Police Academy Box Office Breakdown: How a $4.8M Comedy Became a $273M Phenomenon (And Then Faded Fast)
The Fast Start and Fast Fade of an 80s Franchise
The Police Academy franchise ran from 1984 to 1994, producing seven theatrical films, all distributed by Warner Bros.
It began as a low-budget gamble and exploded into one of the most profitable comedy series of the 1980s. But by the time Mission to Moscow arrived a decade later, the franchise had quietly collapsed.
When adjusted for inflation, the financial story becomes even more dramatic: a massive sleeper hit at the top — followed by one of the steepest declines of any major 1980s comedy franchise.
Let’s break it down.
Ranked by Domestic Gross (Inflation-Adjusted)
(Adjusted figures reflect modern ticket-price equivalents based primarily on The Numbers’ methodology, current to 2024–2025 estimates. Some later entries use close approximations based on yearly multipliers and chart rankings.)
1. Police Academy (1984)
Release Date: March 23, 1984
Budget: $4.8M
Opening Weekend: $8.57M (1,063 theaters)
Domestic Gross (Unadjusted): $81.2M
Domestic Gross (Adjusted): $273.3M
Worldwide Gross: $149.8M
The original was a massive sleeper hit, finishing as the 6th highest-grossing domestic release of 1984. On a tiny budget, it became a cultural phenomenon.
Its adjusted domestic gross places it among the top ~450 domestic earners of all time — blockbuster territory by any standard.
This is the film that launched the brand, the characters, and the annual-release strategy.
2. Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
Release Date: March 29, 1985
Budget: $7.5M
Opening Weekend: $10.68M (1,613 theaters)
Domestic Gross (Unadjusted): $55.6M
Domestic Gross (Adjusted): ~$176M
Worldwide Gross: $115.0M
A strong follow-up with a bigger opening and solid hold. The decline had begun, but this was still a clear commercial success.
3. Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
Release Date: March 21, 1986
Budget: ~$12.2M
Opening Weekend: $9.05M (1,788 theaters)
Domestic Gross (Unadjusted): $43.6M
Domestic Gross (Adjusted): $132.9M
Worldwide Gross: $107.6M
Still profitable, but the downward trend was obvious. Budgets were climbing. Returns were shrinking.
4. Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
Release Date: April 3, 1987
Budget: ~$17.3M
Opening Weekend: $8.48M (1,750 theaters)
Domestic Gross (Unadjusted): $28.1M
Domestic Gross (Adjusted): ~$81M
Worldwide Gross: $76.8M
This is where the drop becomes sharp. Domestic interest cooled significantly, though international markets helped cushion the fall.
5. Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)
Release Date: March 18, 1988
Budget: ~$13.9M
Opening Weekend: $6.11M (1,700 theaters)
Domestic Gross (Unadjusted): $19.5M
Domestic Gross (Adjusted): ~$53M
Worldwide Gross: $54.5M
The formula was wearing thin. Reviews worsened. The once-reliable annual event status was fading.
6. Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)
Release Date: March 10, 1989
Budget: ~$12–14.5M
Opening Weekend: $4.03M (1,627 theaters)
Domestic Gross (Unadjusted): $11.6M
Domestic Gross (Adjusted): $32.8M
Worldwide Gross: $33.2M
At this point, the franchise was running on fumes. The domestic audience had largely moved on.
7. Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994)
Release Date: August 26, 1994 (Limited U.S. release)
Budget: $10M
Opening Weekend: $0.13M
Domestic Gross (Unadjusted): $0.13M
Domestic Gross (Adjusted): $0.35M
Worldwide Gross: $4.3M
The seventh film was essentially an international play. Its wide U.S. release was canceled, and it barely registered domestically.
It was an outright theatrical bomb — and the quiet end of the series.
Franchise Totals (Unadjusted)
• Domestic Gross: ~$239.6M
• Worldwide Gross: ~$541.3M
• Combined Production Budgets: ~$80M
Even with the decline, the franchise was profitable overall thanks to modest budgets, strong 1980s international appeal, and a booming home video market.
The Pattern: A Perfect 1980s Rise and Fall
The most striking takeaway is this:
The domestic box office ranking — both unadjusted and inflation-adjusted — is identical. Each sequel earned less than the one before it.
That’s rare. And revealing.
The original film’s adjusted total shows just how powerful its ticket-buying momentum was. In modern terms, it performed like a major studio comedy blockbuster.
But the strategy was clear:
Annual releases. Same ensemble energy. Slight escalation. Repeat.
For a while, it worked.
Then audiences drifted away.
By the late 1980s, competition increased, tastes shifted, and slapstick ensemble comedies without reinvention struggled to hold ground. The formula that once felt anarchic and fresh began to feel mechanical.
Final Take
The Police Academy series is one of the clearest examples of:
• A lightning-in-a-bottle original hit
• Rapid sequel production
• Predictable diminishing returns
• And an international-market safety net delaying the inevitable
Seven theatrical films. Ten years. One massive hit. Six progressively smaller follow-ups.
No additional theatrical entries followed Mission to Moscow.
And yet, the franchise remains a defining artifact of 1980s studio comedy economics — proof that sometimes the biggest story isn’t just how high a series climbs…
…but how steadily it falls.
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We love the 1980s. Everything on this page is all about movies of the 1980s. Starting in 1980 and working our way the decade, we are preserving the stories and movies of the greatest decade, the 80s. https://www.youtube.com/@Moviesofthe80s
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