List of 1979 box office number-one films in the United States

This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1979 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 3, 1979	Superman	$4,859,936	Superman grossed $13,135,498 nationally from all markets for the 4-day weekend ended January 1, a record weekend gross. Its 3-day gross of $10,364,384 beat the record $10.2 million set by Star Wars in its 1978 reissue	[1][2][3]
2	January 10, 1979		$3,424,808	Superman grossed $7,492,687 for the weekend ended January 7	[4][5]
3	January 17, 1979		$2,461,956		[6]
4	January 24, 1979		$2,123,217		[7]
5	January 31, 1979		$2,200,610		[8]
6	February 7, 1979		$2,045,669		[9]
7	February 14, 1979	The Warriors	$2,159,182	The Warriors grossed $3,529,675 for the weekend ended February 11, 1979 from all markets	[10][11]
8	February 21, 1979		$1,963,705		[12]
9	February 28, 1979	Superman	$1,315,729	Superman returned to number one in its eleventh week of release	[13]
10	March 7, 1979		$1,082,516		[14]
11	March 14, 1979		$1,035,227		[14]
12	March 21, 1979	The China Syndrome	$2,258,078		[15]
13	March 28, 1979		$2,486,149		[16]
14	April 4, 1979		$2,326,181	[16]
15	April 11, 1979		$2,036,307		[17]
16	April 18, 1979	The Deer Hunter	$1,927,378	The Deer Hunter reached number one in its 13th week on the chart	[18]
17	April 25, 1979		$1,340,362		[19]
18	May 2, 1979	Love at First Bite	$1,461,097	Love at First Bite reached number one in its fourth week of release	[20]
19	May 9, 1979	Manhattan	$1,155,174	Manhattan reached number one in its second week of release	[21]
20	May 16, 1979		$1,352,694		[22]
21	May 23, 1979		$1,241,692		[23]
22	May 30, 1979	Alien	$2,327,321	Alien grossed $3,522,581 for the 4-day Memorial Day weekend ended May 28 from all markets	[24][25][26]
23	June 6, 1979		$1,965,402	Alien grossed $2,192,025 for the weekend ended June 3 from all markets	[27][28]
24	June 13, 1979		$1,721,543	Alien grossed $2,669,177 for the weekend ended June 10 from all markets	[29][30]
25	June 20, 1979	Rocky II	$2,570,683	Rocky II grossed $6,390,537 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended June 17	[31][32]
26	June 27, 1979		$2,747,481		[33]
27	July 4, 1979	Moonraker	$3,585,238	Moonraker grossed $7,108,344 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended July 1	[34][35]
28	July 11, 1979		$2,839,120		[36]
29	July 18, 1979	Dracula	$1,838,533	Dracula grossed $3,141,281 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended July 15. Meatballs grossed $4,112,000 for the weekend	[37][38][39][nb 1][40]
30	July 25, 1979		$1,435,465		[41]
31	August 1, 1979	The Amityville Horror	$4,253,684	The Amityville Horror grossed $7,843,467 nationally for the weekend ended July 29	[42][43]
32	August 8, 1979		$3,606,900	The Amityville Horror grossed $6,901,959 nationally for the weekend ended August 5	[44][45][nb 2]
33	August 15, 1979		$2,256,732		[46]
34	August 22, 1979	Star Wars (reissue)	$2,058,618	Star Wars grossed $6,760,165 nationally for the weekend ended August 19	[47][48]
35	August 29, 1979	The Muppet Movie	$1,037,414	The Muppet Movie reached number one in its tenth week of release	[49]
36	September 5, 1979		$1,060,063		[50]
37	September 12, 1979	North Dallas Forty	$720,867	North Dallas Forty reached number one in its sixth week of release	[51]
38	September 19, 1979		$557,813		[52]
39	September 26, 1979	Monty Python's Life of Brian	$1,262,773	Life of Brian reached number one in its sixth week of release	[53]
40	October 3, 1979		$1,143,800	When a Stranger Calls grossed $2,597,032 in its opening 4 days. Life of Brian grossed $9,055,143 from 3 weeks of general release	[54][55][56]
41	October 10, 1979	Starting Over	$970,650		[57]
42	October 17, 1979	When a Stranger Calls	$1,593,114	When a Stranger Calls reached number one in its third week of release	[58]
43	October 24, 1979	10	$1,649,481	10 reached number one in its second week of release	[59]
44	October 31, 1979		$1,437,056		[60]
45	November 7, 1979		$1,432,139		[61]
46	November 14, 1979	...And Justice for All.	$1,222,477	...And Justice for All. reached number one in its fourth week of release	[62]
47	November 21, 1979	10	$1,098,879	10 returned to number one in its sixth week of release	[63]
48	November 28, 1979		$1,426,059		[64]
49	December 5, 1979		$965,755		[65]
50	December 12, 1979	Star Trek: The Motion Picture	$5,643,078	Star Trek grossed $11,926,421 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended December 9, beating the 3-day weekend record of $10.3 million set by Superman and the $9.9 million opening weekend record set by Jaws 2	[66][67][68]
51	December 19, 1979		$3,064,569	Star Trek grossed $7,215,848 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended December 16	[69][70]
52	December 26, 1979		$2,778,258	Star Trek grossed $12,075,000 nationally from all markets for the 5-day weekend ended December 25	[71][72]

