List of 1978 box office number-one films in the United States

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This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1978 per Variety . The data was based on grosses from 20 to 22 key cities and therefore, the gross quoted may not be the total that the film grossed nationally in the week.

Contents

Number-one films

#Week endingFilmGrossNotesRef
1January 4, 1978 Close Encounters of the Third Kind $4,435,990 [1]
2January 11, 1978$3,377,392 [2]
3January 18, 1978$2,274,682 [3]
4January 25, 1978$1,622,296 [4]
5February 1, 1978$1,774,208 [5]
6February 8, 1978$1,489,164 [6] [nb 1]
7February 15, 1978 The Betsy $1,339,400The Betsy grossed $2,727,084 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended February 12, an opening record for Allied Artists [9] [10]
8February 22, 1978 Saturday Night Fever $1,605,673Saturday Night Fever reached number one in its tenth week on the chart [11]
9March 1, 1978$2,171,501Saturday Night Fever grossed $3,765,000 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended February 26 [12] [13]
10March 8, 1978$1,687,869 [14]
11March 15, 1978$1,398,108 [15]
12March 22, 1978$1,207,132 [16]
13March 29, 1978 The Fury $1,444,416The Fury reached number one in its second week of release grossing $2,777,291 nationally for the weekend ended March 26 [17] [18]
14April 5, 1978$1,257,159 [19]
15April 12, 1978 The Goodbye Girl $969,830The Goodbye Girl reached number one in its 19th week on the chart [20]
16April 19, 1978$788,848 [21]
17April 26, 1978 House Calls $949,285House Calls reached number one in its sixth week on the chart [22]
18May 3, 1978$818,620 [23]
19May 10, 1978 F.I.S.T. $724,367F.I.S.T. reached number one in its second week of release [24]
20May 17, 1978 The Greek Tycoon $677,300 [25]
21May 24, 1978$981,908 [26]
22May 31, 1978 American Graffiti (reissue)$1,361,800 [27]
23June 7, 1978 Capricorn One $1,411,600 [28]
24June 14, 1978 Damien - Omen II $2,216,400Damien: Omen II grossed $3,880,880 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended June 11 [29] [30] [31]
25June 21, 1978 Jaws 2 $4,038,800Jaws 2 grossed $9.9 million nationally from all markets in the weekend ended June 18, an opening weekend record [32] [33] [34]
26June 28, 1978 Grease $4,174,082Grease reached number one in its second week of release, grossing $7,867,000 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended June 25 [35] [36]
27July 5, 1978$3,518,287 [37]
28July 12, 1978$2,443,707 [38]
29July 19, 1978$2,129,200 [39]
30July 26, 1978$1,977,551Star Wars (reissue) placed third on the chart from 166 theaters but grossed $10,166,366 nationally from 1,750 theaters in the weekend ended July 23, beating the weekend record set by Jaws 2 [40] [41] [42]
31August 2, 1978 Star Wars (reissue)$1,891,255Star Wars grossed $6,501,185 nationally in the weekend ended July 30 [43] [44]
32August 9, 1978 Hooper $2,476,400Hooper reached number one in its third week of release. Its nationwide gross for the week was $9,437,484. [45] [46]
33August 16, 1978$1,988,915 [47]
34August 23, 1978$1,747,842 [48]
35August 30, 1978 Animal House $2,022,990Animal House reached number one in its fifth week on the chart [49]
36September 6, 1978$2,103,917 [50]
37September 13, 1978$1,557,835 [51]
38September 20, 1978$1,251,100 [52]
39September 27, 1978$1,085,881 [53]
40October 4, 1978 Up in Smoke $1,109,000Up in Smoke reached number one in its second week of release [54]
41October 11, 1978Animal House$1,868,567Animal House returned to number one in its eleventh week of release [55]
42October 18, 1978$1,337,828 [56]
43October 25, 1978$1,298,347 [57]
44November 1, 1978 Midnight Express $1,300,711Midnight Express reached number one in its fourth week of release [58]
45November 8, 1978Up in Smoke$1,443,320Up in Smoke returned to number one in its seventh week of release. [59]
46November 15, 1978 Magic $1,376,000 [60]
47November 22, 1978$1,177,317 [61]
48November 29, 1978Midnight Express$993,743Midnight Express returned to number one in its eighth week of release [62]
49December 6, 1978$746,543 [63]
50December 13, 1978$590,763 [64]
51December 20, 1978 Superman $3,685,756Superman grossed $7,465,343 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended December 17, beating King Kong 's December opening record [65] [66] [67]
52December 27, 1978$4,171,899Superman grossed $6,535,784 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended December 24 [68] [69] [nb 2]

Highest grossing films

RankTitleDistributorRental [71] [72] [73]
1 Grease Paramount Pictures $83,091,000
2 Saturday Night Fever Paramount Pictures $71,463,000
3 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Columbia Pictures $54,000,000
4 Animal House Universal Pictures $52,368,000
5 Jaws 2 Universal Pictures $49,299,000
6 Heaven Can Wait Paramount Pictures $42,517,000
7 The Goodbye Girl Warner Bros. $41,000,000
8 Star Wars (reissue) 20th Century Fox $38,375,000
9 Hooper Warner Bros. $31,500,000
10 Foul Play Paramount Pictures $25,065,000

