This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1963 per Varietys 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No survey published. The monthly summary noted that Taras Bulba was number one for a week in January | [1] | ||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | Gypsy | [2] | ||
| 4 | Mutiny on the Bounty | [3] | ||
| 5 | Sodom and Gomorrah | [4] | ||
| 6 | Lawrence of Arabia | [5] | ||
| 7 | No survey published | |||
| 8 | To Kill a Mockingbird | To Kill a Mockingbird reached number one in its eighth week of release | [6] | |
| 9 | Son of Flubber | |||
| 10 | [7] | |||
| 11 | To Kill a Mockingbird | To Kill a Mockingbird returned to number one in its eleventh week of release | [8] | |
| 12 | Days of Wine and Roses | [9] | ||
| 13 | How the West Was Won | How the West Was Won reached number one in its fifth week of release | [10] | |
| 14 | [11] | |||
| 15 | The Birds | The Birds reached number one in its second week of release | [12] | |
| 16 | [13] | |||
| 17 | How the West Was Won | How the West Was Won returned to number one in its ninth week of release | [14] | |
| 18 | [15] | |||
| 19 | [16] | |||
| 20 | [17] | |||
| 21 | [18] | |||
| 22 | [19] | |||
| 23 | 55 Days at Peking | [20] | ||
| 24 | How the West Was Won | How the West Was Won returned to number one in its sixteenth week of release | [21] | |
| 25 | [22] | |||
| 26 | [23] | |||
| 27 | Cleopatra | Cleopatra reached number one in its third week of release grossing $725,000 from 17 key cities | [24] | |
| 28 | ||||
| 29 | [25] | |||
| 30 | [26] | |||
| 31 | [27] | |||
| 32 | [28] | |||
| 33 | [29] | |||
| 34 | [30] | |||
| 35 | [31] | |||
| 36 | [32] | |||
| 37 | [33] | |||
| 38 | [34] | |||
| 39 | [35] | |||
| 40 | The V.I.P.s | The V.I.P.s grossed $473,000 from 19 key cities | [36] | |
| 41 | [37] | |||
| 42 | [38] | |||
| 43 | Cleopatra | Cleopatra returned to number one in its 19th week of release | [39] | |
| 44 | [40] | |||
| 45 | Mary, Mary | [41] | ||
| 46 | [42] | |||
| 47 | Cleopatra | Cleopatra returned to number one in its 23rd week of release | [43] | |
| 48 | No data published | Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Variety did not publish box office figures for the week due to the reduced attendance, with theatres closed on Friday evening after the assassination and on Monday for his funeral as well as reduced attendance over the weekend | [44] | |
| 49 | Under the Yum Yum Tree | [45] | ||
| 50 | [46] | |||
| 51 | [47] | |||
| 52 | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | [48] | ||
The highest-grossing films during the calendar year based on theatrical rentals were as follows:
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Rental[49] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleopatra | 20th Century Fox | $15,700,000 |
| 2 | The Longest Day | $12,750,000 | |
| 3 | Irma la Douce | United Artists | $9,250,000 |
| 4 | Lawrence of Arabia | Columbia Pictures | $9,000,000 |
| 5 | How the West Was Won | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $8,000,000 |
| 6 | Mutiny on the Bounty | $7,700,000 | |
| 7 | Son of Flubber | Buena Vista | $6,900,000 |
| 8 | To Kill a Mockingbird | Universal Pictures | $6,700,000 |
| 9 | Bye Bye Birdie | Columbia Pictures | $5,600,000 |
| 10 | Come Blow Your Horn | Paramount Pictures | $5,450,000 |