List of 1974 box office number-one films in the United States explained

This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1974 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

	Week ending	Film	Gross	Notes
1		Papillon	$1,463,300	Papillon reached number one in its second week of release	^[1]
2		The Exorcist	$1,007,800	The Exorcist reached number one in its second week of release	^[2]
3			$1,365,500		^[3]
4			$1,532,611		^[4]
5			$1,535,896		^[5]
6			$1,589,500		^[6]
7			$1,369,500		^[7]
8			$1,506,188		^[8]
9			$1,312,000		^[9]
10			$1,182,600		^[10]
11			$1,012,100		^[11]
12			$835,200		^[12]
13			$743,283		^[13]
14		The Sting	$1,332,300	The Sting reached number one in its 14th week on the chart	^[14]
15			$1,585,100		^[15]
16		Blazing Saddles	$1,233,700	Blazing Saddles reached number one in its tenth week of release	^[16]
17		The Sting	$1,145,900	The Sting returned to number one in its 17th week on the chart	^[17]
18			$1,032,900		^[18]
19			$853,300		^[19]
20			$815,000		^[20]
21			$725,500		^[21]
22		The Great Gatsby	$1,044,438	The Great Gatsby reached number one in its ninth week on the chart	^[22]
23		The Sting	$759,700	The Sting returned to number one in its 23rd week on the chart	^[23]
24		The Poseidon Adventure (reissue)	$575,500		^[24]
25		The Lords of Flatbush	$612,000	The Lords of Flatbush reached number one in its seventh week on the chart	^[25]
26		The Exorcist	$4,061,300	The Exorcist returned to number one in its 26th week of release. First film to gross over $4 million in a week in the cities sampled	^[26]
27			$2,547,437		^[27]
28			$1,542,825		^[28]
29		Herbie Rides Again	$860,200	Herbie Rides Again reached number one in its sixth week on the chart	^[29]
30		Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry	$869,202	Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry reached number one in its ninth week on the chart	^[30]
31		For Pete's Sake	$1,015,150	For Pete's Sake reached number one in its fifth week on the chart	^[31]
32			$661,500		^[32]
33		Return of the Dragon	$1,168,500	Return of the Dragon reached number one in its third week on the chart	^[33]
34		That's Entertainment!	$1,307,900	That's Entertainment! reached number one in its 14th week on the chart	^[34]
35		Chinatown	$1,272,000	Chinatown reached number one in its tenth week on the chart	^[35]
36			$1,175,900		^[36]
37		That's Entertainment		$781,150	That's Entertainment! returned to number one in its 17th week on the chart	^[37]
38			$524,350		^[38]
39		Macon County Line	$458,000	Macon County Line reached number one in its twelfth week on the chart	^[39]
40		The Longest Yard	$513,630	The Longest Yard reached number one in its sixth week on the chart	^[40]
41		Cabaret (reissue)	$1,345,000		^[41]
42			$687,000		^[42]
43		Airport 1975	$903,934		^[43]
44		The Longest Yard	$905,854	The Longest Yard returned to number one in its tenth week on the chart	^[44]
45			$926,200		^[45]
46			$816,500		^[46]
47		The Trial of Billy Jack	$2,390,000		^[47]
48			$2,026,000		^[48]
49			$1,268,200		^[49]
50		Death Wish	$693,951	Death Wish reached number one in its twentieth week on the chart	^[50]
51			$600,900		^[51]
52		The Godfather Part II	$1,450,135	The Godfather Part II reached number one in its second week of release	^[52]

Highest-grossing films

Highest-grossing films of 1974 by calendar year gross based on the cities covered by Variety for the weekly charts.^{[53] [54]}

