List of 1961 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 1961 per Variety's 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.

Number-one films
# Week ending Film Notes Ref
1January 4, 1961SpartacusSpartacus reached number one in its 13th week of release[1]
2January 11, 1961Spartacus[2]
3January 18, 1961Exodus[3]
4January 25, 1961SpartacusSpartacus returned to number one in its 16th week of release[4]
5February 1, 1961Swiss Family RobinsonSwiss Family Robinson grossed $265,000 in the key cities sampled[5]
6February 8, 1961The Misfits[6]
7February 15, 1961Exodus[6]
8February 22, 1961The Misfits[7]
9March 1, 1961Exodus[8]
10March 8, 1961Exodus[8]
11March 15, 1961Exodus[9]
12March 22, 1961ExodusAlthough Variety listed Exodus as the champ for the week based on their cities sampled, it noted that The Alamo likely grossed more nationally[10]
13March 29, 1961Exodus[11]
14April 5, 1961Exodus[12]
15April 12, 1961Exodus[13]
16April 19, 1961The Absent-Minded Professor[14]
17April 26, 1961The Absent-Minded Professor[15]
18May 3, 1961The Absent-Minded Professor[16]
19May 10, 1961Gone with the Wind (reissue)Gone with the Wind grossed $250,000 from 17 key cities[17]
20May 17, 1961The Absent-Minded Professor[18]
21May 24, 1961Gone with the Wind (reissue)[19]
22May 31, 1961The Young SavagesThe Young Savages grossed around $300,000 from 18 key cities[20]
23June 7, 1961The Pleasure of His Company[21]
24June 14, 1961The Pleasure of His Company[22]
25June 21, 1961The Pleasure of His Company[23]
26June 28, 1961The Pleasure of His Company[24]
27July 5, 1961The Parent Trap[25]
28July 12, 1961FannyFanny opened at Radio City Music Hall where it grossed over $200,000[26]
29July 19, 1961Fanny[27]
30July 26, 1961FannyFanny was still grossing $200,000 at Radio City Music Hall[28]
31August 2, 1961The Guns of Navarone[29]
32August 9, 1961The Guns of Navarone[30]
33August 16, 1961The Guns of Navarone[31]
34August 23, 1961The Guns of Navarone[32]
35August 30, 1961Come September[33]
36September 6, 1961Come September[34]
37September 13, 1961Come September[34]
38September 20, 1961Come September[35]
39September 27, 1961Come September[36]
40October 4, 1961Come September[37]
41October 11, 1961The HustlerThe Hustler grossed over $200,000 from 11 key cities[38]
42October 18, 1961Breakfast at Tiffany'sBreakfast at Tiffany's reached number one despite playing in only 5 key cities[39]
43October 25, 1961Breakfast at Tiffany's[40]
44November 1, 1961Breakfast at Tiffany's[40]
45November 8, 1961Breakfast at Tiffany's[41]
46November 15, 1961Breakfast at Tiffany's[41]
47November 22, 1961King of Kings[42]
48November 29, 1961The ComancherosThe Comancheros grossed nearly $300,000 from 21 key cities[43]
49December 6, 1961King of Kings[44]
50December 13, 1961King of Kings[45]
51December 20, 1961West Side Story[46]
52December 27, 1961Flower Drum Song[47]

Highest-grossing films

The highest-grossing films during the calendar year based on theatrical rentals were as follows:

RankTitleDistributorRental[48]
1 Ben-Hur Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $14,700,000[49][50]
2 The Guns of Navarone Columbia Pictures $8,600,000
3 The Absent-Minded Professor Buena Vista $8,200,000
4 The Parent Trap Buena Vista $8,000,000
5 Swiss Family Robinson Buena Vista $7,500,000
6 Exodus United Artists $7,350,000
7 The World of Suzie Wong Paramount Pictures $7,300,000
8 The Alamo United Artists $7,250,000
9 Gone with the Wind Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $6,000,000
10 One Hundred and One Dalmatians Buena Vista $5,800,000

References
  1. Wear, Mike (February 1, 1961). "'Spartacus' Tops Jan. Estimates; Tailed By 'Exodus' and 'Grass'; Late-Month Biz-Blitz Slows All". Variety. p. 7. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Archive.org.
  2. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. January 11, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Archive.org.
  3. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. January 18, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Archive.org.
  4. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. January 25, 1961. p. 5. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Archive.org.
  5. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. February 1, 1961. p. 7. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Archive.org.
  6. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. February 15, 1961. p. 17. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Archive.org.
  7. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. February 22, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Archive.org.
  8. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. March 8, 1961. p. 4.
  9. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. March 15, 1961. p. 6.
  10. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. March 22, 1961. p. 22.
  11. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. March 29, 1961. p. 16.
  12. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. April 5, 1961. p. 5.
  13. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. April 12, 1961. p. 11.
  14. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. April 19, 1961. p. 10.
  15. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. April 26, 1961. p. 19.
  16. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. May 3, 1961. p. 23.
  17. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. May 10, 1961. p. 8.
  18. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. May 17, 1961. p. 10.
  19. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. May 24, 1961. p. 3.
  20. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. May 31, 1961. p. 10.
  21. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. June 7, 1961. p. 10.
  22. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. June 14, 1961. p. 5.
  23. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. June 21, 1961. p. 7.
  24. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. June 28, 1961. p. 7.
  25. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. July 5, 1961. p. 10.
  26. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. July 12, 1961. p. 10.
  27. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. July 19, 1961. p. 19.
  28. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. July 26, 1961. p. 17.
  29. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. August 2, 1961. p. 4.
  30. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. August 9, 1961. p. 18.
  31. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. August 16, 1961. p. 11.
  32. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. August 23, 1961. p. 11.
  33. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. August 30, 1961. p. 11.
  34. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. September 13, 1961. p. 3.
  35. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. September 20, 1961. p. 17.
  36. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. September 27, 1961. p. 13.
  37. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. October 4, 1961. p. 10.
  38. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. October 11, 1961. p. 24.
  39. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. October 18, 1961. p. 20.
  40. Wear, Mike (November 8, 1961). "October's Golden Glow in 'Tiffany's'; 'Splendor in Grass' & 'The Hustler' Rank 2-3, 'Devil' Following". Variety. p. 7.
  41. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. November 15, 1961. p. 10.
  42. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. November 22, 1961. p. 10.
  43. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. November 29, 1961. p. 16.
  44. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. December 6, 1961. p. 17.
  45. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. December 13, 1961. p. 11.
  46. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. December 20, 1961. p. 10.
  47. "National Boxoffice Survey". Variety. December 27, 1961. p. 10.
  48. "1961: Rentals and Potential". Variety. January 10, 1962. p. 13.
  49. "All-Time Top Gross Films". Variety. January 10, 1962. p. 13. $32,000,000 already taken
  50. "Rental Potentials of 1960". Variety. January 4, 1961. p. 47. Retrieved January 2, 2021 – via Archive.org. $17,300,000

See also
Preceded by
1960		 1961 Succeeded by
1962
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