Who is No. 1? While "Batman" easily claimed the domestic box-office title for 1989, with ticket sales of $251.2 million, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" claimed victory in the war of the worldwide grosses, with a tally of $440.1 million.
Indy's domestic total was about $200 million (only "Batman" made more in the United States and Canada), and its international take was in the $240 million range. How did the Caped Crusader do overseas? Warner Bros. officials declined to comment.Speaking of box office, a survey by a company that tracks domestic grosses for clients in the industry finds that June, July and November were the most profitable months to launch new films in 1989, while January and February were the least productive.
Five of the 30 top-grossing films - "Batman" (1), "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" (4), "Ghostbusters II" (6), "Dead Poets Society" (9) and "Star Trek V" (22) - opened in June, and four had their debuts in July and November.
January produced only one film on the list, 27th-ranked "Three Fugitives," and February was last, with 28th-ranked "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure."