
Budget
$23,800,000
Gross minus budget
$20,200,000
ROI
1.85x
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 dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Oct 4, 1987
Production
Soprofilms, TAO Film, Yanco
Countries
CN, FR, IT, GB

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companySoprofilms Release year chart1987 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 1987, The Last Emperor is positioned in this dataset as a Drama, History title from Soprofilms. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $44.0M, reported production budget is $23.8M, gross-minus-budget is $20.2M, ROI is 1.85x. For comparison, it currently sits #3,621 all-time in the current chart set and #29 among 1987 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.