This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 2003.
Number-one films †This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. Weekend end date Film Box office Notes 1 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $25,017,279 2 Just Married $17,548,993 3 Kangaroo Jack $16,580,209 4 Darkness Falls $12,024,917 5 The Recruit $16,302,063 6 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days $23,774,850 7 Daredevil $40,310,419 Daredevil broke John Q.s record ($20.3 mil) for the highest President's Day weekend debut, and Hannibals record ($29.7 mil) for the highest President's Day weekend gross. 8 $18,092,309 9 Cradle 2 the Grave $16,521,468 10 Bringing Down the House $31,101,026 11 $22,054,934 12 $16,204,468 13 Head of State $13,503,484 14 Phone Booth $15,021,088 15 Anger Management $42,220,847 Anger Management broke The Scorpion Kings record ($36.1 mil) for the highest weekend debut in April. 16 $25,005,588 17 Identity $16,225,263 18 X2 $85,558,731 19 $40,032,160 20 The Matrix Reloaded $91,774,413 The Matrix Reloadeds $37.5 million opening day gross broke Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones record ($30.1 mil) for the highest-grossing Thursday of all-time. It also broke Hannibals record ($58.0 mil) for the highest weekend debut for an R-rated film and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stones record ($90.2 mill) for the highest opening for a Warner Bros. film. The Matrix Reloaded had the highest weekend debut of 2003. 21 Bruce Almighty $67,953,330 22 Finding Nemo † $70,251,710 Finding Nemo broke Monsters, Inc.'''s records ($62.6 mil) for the highest weekend debut for an animated film, a non-sequel animated film, a G-rated film, as well as for an original film overall. || |- | 23 || || 2 Fast 2 Furious || $50,472,480 || || |- | 24 || ||style="background-color:#FFFF99"| Finding Nemo †|| $28,384,483 || Finding Nemo reclaimed #1 in its third weekend of release. || |- | 25 || || Hulk || $62,128,420 || Hulk broke Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Mes record ($54.9 mil) for the highest weekend debut in June. || |- | 26 || || Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle || $37,634,221 || || |- | 27 || || Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines || $44,041,440 || || |- | 28 || || Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl || $46,630,690 || || |- | 29 || || Bad Boys II || $46,522,560 || || |- | 30 || || Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over || $33,417,739 || Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over broke Jaws 3-Ds record ($13.3 mil) for the highest weekend debut for a 3-D film. || |- | 31 || || American Wedding || $33,369,440 || || |- | 32 || || S.W.A.T. || $37,062,535 || || |- | 33 || || rowspan="2" | Freddy vs. Jason || $36,428,066 || Freddy vs. Jason broke Scream 3s record ($34.7 million) for the highest weekend debut for a slasher film. || |- | 34 || || $13,152,967 || || |- | 35 || || Jeepers Creepers 2 || $15,269,324 || Jeepers Creepers 2 broke Jeepers Creepers record ($13.1 mil) for the highest Labor Day weekend debut. || |- | 36 || || Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star || $6,660,540 || || |- | 37 || || Once Upon a Time in Mexico || $23,424,118 || || |- | 38 || || Underworld || $21,753,759 || || |- | 39 || || The Rundown || $18,553,765 || || |- | 40 || || School of Rock || $19,622,714 || || |- | 41 || || Kill Bill: Volume 1 || $22,089,322 || || |- | 42 || || The Texas Chainsaw Massacre || $28,094,014 || || |- | 43 || || rowspan="2" | Scary Movie 3 || $48,113,770 || Scary Movie 3 broke Red Dragons record ($36.5 mil) for the highest weekend debut in October as well as for any fall release, and broke Lara Croft: Tomb Raiders record ($47.7 million) for highest weekend debut for a film featuring a female protagonist. || |- | 44 || || $20,017,468 || || |- | 45 || || The Matrix Revolutions || $48,475,154 || || |- | 46 || || Elf || $26,325,613 || Elf reached #1 in its second weekend of release. || |- | 47 || || rowspan="2" | The Cat in the Hat || $38,329,160 || || |- | 48 || || $24,459,685 || || |- | 49 || || The Last Samurai || $24,271,354 || || |- | 50 || || Something's Gotta Give || $16,064,723 || || |- | 51 || || rowspan="2" | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King || $72,629,713 || The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kings $34.4 million opening day gross broke Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menaces record ($28.5 mil) for the highest Wednesday gross of all-time. It also broke The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' record ($62.0 mil) for the highest weekend debut in December. 52 $50,598,104
Highest-grossing films
Calendar Gross Highest-grossing films of 2003 by Calendar Gross Rank Title Studio(s) Actor(s) Director(s) Gross 1. Finding NemoWalt Disney Studios voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe and Geoffrey Rush Andrew Stanton $339,714,184 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Jonathan Pryce Gore Verbinski $305,398,779 3. The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. Pictures Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith and Gloria Foster The Wachowskis $281,576,461 4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm and Sean Bean Peter Jackson $249,445,927 5. Bruce Almighty Universal Pictures Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston and Philip Baker Hall Tom Shadyac $242,829,261 6. X2 20th Century Fox Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Shawn Ashmore, Kelly Hu, Aaron Stanford and Bruce Davison Bryan Singer $214,949,694 7. Elf New Line Cinema Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Edward Asner and Bob Newhart Jon Favreau $167,547,000 8. Chicago Miramax Films Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore and Dominic West Rob Marshall $167,511,932 9. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Warner Bros. Pictures Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken Jonathan Mostow $150,371,112 10. Bad Boys II Columbia Pictures Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Jordi Mollà, Gabrielle Union, Peter Stormare, Theresa Randle and Joe Pantoliano Michael Bay $138,608,444
In-Year Release + Highest-grossing films of 2003 by In-year release Rank Title Distributor Domestic gross 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $377,027,325 2. Finding Nemo Disney $339,714,978 3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl $305,413,918 4. The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $281,576,461 5. Bruce Almighty Universal $242,829,261 6. X2 20th Century Fox $214,949,694 7. Elf New Line Cinema $173,398,518 8. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Warner Bros. $150,371,112 9. The Matrix Revolutions $139,313,948 10. Cheaper by the Dozen 20th Century Fox $138,614,544
+ Highest-grossing films by MPAA rating of 2003 G Finding Nemo PG Elf PG-13 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King R The Matrix Reloaded
See also List of American films — American films by year Lists of box office number-one films
References
Chronology