This is a list of American films released in 1972.
Box office The highest-grossing American films released in 1972, by domestic box office gross revenue as estimated by The Numbers, are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1972 Rank Title Distributor Domestic gross 1 The Godfather Paramount $133,698,921 2The Poseidon Adventure 20th Century Fox $93,300,000 3What's Up, Doc? Warner Bros. $57,142,740 4 Deliverance $46,122,355 5 Deep Throat Bryanston Distributing Company $45,000,000 6 Jeremiah Johnson Warner Bros. $44,693,786 7Cabaret Allied Artists $41,326,446 8 The Getaway National General $36,734,619 9Last Tango in ParisUnited Artists$36,144,824 10 Lady Sings the Blues Paramount $19,726,490
January–March Opening Title Production company Cast and crew Ref.JANUARY 1 J. W. Coop Columbia Pictures / Robertson and Associates Cliff Robertson (director/screenplay); Gary Cartwright, Bud Shrake (screenplay); Cliff Robertson, Geraldine Page, Cristina Ferrare, R.G. Armstrong, John Crawford, Wade Crosby, Bruce Kirby, Larry Mahan, R.L. Armstrong, Marjorie Durant Dye, Paul Harper, Son Hooker, Richard Kennedy, Lowell D. Smith 7 Glass Houses Columbia Pictures Alexander Singer (director/screenplay); Judith Singer (screenplay); Bernard Barrow, Jennifer O'Neill, Philip Pine, Eve McVeagh, Deirdre Lenihan, Ann Summers 11 The Night Stalker ABC Circle Films / Dan Curtis Productions / Buena Vista International John Llewellyn Moxey (director); Richard Matheson (teleplay); Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland, Ralph Meeker, Claude Akins, Charles McGraw, Kent Smith, Elisha Cook Jr., Stanley Adams, Larry Linville, Jordan Rhodes, Barry Atwater 13 The Cowboys Warner Bros. Mark Rydell (director); Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr., William Dale Jennings (screenplay); John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Robert Carradine, Stephen Hudis, A Martinez, Slim Pickens, Lonny Chapman, Charles Tyner, Sarah Cunningham, Allyn Ann McLerie, Matt Clark, Dick Farnsworth, Larry Finley, Tap Canutt, Chuck Courtney, Gary Epper, Tony Epper, Alfred Barker Jr., Nicolas Beauvy, Steve Benedict, Norman Howell Jr., Sean Kelly, Clay O'Brien, Sam O'Brien, Mike Pyeatt, Maggie Costain, Jerry Gatlin, Walter Scott, Wallace Brooks, Charise Cullin, Colette Poeppel, Norman Howell, Rita Hudis, Margaret Kelly, Larry Randles, Jim Burk, Fred Brookfield, Kent Hays, Glenn Randall Jr., Henry Wills, Joe Yrigoyen 14 Cisco Pike Columbia Pictures Bill L. Norton (director/screenplay); Kris Kristofferson, Karen Black, Gene Hackman, Harry Dean Stanton, Viva, Doug Sahm, Roscoe Lee Browne, Joy Bang, Severn Darden, Antonio Fargas, Don Sturdy, Allan Arbus, Wavy Gravy, Lorna Thayer, William Traylor, Richard Stahl, Doodles Weaver 20 To Find a Man Columbia Pictures / Rastar Buzz Kulik (director); Arnold Schulman (screenplay); Pamela Sue Martin, Darren O'Connor, Lloyd Bridges, Phyllis Newman, Tom Ewell, Tom Bosley, Miles Chapin, Schell Rasten, Antonia Rey, Vicki Sue Robinson, Rutanya Alda 21 X Y & Zee Columbia Pictures / Zee Company Brian G. Hutton (director); Edna O'Brien (screenplay); Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, Susannah York, Margaret Leighton, John Standing, Michael Cashman, Richard O'Brien, Mary Larkin, Gino Melvazzi 26 The Hot Rock 20th Century Fox Peter Yates (director); William Goldman (screenplay); Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand, Moses Gunn, William Redfield, Topo Swope, Zero Mostel, Christopher Guest, Graham Jarvis, Charlotte Rae, Harry Bellaver, Lee Wallace, Gilbert Lewis, George Bartenieff, Ed Bernard, Albert Henderson, Robert Weil, Lynne Gordon, Fred Cook FEBRUARY 13 Cabaret Allied Artists / ABC Pictures Bob Fosse (director); Jay Allen (screenplay); Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Marisa Berenson, Fritz Wepper, Joel Grey, Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel, Helen Vita, Sigrid von Richthofen, Gerd Vespermann, Ralf Wolter, Ricky Renée, Kathryn Doby, Estrongo Nachama, Oliver Collignon, Mark Lambert 14 Pocket Money National General Pictures / First Artists Stuart Rosenberg (director); Terrence Malick (screenplay); Paul Newman, Lee Marvin, Strother Martin, Wayne Rogers, Hector Elizondo, Christine Belford, Kelly Jean Peters, Gregory Sierra, Fred Graham, Matt Clark, Claudio Miranda, Terrence Malick 26 The New Land (Sweden) Warner Bros. Jan Troell (director/screenplay); Bengt Forslund (screenplay); Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Allan Edwall, Monica Zetterlund, Pierre Lindstedt, Hans Alfredson, Agneta Prytz, Halvar Björk, Tom C. Fouts, Peter Lindgren, Per Oscarsson, Oscar Ljung, Karin Nordström, Eva-Lena Zetterlund MARCH 8 Tales from the Crypt (U.K.) Metromedia Producers Corporation / Amicus Productions Freddie Francis (director); Milton Subotsky (screenplay); Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Roy Dotrice, Richard Greene, Ian Hendry, Patrick Magee, Barbara Murray, Nigel Patrick, Robin Phillips, Ralph Richardson, Martin Boddey, Chloe Franks, Oliver MacGreevy, Angela Grant, Peter Fraser, David Markham, Robert Hutton, Clifford Earl, Edward Evans, Harry Locke, Geoffrey Bayldon, Robert Rietti, John Barrard, Susan Denny, Frank Forsyth, Manning Wilson, Irene Gawne, Stafford Medhurst, George Herbert 10 Frogs American International Pictures George McCowan (director); Robert Hutchison, Robert Blees (screenplay); Ray Milland, Sam Elliott, Joan Van Ark, Adam Roarke, Lynn Borden, Judy Pace, Mae Mercer, Dale Willingham, Hal Hodges, David Gilliam, Nicholas Cortland, George Skaff, Hollis Irving, Lance Taylor Sr. Silent Running Universal Pictures Douglas Trumbull (director); Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino, Steven Bochco (screenplay); Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint, Mark Persons, Cheryl Sparks, Steven Brown, Larry Whisenhunt What's Up, Doc? Warner Bros. / Saticoy Productions Peter Bogdanovich (director); Buck Henry, David Newman, Robert Benton (screenplay); Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Austin Pendleton, Kenneth Mars, Michael Murphy, Stefan Gierasch, Sorrell Booke, Philip Roth, Mabel Albertson, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, George Morfogen, Graham Jarvis, Randy Quaid, M. Emmet Walsh, Jack Perkins, Gil Perkins, Christa Lang, Don Bexley, John Byner, William Niven, Mel Blanc, Arthur Q. Bryan 12 Godzilla vs. Gigan – (Japan) Toho Jun Fukuda (director); Shinichi Sekizawa (screenplay); Hiroshi Ishikawa, Tomoko Umeda, Yuriko Hishimi, Minoru Takashima, Zan Fujita, Toshiaki Nishizawa, Kunio Murai, Gen Shimizu, Kuniko Ashihara, Zeko Nakamura, Haruo Nakajima, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Koetsu Omiya, Kanta Ina 15 Corky Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Leonard Horn (director); Eugene Price (screenplay); Robert Blake, Charlotte Rampling, Patrick O'Neal, Christopher Connelly, Pamela Payton-Wright, Ben Johnson, Laurence Luckinbill, Paul Stevens, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Buddy Baker, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Charlie Briggs, Jack Garner, Lulu Roman, John Marriott, Glen Wood Slaughterhouse-Five Universal Pictures / Cinema International Corporation George Roy Hill (director); Stephen Geller (screenplay); Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Valerie Perrine, Holly Near, Perry King, Kevin Conway, Friedrich von Ledebur, Ekkehardt Belle, Sorrell Booke, Roberts Blossom, John Dehner, Gary Waynesmith, Richard