References

1. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 10, 1979. p. 17.
2. "'Superman' Adds More Records To His Collection". Daily Variety. January 3, 1979. p. 1.
3. "Domestic 1978 Weekend 52 December 29-31, 1978". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
4. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 17, 1979. p. 9.
5. "Weekend Domestic Chart for January 5, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
6. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 24, 1979. p. 9.
7. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 31, 1979. p. 9.
8. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 7, 1979. p. 9.
9. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 14, 1979. p. 9.
10. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 21, 1979. p. 9.
11. "Domestic 1979 Weekend 6 February 9-11, 1979". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
12. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. February 28, 1979. p. 9.
13. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 7, 1979. p. 9.
14. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 21, 1979. p. 9.
15. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. March 28, 1979. p. 9.
16. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. April 11, 1979. p. 9.
17. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. April 18, 1979. p. 9.
18. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. April 25, 1979. p. 9.
19. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 2, 1979. p. 9.
20. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 9, 1979. p. 45.
21. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 16, 1979. p. 9.
22. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 23, 1979. p. 9.
23. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. May 30, 1979. p. 9.
24. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 6, 1979. p. 9.
25. "Weekend Domestic Chart for May 25, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
26. Pollock, Dale (May 30, 1979). "Per-Screen 'Alien' B.O. May Be Record". Daily Variety. p. 1.
27. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 13, 1979. p. 9.
28. "Weekend Domestic Chart for June 1, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
29. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 20, 1979. p. 9.
30. "Weekend Domestic Chart for June 8, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
31. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. June 27, 1979. p. 9.
32. "Weekend Domestic Chart for June 15, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
33. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 4, 1979. p. 9.
34. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 11, 1979. p. 9.
35. "Weekend Domestic Chart for June 29, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
36. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 18, 1979. p. 9.
37. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. July 25, 1979. p. 9.
38. "New No. 1 Fang". Variety. July 18, 1979. p. 5.
39. "Domestic 1979 Weekend 29". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
40. "Every Distrib Has A Winner; 'Meatballs' $4.1-M". Variety. July 25, 1979. p. 3.
41. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 1, 1979. p. 13.
42. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 8, 1979. p. 11.
43. "Weekend Domestic Chart for July 27, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
44. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 15, 1979. p. 11.
45. "Weekend Domestic Chart for August 10, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
46. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 22, 1979. p. 9.
47. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. August 29, 1979. p. 9.
48. "Weekend Domestic Chart for August 17, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
49. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 5, 1979. p. 13.
50. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 12, 1979. p. 9.
51. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 19, 1979. p. 9.
52. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. September 26, 1979. p. 9.
53. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 3, 1979. p. 9.
54. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 10, 1979. p. 9.
55. "'Call' Rings Up $3-Mil". Variety. October 10, 1979. p. 7.
56. "Holy Grosses (advertisement)". Variety. October 24, 1979. p. 10.
57. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 17, 1979. p. 49.
58. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 24, 1979. p. 13.
59. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. October 31, 1979. p. 9.
60. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 7, 1979. p. 11.
61. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 14, 1979. p. 11.
62. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 21, 1979. p. 17.
63. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. November 28, 1979. p. 9.
64. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 5, 1979. p. 11.
65. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 12, 1979. p. 17.
66. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 19, 1979. p. 9.
67. "Weekend Domestic Chart for December 7, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
68. "'Star Trek' Into B.O. Stratospherics". Variety. December 12, 1979. p. 3.
69. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. December 26, 1979. p. 9.
70. "Weekend Domestic Chart for December 14, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
71. "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety. January 2, 1980. p. 9.
72. "Weekend Domestic Chart for December 21, 1979". The Numbers. Retrieved December 24, 2020.

Notes

1. Box Office Mojo lists the opening weekend gross for Dracula for the weekend ended July 22 but this is incorrect as Variety reported this weekend gross on July 18
2. The Numbers lists the second weekend gross for The Amityville Horror for the weekend ended August 12 as it incorrectly lists the first week twice

See also

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

External links

• Domestic Box Office Weekends For 1979 (Box Office Mojo)
• Theatrical Weekly Box Office Chart Calendar for 1979 (The Numbers)