The year's highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada was Beverly Hills Cop.
It was the first time in five years that the top-grossing film did not involve George Lucas or Steven Spielberg although Spielberg directed and Lucas executive produced/co-wrote the third placed Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; Spielberg also executive produced the fourth placed Gremlins.
[1] U.S. box office grosses reached $4 billion for the first time and it was the first year that two films had returned over $100 million to their distributors with both Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom achieving this.
[1] Beverly Hills Cop made it three for films released in 1984 after its performance during 1985 took it to rentals of $108 million.
[2] Other popular films included The NeverEnding Story, which was the most expensive film produced in West Germany, The Karate Kid and Romancing the Stone.