See also

Notes

  1. The Numbers lists The One and Only with a gross of $2,707,679 from 417 theaters for the weekend ended February 5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind grossed $5,143,795 nationally for the week from 629 theaters [7] [8]
  2. Box Office Mojo and The Numbers list Every Which Way but Loose as the number one for the weekend with a gross of $10,272,294 however, this is its gross for the week. [70]

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References

  1. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . January 11, 1978. p. 9.
  2. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . January 18, 1978. p. 9.
  3. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . January 25, 1978. p. 14.
  4. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . February 1, 1978. p. 13.
  5. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . February 8, 1978. p. 11.
  6. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . February 15, 1978. p. 9.
  7. "Weekend Domestic Chart for February 3, 1978". The Numbers . Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  8. "For 8 Full Weeks $72,385,849 At B.O. For 'Close Encounters'". Daily Variety . December 28, 1978. p. 2.
  9. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . February 22, 1978. p. 9.
  10. "Harrold Robbins' The Betsy is a Blockbuster (advertisement)". Variety . February 15, 1978. pp. 14–15.
  11. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . March 1, 1978. p. 13.
  12. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . March 8, 1978. p. 18.
  13. "Par Sees N.Y. 106 Showcase Yielding 'Fever' $1.1-Mil". Variety . March 1, 1978. p. 4.
  14. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . March 15, 1978. p. 13.
  15. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . March 22, 1978. p. 11.
  16. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . March 29, 1978. p. 11.
  17. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . April 5, 1978. p. 9.
  18. "The Fury Is Furious (advertisement)". Variety . March 29, 1978. pp. 8–9.
  19. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . April 12, 1978. p. 11.
  20. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . April 19, 1978. p. 13.
  21. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . April 26, 1978. p. 9.
  22. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . May 3, 1978. p. 15.
  23. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . May 10, 1978. p. 15.
  24. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . May 17, 1978. p. 58.
  25. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . May 24, 1978. p. 9.
  26. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . May 31, 1978. p. 9.
  27. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . June 7, 1978. p. 9.
  28. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . June 14, 1978. p. 9.
  29. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . June 21, 1978. p. 9.
  30. "The First Three Days (advertisement)". Variety . June 14, 1978. pp. 10–11.
  31. "Domestic 1978 Weekend 23 June 9-11, 1978". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  32. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . June 28, 1978. p. 9.
  33. "'Jaws 2,' 'Grease' Soar at B.O.". Daily Variety . June 20, 1978. p. 1.
  34. "Domestic 1978 Weekend 24 June 16-18, 1978". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  35. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . July 5, 1978. p. 9.
  36. "'Jaws 2', 'Grease', Get Hot Rival, 'Cheap Detective'". Variety . June 28, 1978. p. 6.
  37. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . July 12, 1978. p. 9.
  38. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . July 19, 1978. p. 9.
  39. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . July 26, 1978. p. 9.
  40. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . August 2, 1978. p. 9.
  41. "Wham B.O. For 'Star Wars' In Second Wave". Variety . July 26, 1978. p. 1.
  42. "Domestic 1978 Weekend 29 July 21-23, 1978". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  43. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . August 9, 1978. p. 12.
  44. "Latest As To 'Wars'". Variety . August 2, 1978. p. 82.
  45. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . August 16, 1978. p. 9.
  46. "Sooper Hooper (advertisement)". Variety . August 16, 1978. p. 25. Third week - 849 theatres: Average per theatre - $11,116
  47. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . August 23, 1978. p. 11.
  48. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . August 30, 1978. p. 11.
  49. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . September 6, 1978. p. 11.
  50. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . September 13, 1978. p. 13.
  51. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . September 20, 1978. p. 13.
  52. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . September 27, 1978. p. 9.
  53. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . October 4, 1978. p. 9.
  54. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . October 11, 1978. p. 15.
  55. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . October 18, 1978. p. 20.
  56. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . October 25, 1978. p. 9.
  57. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . November 1, 1978. p. 11.
  58. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . November 8, 1978. p. 9.
  59. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . November 15, 1978. p. 11.
  60. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . November 22, 1978. p. 11.
  61. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . November 29, 1978. p. 9.
  62. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . December 6, 1978. p. 14.
  63. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . December 13, 1978. p. 10.
  64. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . December 20, 1978. p. 13.
  65. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . December 27, 1978. p. 9.
  66. "'Superman': It's Adult". Variety . December 20, 1978. p. 3.
  67. "Domestic 1978 Weekend 50 December 15-17, 1978". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  68. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . January 10, 1979. p. 17.
  69. "Domestic 1978 Weekend 51 December 22-24, 1978". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  70. "'Loose' Pulls $10 Mil In Seven, Reports WB". Daily Variety . December 28, 1978. p. 2.
  71. Steinberg, Cobbett (1980). Film facts. New York: Facts on File. p. 28. ISBN   0871963132 . Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  72. "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. 293 (9): 20. 3 January 1979. ISSN   0011-5509 . Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  73. "Big Rental Films of 1978". Variety. 293 (9): 17. 3 January 1979. ISSN   0011-5509.

Chronology

Preceded by 1978 Succeeded by