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.

Number-one films

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

Highest grossing films

Rank Title Distributor Rental[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]

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.

External links

Chronology

Preceded by1977 1978 Succeeded by1979
Lists of box office number-one films
Categories