Rank	Title	Studio	Playing weeks	Gross ($)
1.	The Exorcist	Warner Bros.	1,522	31,541,887
2.	The Sting	Universal	2,099	26,380,982
3.	Papillon	Allied Artists	2,024	14,732,236
4.	Serpico	Paramount	1,312	10,287,816
5.	American Graffiti	Universal	1,321	9,526,412
6.	That's Entertainment!	United Artists	842	9,368,447
7.	Blazing Saddles	Warner Bros.	1,197	9,234,062
8.	Chinatown	Paramount	994	8,570,732
9.	The Longest Yard	Paramount	1,037	7,604,614
10.	The Great Gatsby	Paramount	848	7,443,580
11.	The Trial of Billy Jack	Taylor-Laughlin	854	6,789,030
12.	Vanishing Wilderness	Pacific International Enterprises	367	6,117,307
13.	Death Wish	Paramount	611	6,089,607
14.	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	20th Century Fox	878	6,025,067
15.	For Pete's Sake	Columbia	820	5,856,767
16.	Sleeper	United Artists	811	5,852,424
17.	Uptown Saturday Night	Warner Bros.	444	5,413,089
18.	Airport 1975	Universal	394	5,390,607
19.	Magnum Force	Warner Bros.	534	5,309,704
20.	Mame	Warner Bros.	364	4,955,672
21.	Herbie Rides Again		477	4,769,028
22.	Earthquake	Universal	153	4,535,053
23.	The Way We Were	Columbia	943	4,489,653
24.	Buck and the Preacher	20th Century Fox	685	4,234,429
25.	Return of the Dragon	Bryanston	398	4,223,269

See also

• List of American films - American films by year
• Lists of box office number-one films

Notes and References

1. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. January 16, 1974. 15.
2. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. January 16, 1974. 9.
3. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. January 23, 1974. 9.
4. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. January 30, 1974. 9.
5. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. February 6, 1974. 12.
6. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. February 13, 1974. 15.
7. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. February 20, 1974. 9.
8. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. February 27, 1974. 9.
9. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. March 6, 1974. 14.
10. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. March 13, 1974. 10.
11. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. March 20, 1974. 10.
12. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. March 27, 1974. 9.
13. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. April 3, 1974. 9.
14. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. April 10, 1974. 9.
15. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. April 17, 1974. 9.
16. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. April 24, 1974. 12.
17. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. May 1, 1974. 12.
18. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. May 8, 1974. 15.
19. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. May 15, 1974. 15.
20. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. May 22, 1974. 9.
21. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. May 29, 1974. 9.
22. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. June 5, 1974. 9.
23. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. June 12, 1974. 9.
24. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. June 19, 1974. 9.
25. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. June 26, 1974. 9.
26. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. July 3, 1974. 9.
27. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. July 10, 1974. 9.
28. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. July 17, 1974. 9.
29. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. July 24, 1974. 14.
30. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. July 31, 1974. 9.
31. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. August 7, 1974. 9.
32. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. August 14, 1974. 10.
33. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. August 21, 1974. 11.
34. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. August 28, 1974. 14.
35. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. September 4, 1974. 11.
36. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. September 11, 1974. 12.
37. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. September 18, 1974. 9.
38. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. September 25, 1974. 10.
39. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. October 2, 1974. 9.
40. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. October 9, 1974. 9.
41. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. October 16, 1974. 9.
42. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. October 23, 1974. 25.
43. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. October 30, 1974. 9.
44. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. November 6, 1974. 9. December 10, 2023.
45. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. November 13, 1974. 11.
46. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. November 20, 1974. 9.
47. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. November 27, 1974. 9.
48. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. December 4, 1974. 9.
49. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. December 11, 1974. 12.
50. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. December 18, 1974. 9. December 10, 2023.
51. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. December 25, 1974. 10.
52. Variety. 50 Top-Grossing Films. January 1, 1975. 9.
53. Variety. Variety Chart Summary For 1974. Silverman. Syd. Syd Silverman. May 7, 1975. 133.
54. Variety. Top 25 In '74 Zoomed 10%; 'Exorcist,' 'Sting' Paced This Field. May 7, 1975. 133.