This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1971.
Number-one films †This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. Week ending Film Gross Notes 1 Love Story † $800,400 For the weekend ending January 3, 1971, Love Story grossed $2,493,167 from all markets in the United States and Canada. 2 $910,500 For the weekend ending January 10, 1971, Love Story grossed $2,405,809 from all markets in the United States and Canada. 3 $926,100 4 $892,200 5 $815,900 6 The Owl and the Pussycat $1,051,428 The Owl and the Pussycat reached number one in its 14th week of release 7 Love Story † $1,191,227 Love Story returned to number one in its ninth week of release 8 $908,800 9 $821,500 10 $673,300 11 $634,600 12 $599,100 13 Husbands $556,000Husbands reached number one in its 16th week of release 14 A New Leaf$535,950A New Leaf reached number one in its fourth week of release 15 Cold Turkey $715,833Cold Turkey reached number one in its tenth week of release 16 Patton/MASH (double bill) $740,421 17 $567,500 18 $373,100 19 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice/Cactus Flower (double bill) $340,000 20 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song $357,500Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song reached number one in its seventh week on the chart 21 $421,000 22 A New Leaf $778,100A New Leaf returned to number one in its 12th week on the chart 23 Gimme Shelter $283,027 Gimme Shelter reached number one in its 21st week on the chart 24 Lawrence of Arabia (reissue) $549,500Lawrence of Arabia reissue reached number one in its 14th week on the chart 25 $255,000 26 Love Story † $2,242,900 Love Story returned to number one after 28 weeks of release. First film to gross over $2 million in a week in the cities sampled 27 $1,116,951 28 $672,207 29 Summer of '42 $666,435Summer of '42 reached number one in its 13th week on the chart 30 Willard $1,329,970Willard reached number one in its sixth week on the chart 31 $755,500 32 Klute $596,000Klute reached number one in its seventh week on the chart 33 The Andromeda Strain $479,000The Andromeda Strain reached number one in its 20th week on the chart 34 The Anderson Tapes $654,200The Anderson Tapes reached number one in its tenth week on the chart 35 The Omega Man $500,000 The Omega Man reached number one in its fifth week on the chart 36 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song $387,000 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song returned to number one in its 19th week on the chart 37 $283,000 38 McCabe & Mrs. Miller $343,652 McCabe & Mrs. Miller reached number one in its eleventh week on the chart 39 The Stewardesses $450,070 The Stewardesses reached number one in its 43rd week on the chart 40 $526,216 41 $454,700 42 The Omega Man $500,000The Omega Man returned to number one in its tenth week on the chart 43 The Organization$646,500 44 $473,600 45 Cry Uncle! $502,500Cry Uncle! reached number one in its twelfth week on the chart 46 The French Connection $489,600The French Connection reached number one in its sixth week on the chart 47 $776,050 48 $914,700 49 $628,078 50 $508,207 51 Diamonds Are Forever $1,521,800For the weekend ending December 19, 1971, Diamonds Are Forever grossed $1,569,249 from all markets in the United States and Canada. 52 $2,033,500
Highest-grossing films Highest-grossing films of 1971 by calendar year gross based on the cities covered by Variety for the weekly charts. Rank Title StudioPlaying weeks Gross ($)1.Love StoryParamount1,16319,303,3902.Summer of '42Warner Bros.9367,704,0683. Little Big ManNational General Pictures664 6,552,9224.Carnal Knowledge Avco Embassy4636,280,7365.The Owl and the Pussycat Columbia6566,046,9616.The Stewardesses Sherpix522 5,712,5627.Ryan's DaughterMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer5875,371,1468.The French Connection20th Century Fox2795,009,7919.The Anderson TapesColumbia3234,766,50710.A New LeafParamount3484,670,24711.WillardCRC271 4,599,34012.Tora! Tora! Tora!20th Century Fox 439 3,934,02613.ShaftMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer257 3,916,72114.KluteWarner Bros.4083,686,06315.Diamonds Are ForeverUnited Artists 145 3,588,43716.Plaza SuiteParamount 285 3,525,483 17.The Andromeda StrainUniversal 333 3,431,44018.Five Easy PiecesColumbia 535 3,237,84419.Fiddler on the RoofUnited Artists82 3,204,41020.Song of Norway CRC351 3,130,72921.Bananas United Artists396 3,016,07322.The Love Machine Columbia244 3,007,83423.Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Cinemation179 2,994,704 24.Cold Turkey United Artists421 2,857,93825.KotchCRC4072,762,265
See also List of American films — American films by year Lists of box office number-one films
Notes
References
Chronology