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.
| Week ending | Film | Gross | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | $4,435,990 | [1] | ||
| 2 | $3,377,392 | [2] | |||
| 3 | $2,274,682 | [3] | |||
| 4 | $1,622,296 | [4] | |||
| 5 | $1,774,208 | [5] | |||
| 6 | $1,489,164 | [6] | |||
| 7 | 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 | [7] [8] | |
| 8 | Saturday Night Fever | $1,605,673 | Saturday Night Fever reached number one in its tenth week on the chart | [9] | |
| 9 | $2,171,501 | Saturday Night Fever grossed $3,765,000 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended February 26 | [10] [11] | ||
| 10 | $1,687,869 | [12] | |||
| 11 | $1,398,108 | [13] | |||
| 12 | $1,207,132 | [14] | |||
| 13 | 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 | [15] [16] | |
| 14 | $1,257,159 | [17] | |||
| 15 | The Goodbye Girl | $969,830 | The Goodbye Girl reached number one in its 19th week on the chart | [18] | |
| 16 | $788,848 | [19] | |||
| 17 | House Calls | $949,285 | House Calls reached number one in its sixth week on the chart | [20] | |
| 18 | $818,620 | [21] | |||
| 19 | F.I.S.T. | $724,367 | F.I.S.T. reached number one in its second week of release | [22] | |
| 20 | The Greek Tycoon | $677,300 | [23] | ||
| 21 | $981,908 | [24] | |||
| 22 | American Graffiti (reissue) | $1,361,800 | [25] | ||
| 23 | Capricorn One | $1,411,600 | [26] | ||
| 24 | Damien - Omen II | $2,216,400 | Damien: Omen II grossed $3,880,880 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended June 11 | [27] [28] [29] | |
| 25 | 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 | [30] [31] [32] | |
| 26 | 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 | [33] [34] | |
| 27 | $3,518,287 | [35] | |||
| 28 | $2,443,707 | [36] | |||
| 29 | $2,129,200 | [37] | |||
| 30 | $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 | [38] [39] [40] | ||
| 31 | Star Wars (reissue) | $1,891,255 | Star Wars grossed $6,501,185 nationally in the weekend ended July 30 | [41] [42] | |
| 32 | Hooper | $2,476,400 | Hooper reached number one in its third week of release. Its nationwide gross for the week was $9,437,484. | [43] [44] | |
| 33 | $1,988,915 | [45] | |||
| 34 | $1,747,842 | [46] | |||
| 35 | Animal House | $2,022,990 | Animal House reached number one in its fifth week on the chart | [47] | |
| 36 | $2,103,917 | [48] | |||
| 37 | $1,557,835 | [49] | |||
| 38 | $1,251,100 | [50] | |||
| 39 | $1,085,881 | [51] | |||
| 40 | Up in Smoke | $1,109,000 | Up in Smoke reached number one in its second week of release | [52] | |
| 41 | Animal House | $1,868,567 | Animal House returned to number one in its eleventh week of release | [53] | |
| 42 | $1,337,828 | [54] | |||
| 43 | $1,298,347 | [55] | |||
| 44 | Midnight Express | $1,300,711 | Midnight Express reached number one in its fourth week of release | [56] | |
| 45 | Up in Smoke | $1,443,320 | Up in Smoke returned to number one in its seventh week of release. | [57] | |
| 46 | Magic | $1,376,000 | [58] | ||
| 47 | $1,177,317 | [59] | |||
| 48 | Midnight Express | $993,743 | Midnight Express returned to number one in its eighth week of release | [60] | |
| 49 | $746,543 | [61] | |||
| 50 | $590,763 | [62] | |||
| 51 | Superman | $3,685,756 | Superman grossed $7,465,343 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended December 17, beating King Kongs December opening record | [63] [64] [65] | |
| 52 | $4,171,899 | Superman grossed $6,535,784 nationally from all markets in the weekend ended December 24 | [66] [67] | ||
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Rental[68] [69] [70] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |