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List of 1972 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 1972 per Variety. The data was based on grosses from 20 to 24 key cities and therefore, the gross quoted may not be the total that the film grossed nationally in the week.

Number-one films

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# Week ending Film Gross Notes Ref
1 January 5, 1972 Diamonds Are Forever $1,551,359 [1]
2 January 12, 1972 $1,717,800 [2]
3 January 19, 1972 $963,450 [3]
4 January 26, 1972 $834,600 [4]
5 February 2, 1972 $660,962 [5]
6 February 9, 1972 The French Connection $769,200 The French Connection returned to number one in its 18th week on the chart [6]
7 February 16, 1972 $711,400 [7]
8 February 23, 1972 Dirty Harry $601,500 Dirty Harry reached number one in its ninth week on the chart [8]
9 March 1, 1972 The Last Picture Show $465,350 The Last Picture Show reached number one in its 21st week on the chart [9]
10 March 8, 1972 The Hospital $623,380 The Hospital reached number one in its twelfth week on the chart [10]
11 March 15, 1972 Dirty Harry $726,500 Dirty Harry returned to number one in its twelfth week on the chart [11]
12 March 22, 1972 The Godfather $568,800 [12]
13 March 29, 1972 $2,698,500 [13]
14 April 5, 1972 $2,495,100 [14]
15 April 12, 1972 $2,348,100 [15]
16 April 19, 1972 $1,978,300 [16]
17 April 26, 1972 $1,775,800 [17]
18 May 3, 1972 $1,574,200 [18]
19 May 10, 1972 $1,313,600 [19]
20 May 17, 1972 $1,164,700 [20]
21 May 24, 1972 $3,188,000 First film to gross over $3 million in a week in the cities sampled [21]
22 May 31, 1972 $2,976,600 [22]
23 June 7, 1972 $2,691,200 [23]
24 June 14, 1972 $1,814,100 [24]
25 June 21, 1972 $1,633,600 [25]
26 June 28, 1972 $1,687,800 [26]
27 July 5, 1972 $1,398,541 [27]
28 July 12, 1972 $1,112,900 [28]
29 July 19, 1972 $1,811,400 [29]
30 July 26, 1972 $1,316,800 [30]
31 August 2, 1972 $1,275,435 [31]
32 August 9, 1972 $895,500 [32]
33 August 16, 1972 $719,200 [33]
34 August 23, 1972 $610,810 [34]
35 August 30, 1972 Butterflies Are Free $678,900 Butterflies Are Free reached number one in its eighth week on the chart [35]
36 September 6, 1972 The Godfather $1,029,900 The Godfather returned to number one in its 25th week of release [36]
37 September 13, 1972 $668,000 [37]
38 September 20, 1972 $456,150 [38]
39 September 27, 1972 Super Fly $625,500 Super Fly reached number one in its eighth week on the chart [39]
40 October 4, 1972 $457,050 [40]
41 October 11, 1972 The New Centurions $652,550 The New Centurions reached number one in its tenth week on the chart [41]
42 October 18, 1972 $429,950 [41]
43 October 25, 1972 Slaughter $525,000 Slaughter reached number one in its tenth week on the chart [42]
44 November 1, 1972 Deliverance $324,720 Deliverance reached number one in its thirteenth week on the chart [43]
45 November 8, 1972 The Valachi Papers $749,000 The Valachi Papers reached number one in its third week on the chart [44]
46 November 15, 1972 $740,300 [45]
47 November 22, 1972 Lady Sings the Blues $868,300 Lady Sings the Blues reached number one in its fifth week on the chart [46]
48 November 29, 1972 $924,250 [47]
49 December 6, 1972 $581,600 [48]
50 December 13, 1972 $468,245 [49]
51 December 20, 1972 Man of La Mancha $365,996 [50]
52 December 27, 1972 The Poseidon Adventure $777,700 The Poseidon Adventure reached number one in its second week of release [51]

Highest-grossing films

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Highest-grossing films of 1972 by calendar year gross based on the cities covered by Variety for the weekly charts.[nb 1][52][53]

