Platoon was released in the United States on December 19, 1986, and in the Philippines[25] and the United Kingdom in March 1987, with its release in the latter receiving an above 15 rating for strong language, scenes of violence, and soft drug use.[26]
In its seventh weekend of release, the film expanded from 214 theatres to 590 and became number one at the United States box office with a gross of $8,352,394.[27] It remained number one for four weekends.[28] In its ninth weekend, it grossed $12.9 million from 1,194 theatres over the four-day President's Day weekend, being the first film to gross more than $10 million in a weekend in February and setting a weekend record for Orion.[29]
Home media
Due to a legal dispute between HBO Home Video and Vestron Video over home video rights, the film was delayed from its planned October 1987 release.[30] After a settlement was reached, it was finally released on tape on January 22, 1988, through HBO, and then reissued on September 1, 1988, by Vestron.[31] Vestron reissued the film twice, in 1991 and 1994. It made its DVD debut in 1997 through Live Entertainment. It was released again on VHS in 1999 by PolyGram Video (who briefly held the rights to the film through its purchase of the Epic library). The film was rereleased on DVD and again on VHS in 2001 by MGM Home Entertainment (who now owns the rights to the film through their purchase of the pre-1996 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment library).[32] MGM released the 20th anniversary DVD through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2006 while 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the Blu-ray version on May 25, 2011. Shout! Factory released the 4K remastered Blu-Ray on September 18, 2018, and released a 4K Ultra-HD/Blu-ray combo pack on September 13, 2022.[33]
