This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1966 per Variety's weekly National boxoffice survey. The results are based on a sample of 20-25 key cities and therefore, any box office amounts quoted may not be the total that the film grossed nationally in the week.
# | Week ending | Film | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | January 5, 1966 | Thunderball | [1] | |
2 | January 12, 1966 | Thunderball grossed over $1.2 million in the key cities sampled | [1] | |
3 | January 19, 1966 | [2] | ||
4 | January 26, 1966 | [3] | ||
5 | February 2, 1966 | [4] | ||
6 | February 9, 1966 | [5] | ||
7 | February 16, 1966 | [6] | ||
8 | February 23, 1966 | [7] | ||
9 | March 2, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 52nd week of release | [8] |
10 | March 9, 1966 | [9] | ||
11 | March 16, 1966 | [10] | ||
12 | March 23, 1966 | [11] | ||
13 | March 30, 1966 | [12] | ||
14 | April 6, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago reached number one in its 15th week of release | [13] |
15 | April 13, 1966 | [14] | ||
16 | April 20, 1966 | [15] | ||
17 | April 27, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 60th week of release | [16] |
18 | May 4, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 19th week of release | [17] |
19 | May 11, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 62nd week of release | [18] |
20 | May 18, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 21st week of release | [19] |
21 | May 25, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 64th week of release | [20] |
22 | June 1, 1966 | [21] | ||
23 | June 8, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 24th week of release | [22] |
24 | June 15, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 67th week of release | [23] |
25 | June 22, 1966 | [24] | ||
26 | June 29, 1966 | The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming | [25] | |
27 | July 6, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | [26] | |
28 | July 13, 1966 | [27] | ||
29 | July 20, 1966 | [28] | ||
30 | July 27, 1966 | [29] | ||
31 | August 3, 1966 | [30] | ||
32 | August 10, 1966 | [31] | ||
33 | August 17, 1966 | [32] | ||
34 | August 24, 1966 | [33] | ||
35 | August 31, 1966 | How to Steal a Million | [34] | |
36 | September 7, 1966 | [35] | ||
37 | September 14, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 80th week of release | [36] |
38 | September 21, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 39th week of release | [37] |
39 | September 28, 1966 | [38] | ||
40 | October 5, 1966 | [39] | ||
41 | October 12, 1966 | [40] | ||
42 | October 19, 1966 | [41] | ||
43 | October 26, 1966 | [42] | ||
44 | November 2, 1966 | Hawaii | Hawaii reached number one in its third week of release | [43] |
45 | November 9, 1966 | [44] | ||
46 | November 16, 1966 | The Professionals | [45] | |
47 | November 23, 1966 | The Professionals and Hawaii | Variety did not indicate which of the top two films was number one for the week | [46] |
48 | November 30, 1966 | The Professionals | [47] | |
49 | December 7, 1966 | [48] | ||
50 | December 14, 1966 | [49] | ||
51 | December 21, 1966 | Hawaii and The Professionals | Again, Variety did not indicate which of the top two films was number one for the week | [50] |
52 | December 28, 1966 | Follow Me, Boys! | [51] | |
The highest-grossing films during the calendar year based on theatrical rentals were as follows:
Rank | Title | Distributor | Rental [52] [53] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Thunderball | United Artists | $26,000,000 |
2 | The Sound of Music | 20th Century Fox | $22,500,000 [54] |
3 | Doctor Zhivago | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $15,000,000 |
4 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Warner Bros. | $10,300,000 |
5 | That Darn Cat! | Buena Vista | $9,200,000 |
6 | The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming | United Artists | $7,750,000 |
7 | Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. | Buena Vista | $7,500,000 |
8 | The Silencers | Columbia Pictures | $7,000,000 |
Torn Curtain | Universal Pictures | $7,000,000 | |
10 | Our Man Flint | 20th Century Fox | $6,500,000 |