Rank Title Studio Playing weeks[nb 2] Gross ($)
1. The Godfather Paramount 2,176 43,170,087
2. Fiddler on the Roof United Artists 920 13,714,068
3. Cabaret Allied Artists 1,254 10,869,847
4. The French Connection 20th Century Fox 1,279 10,868,314
5. What's Up, Doc? Warner Bros. 733 8,714,177
6. A Clockwork Orange Warner Bros. 611 8,039,240
7. Diamonds Are Forever United Artists 683 7,526,861
8. The Hospital United Artists 953 6,878,594
9. The Last Picture Show Columbia 911 6,824,005
10. Dirty Harry Warner Bros. 750 6,392,199
11. Super Fly Warner Bros. 399 6,279,996
12. Butterflies Are Free Columbia 639 5,092,177
13. Lady Sings the Blues Paramount 435 4,874,806
14. Frenzy Universal 601 4,819,132
15. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) United Artists 533 4,718,382
16. Play It Again, Sam Paramount 442 4,700,092
17. The New Centurions Columbia 628 4,629,644
18. Nicholas and Alexandra Columbia 463 4,311,812
19. Deliverance Warner Bros. 265 4,048,073
20. The Valachi Papers Columbia 272 3,713,719
21. Fritz the Cat Cinemation 388 3,683,108
22. Midnight Cowboy United Artists 10 3,335,739
23. Shaft's Big Score Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 225 3,151,923
24. Buck and the Preacher Columbia 276 3,089,286
25. The Other 20th Century Fox 375 2,638,754

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Variety noted that the total grosses that they collated represented about one-third of total U.S. grosses as defined by the US Department of Commerce. The grosses of the top 25 films represented 48% of the total grosses collated. Variety noted that the grosses they reported were based on mostly first-run theatres in major metropolitan markets and that the performance of films from distributors such as Walt Disney Studios and Universal Pictures, which sought out smaller markets and subsequent run marketing strategies for their films, were not fully reflected in their charts.
  2. ^ Playing weeks represent one film in one theatre for one week

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 12, 1972. p. 11.
  2. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 19, 1972. p. 17.
  3. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 26, 1972. p. 9.
  4. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 2, 1972. p. 9.
  5. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 9, 1972. p. 11.
  6. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 16, 1972. p. 13.
  7. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 23, 1972. p. 16.
  8. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 1, 1972. p. 9.
  9. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 8, 1972. p. 11.
  10. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 15, 1972. p. 9.
  11. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 22, 1972. p. 9.
  12. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 29, 1972. p. 21.
  13. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. April 5, 1972. p. 11.
  14. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. April 12, 1972. p. 13.
  15. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. April 19, 1972. p. 9.
  16. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. April 26, 1972. p. 14.
  17. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 3, 1972. p. 17.
  18. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 10, 1972. p. 17.
  19. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 17, 1972. p. 13.
  20. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 24, 1972. p. 9.
  21. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 31, 1972. p. 11.
  22. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 7, 1972. p. 9.
  23. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 14, 1972. p. 9.
  24. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 21, 1972. p. 10.
  25. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 28, 1972. p. 9.
  26. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 5, 1972. p. 9.
  27. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 12, 1972. p. 9.
  28. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 19, 1972. p. 9.
  29. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 26, 1972. p. 12.
  30. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 2, 1972. p. 9.
  31. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 9, 1972. p. 11.
  32. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 16, 1972. p. 11.
  33. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 23, 1972. p. 11.
  34. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 30, 1972. p. 9.
  35. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 6, 1972. p. 11.
  36. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 13, 1972. p. 10.
  37. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 20, 1972. p. 11.
  38. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 27, 1972. p. 9. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  39. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 4, 1972. p. 9. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  40. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 11, 1972. p. 9.
  41. ^ a b "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 25, 1972. p. 17.
  42. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 1, 1972. p. 11.
  43. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 8, 1972. p. 10.
  44. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 15, 1972. p. 9.
  45. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 22, 1972. p. 9.
  46. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 29, 1972. p. 21.
  47. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 6, 1972. p. 9. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  48. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 13, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  49. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 20, 1972. p. 9.
  50. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 27, 1972. p. 11.
  51. ^ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 10, 1973. p. 9.
  52. ^ Silverman, Syd (May 9, 1973). "77 Films Over $1mil In U.S." Variety. p. 44.
  53. ^ "The Top 25 Films Of 1972". Variety. May 9, 1973. p. 44.

Chronology

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Preceded by 1972 Succeeded by
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