# List of 1966 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 1966 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

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Week ending | Film | Notes |
| 1 | January 5, 1966 | Thunderball † | |
| 2 | January 12, 1966 | Thunderball † | Thunderball grossed over $1.2 million in the key cities sampled |
| 3 | January 19, 1966 | Thunderball † | |
| 4 | January 26, 1966 | Thunderball † | |
| 5 | February 2, 1966 | Thunderball † | |
| 6 | February 9, 1966 | Thunderball † | |
| 7 | February 16, 1966 | Thunderball † | |
| 8 | February 23, 1966 | Thunderball † | |
| 9 | March 2, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 52nd week of release |
| 10 | March 9, 1966 | The Sound of Music | |
| 11 | March 16, 1966 | The Sound of Music | |
| 12 | March 23, 1966 | The Sound of Music | |
| 13 | March 30, 1966 | The Sound of Music | |
| 14 | April 6, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago reached number one in its 15th week of release |
| 15 | April 13, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 16 | April 20, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 17 | April 27, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 60th week of release |
| 18 | May 4, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 19th week of release |
| 19 | May 11, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 62nd week of release |
| 20 | May 18, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 21st week of release |
| 21 | May 25, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 64th week of release |
| 22 | June 1, 1966 | The Sound of Music | |
| 23 | June 8, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 24th week of release |
| 24 | June 15, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 67th week of release |
| 25 | June 22, 1966 | The Sound of Music | |
| 26 | June 29, 1966 | The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming | |
| 27 | July 6, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 28 | July 13, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 29 | July 20, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 30 | July 27, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 31 | August 3, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 32 | August 10, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 33 | August 17, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 34 | August 24, 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| 35 | August 31, 1966 | How to Steal a Million | |
| 36 | September 7, 1966 | How to Steal a Million | |
| 37 | September 14, 1966 | The Sound of Music | The Sound of Music returned to number one in its 80th week of release |
| 38 | September 21, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | Doctor Zhivago returned to number one in its 39th week of release |
| 39 | September 28, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 40 | October 5, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 41 | October 12, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 42 | October 19, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 43 | October 26, 1966 | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 44 | November 2, 1966 | Hawaii | Hawaii reached number one in its third week of release |
| 45 | November 9, 1966 | Hawaii | |
| 46 | November 16, 1966 | The Professionals | |
| 47 | November 23, 1966 | The Professionals and Hawaii | Variety did not indicate which of the top two films was number one for the week |
| 48 | November 30, 1966 | The Professionals | |
| 49 | December 7, 1966 | The Professionals | |
| 50 | December 14, 1966 | The Professionals | |
| 51 | December 21, 1966 | Hawaii and The Professionals | Again, Variety did not indicate which of the top two films was number one for the week |
| 52 | December 28, 1966 | Follow Me, Boys! | |

## Highest-grossing films

The highest-grossing films during the calendar year based on theatrical rentals were as follows:
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Rental |
| 1 | Thunderball | United Artists | $26,000,000 |
| 2 | The Sound of Music | 20th Century Fox | $22,500,000 |
| 3 | Doctor Zhivago | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $15,000,000 |
| 4 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Warner Bros. | $10,300,000 |
| 5 | That Darn Cat! | Buena Vista | $9,200,000 |
| 6 | The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming | United Artists | $7,750,000 |
| 7 | Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. | Buena Vista | $7,500,000 |
| 8 | The Silencers | Columbia Pictures | $7,000,000 |
| 8 | Torn Curtain | Universal Pictures | $7,000,000 |
| 10 | Our Man Flint | 20th Century Fox | $6,500,000 |