The decade of excess was all about blockbusters and franchises. However, unlike today, most of the top-grossing movies were based on original concepts. Creativity flourished, and a total of seven movies directed and/or produced by Steven Spielberg (courtesy of Amblin, his production company) were among the decade's biggest money-makers.
Thanks in part to Spielberg, the 1980s were an era of "kid-friendly" films, but Oscar-winning adult dramas, action-adventure films, and lots of comedies including action-comedies—also made big money at the box office.
While the decade boasted diverse tastes in terms of genres, behind-the-scenes it was a different story. Of the 25 biggest movies of the decade, only one was directed by a woman (Look Who's Talking). The top 100 doesn't fare much better, with Penny Marshall's Big being the only other woman-directed film to make "big" money). No POC directors appear on the list of the 25 highest-grossing domestic films of the 1980s
