# List of 1974 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 1974 per Variety. The data was based on grosses from 20 to 24 key cities and therefore, the gross quoted may not be the total that the film grossed nationally in the week.

## Number-one films

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Week ending | Film | Gross | Notes |
| 1 | January 2, 1974 | Papillon | $1,463,300 | Papillon reached number one in its second week of release |
| 2 | January 9, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,007,800 | The Exorcist reached number one in its second week of release |
| 3 | January 16, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,365,500 | |
| 4 | January 23, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,532,611 | |
| 5 | January 30, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,535,896 | |
| 6 | February 6, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,589,500 | |
| 7 | February 13, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,369,500 | |
| 8 | February 20, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,506,188 | |
| 9 | February 27, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,312,000 | |
| 10 | March 6, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,182,600 | |
| 11 | March 13, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,012,100 | |
| 12 | March 20, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $835,200 | |
| 13 | March 27, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $743,283 | |
| 14 | April 3, 1974 | The Sting | $1,332,300 | The Sting reached number one in its 14th week on the chart |
| 15 | April 10, 1974 | The Sting | $1,585,100 | |
| 16 | April 17, 1974 | Blazing Saddles | $1,233,700 | Blazing Saddles reached number one in its tenth week of release |
| 17 | April 24, 1974 | The Sting | $1,145,900 | The Sting returned to number one in its 17th week on the chart |
| 18 | May 1, 1974 | The Sting | $1,032,900 | |
| 19 | May 8, 1974 | The Sting | $853,300 | |
| 20 | May 15, 1974 | The Sting | $815,000 | |
| 21 | May 22, 1974 | The Sting | $725,500 | |
| 22 | May 29, 1974 | The Great Gatsby | $1,044,438 | The Great Gatsby reached number one in its ninth week on the chart |
| 23 | June 5, 1974 | The Sting | $759,700 | The Sting returned to number one in its 23rd week on the chart |
| 24 | June 12, 1974 | The Poseidon Adventure (reissue) | $575,500 | |
| 25 | June 19, 1974 | The Lords of Flatbush | $612,000 | The Lords of Flatbush reached number one in its seventh week on the chart |
| 26 | June 26, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $4,061,300 | The Exorcist returned to number one in its 26th week of release. First film to gross over $4 million in a week in the cities sampled |
| 27 | July 3, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $2,547,437 | |
| 28 | July 10, 1974 | The Exorcist † | $1,542,825 | |
| 29 | July 17, 1974 | Herbie Rides Again | $860,200 | Herbie Rides Again reached number one in its sixth week on the chart |
| 30 | July 24, 1974 | Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry | $869,202 | Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry reached number one in its ninth week on the chart |
| 31 | July 31, 1974 | For Pete's Sake | $1,015,150 | For Pete's Sake reached number one in its fifth week on the chart |
| 32 | August 7, 1974 | For Pete's Sake | $661,500 | |
| 33 | August 14, 1974 | Return of the Dragon | $1,168,500 | Return of the Dragon reached number one in its third week on the chart |
| 34 | August 21, 1974 | That's Entertainment! | $1,307,900 | That's Entertainment! reached number one in its 14th week on the chart |
| 35 | August 28, 1974 | Chinatown | $1,272,000 | Chinatown reached number one in its tenth week on the chart |
| 36 | September 4, 1974 | Chinatown | $1,175,900 | |
| 37 | September 11, 1974 | That's Entertainment! | $781,150 | That's Entertainment! returned to number one in its 17th week on the chart |
| 38 | September 18, 1974 | That's Entertainment! | $524,350 | |
| 39 | September 25, 1974 | Macon County Line | $458,000 | Macon County Line reached number one in its twelfth week on the chart |
| 40 | October 2, 1974 | The Longest Yard | $513,630 | The Longest Yard reached number one in its sixth week on the chart |
| 41 | October 9, 1974 | Cabaret (reissue) | $1,345,000 | |
| 42 | October 16, 1974 | Cabaret (reissue) | $687,000 | |
| 43 | October 23, 1974 | Airport 1975 | $903,934 | |
| 44 | October 30, 1974 | The Longest Yard | $905,854 | The Longest Yard returned to number one in its tenth week on the chart |
| 45 | November 6, 1974 | The Longest Yard | $926,200 | |
| 46 | November 13, 1974 | The Longest Yard | $816,500 | |
| 47 | November 20, 1974 | The Trial of Billy Jack | $2,390,000 | |
| 48 | November 27, 1974 | The Trial of Billy Jack | $2,026,000 | |
| 49 | December 4, 1974 | The Trial of Billy Jack | $1,268,200 | |
| 50 | December 11, 1974 | Death Wish | $693,951 | Death Wish reached number one in its twentieth week on the chart |
| 51 | December 18, 1974 | Death Wish | $600,900 | |
| 52 | December 25, 1974 | The Godfather Part II | $1,450,135 | The Godfather Part II reached number one in its second week of release |

## Highest-grossing films

Highest-grossing films of 1974 by calendar year gross based on the cities covered by Variety for the weekly charts.
| Rank | Title | Studio | Playing weeks | Gross ($) |
| 1. | The Exorcist | Warner Bros. | 1,522 | 31,541,887 |
| 2. | The Sting | Universal | 2,099 | 26,380,982 |
| 3. | Papillon | Allied Artists | 2,024 | 14,732,236 |
| 4. | Serpico | Paramount | 1,312 | 10,287,816 |
| 5. | American Graffiti | Universal | 1,321 | 9,526,412 |
| 6. | That's Entertainment! | United Artists | 842 | 9,368,447 |
| 7. | Blazing Saddles | Warner Bros. | 1,197 | 9,234,062 |
| 8. | Chinatown | Paramount | 994 | 8,570,732 |
| 9. | The Longest Yard | Paramount | 1,037 | 7,604,614 |
| 10. | The Great Gatsby | Paramount | 848 | 7,443,580 |
| 11. | The Trial of Billy Jack | Taylor-Laughlin | 854 | 6,789,030 |
| 12. | Vanishing Wilderness | Pacific International Enterprises | 367 | 6,117,307 |
| 13. | Death Wish | Paramount | 611 | 6,089,607 |
| 14. | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 20th Century Fox | 878 | 6,025,067 |
| 15. | For Pete's Sake | Columbia | 820 | 5,856,767 |
| 16. | Sleeper | United Artists | 811 | 5,852,424 |
| 17. | Uptown Saturday Night | Warner Bros. | 444 | 5,413,089 |
| 18. | Airport 1975 | Universal | 394 | 5,390,607 |
| 19. | Magnum Force | Warner Bros. | 534 | 5,309,704 |
| 20. | Mame | Warner Bros. | 364 | 4,955,672 |
| 21. | Herbie Rides Again | Buena Vista | 477 | 4,769,028 |
| 22. | Earthquake | Universal | 153 | 4,535,053 |
| 23. | The Way We Were | Columbia | 943 | 4,489,653 |
| 24. | Buck and the Preacher | 20th Century Fox | 685 | 4,234,429 |
| 25. | Return of the Dragon | Bryanston | 398 | 4,223,269 |