Schaal, Gilmer McCormick, Stan Gottlieb, Karl-Otto Alberty, Henry Bumstead, Lucille Benson, John Wood, Alexander Allerson, Barbara Frey, Warren Frost, Paul Hansard, Richard Stahl 17 Pink Flamingos New Line Cinema / Dreamland John Waters (director/screenplay); Divine, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Mary Vivian Pearce, Danny Mills, Edith Massey, Cookie Mueller, Channing Wilroy, Paul Swift, Susan Walsh, Linda Olgierson, Pat Moran, Steve Yeager, George Figgs, Vincent Peranio, Van Smith, Elizabeth Coffey, David E. Gluck, John Waters 22 The Biscuit Eater Walt Disney Productions / Buena Vista Distribution Vincent McEveety (director); Lawrence Edward Watkin (screenplay); Earl Holliman, Pat Crowley, Lew Ayres, Godfrey Cambridge, Beah Richards, Clifton James, Johnny Whitaker, Mantan Moreland, George Spell, Rolph Van Wolfgang Fist of Fury Golden Harvest Lo Wei (director/screenplay); Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, Riki Hashimoto, Robert Baker, Tien Feng, Paul Wei, Fung Ngai, Lo Wei, Huang Tsung-hsing, Han Ying-chieh, James Tien, Maria Yi, Jun Katsumura, Lee Kwan, Jackie Chan, Corey Yuen 23 The Concert for Bangladesh 20th Century Fox / Apple Films Saul Swimmer (director); George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner, Badfinger, Jesse Ed Davis, Kamala Chakravarty, Claudia Lennear, Don Nix, Don Preston, Alla Rakha, Mal Evans, Allen Klein, Phil Spector, The Hollywood Horns, Allan Beutler, Jo Green, Jeany Greene, Marlin Greene, Dolores Hall, Jacky Kelso, Ustad Aliakbar Khan, Lew McCreary, Carl Radie 24 The Godfather Paramount Pictures / Alfran Productions Francis Ford Coppola (director/screenplay); Mario Puzo (screenplay); Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Al Lettieri, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, Talia Shire, Gianni Russo, John Cazale, Rudy Bond, Al Martino, Morgana King, Lenny Montana, Johnny Martino, Salvatore Corsitto, Richard Bright, Alex Rocco, Tony Giorgio, Vito Scotti, Victor Rendina, Jeannie Linero, Julie Gregg, Simonetta Stefanelli, Angelo Infanti, Corrado Gaipa, Franco Citti, Saro Urzi, Frank Albanese, Carmine Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Italia Coppola, Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Randy Jurgensen, Tony King, Paul Lambert, Tony Lip, Tom Rosqui, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Frank Sivero, Joe Spinell, Nick Vallelonga, Ilene Woods The Ten Commandments (re-release) Paramount Pictures / Motion Picture Associates Cecil B. DeMille (director); Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse L. Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss, Fredric M. Frank (screenplay); Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, John Derek, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, John Carradine, Olive Deering, Douglas Dumbrille, Frank de Kova, Henry Wilcoxon, Eduard Franz, Donald Curtis, Lawrence Dobkin, H.B. Warner, Julia Faye, Joanna Merlin, Fraser Heston, John Miljan, Francis J. McDonald, Ian Keith, Paul De Rolf, Woodrow Strode, Joan Woodbury, Kathy Garver, Cecil B. DeMille, Lisa Mitchell, Noelle Williams, Pat Richard, Joyce Vanderveen, Diane Hall, Abbas El Boughdadly, Tommy Duran, Eugene Mazzola, Ramsay Hill, Esther Brown, Babette Bain 29 The Carey Treatment Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Geoffrey Productions Blake Edwards (director); James P. Bonner (screenplay); James Coburn, Jennifer O'Neill, Pat Hingle, Elizabeth Allen, John Fink, Dan O'Herlihy, James Hong, Alex Dreier, Michael Blodgett, Regis Toomey, Jennifer Edwards, John Hillerman, Robert Mandan, Robie Porter, Dick Crockett, Stephen Manley, Ed Peck, Skye Aubrey, Steve Carlson, Rosemary Edelman, Warren Parker
April–June