# List of 1973 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 1973 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 3, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $773,000 | |
| 2 | January 10, 1973 | The Getaway | $874,800 | The Getaway reached number one in its third week of release |
| 3 | January 17, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $634,500 | The Poseidon Adventure returned to number one in its fifth week of release |
| 4 | January 24, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $649,400 | |
| 5 | January 31, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $533,300 | |
| 6 | February 7, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $1,274,500 | |
| 7 | February 14, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $1,116,400 | |
| 8 | February 21, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $1,104,100 | |
| 9 | February 28, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $749,800 | |
| 10 | March 7, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $596,700 | |
| 11 | March 14, 1973 | The Getaway | $489,280 | The Getaway returned to number one in its twelfth week of release |
| 12 | March 21, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $438,100 | The Poseidon Adventure returned to number one in its 14th week of release |
| 13 | March 28, 1973 | Five Fingers Of Death | $696,000 | |
| 14 | April 4, 1973 | Cabaret | $983,950 | Cabaret reached number one in its 59th week of release. It grossed $1,880,000 nationally, a record for Allied Artists |
| 15 | April 11, 1973 | Cabaret | $833,700 | |
| 16 | April 18, 1973 | Five Fingers Of Death | $440,500 | Five Fingers Of Death returned to number one in its fourth week of release |
| 17 | April 25, 1973 | Soylent Green | $674,500 | |
| 18 | May 2, 1973 | Soylent Green | $537,150 | |
| 19 | May 9, 1973 | Fists of Fury | $697,000 | |
| 20 | May 16, 1973 | The Poseidon Adventure † | $363,800 | The Poseidon Adventure returned to number one in its 22nd week of release |
| 21 | May 23, 1973 | Last Tango in Paris | $384,200 | Last Tango In Paris reached number one in its 16th week of release |
| 22 | May 30, 1973 | High Plains Drifter | $791,700 | High Plains Drifter reached number one in its eighth week on the chart |
| 23 | June 6, 1973 | High Plains Drifter | $460,500 | |
| 24 | June 13, 1973 | The Chinese Connection | $694,850 | The Chinese Connection reached number one in its second week of release |
| 25 | June 20, 1973 | The Hammer of God | $467,000 | |
| 26 | June 27, 1973 | Scarecrow | $627,600 | Scarecrow reached number one in its ninth week on the chart |
| 27 | July 4, 1973 | Live and Let Die | $1,868,100 | |
| 28 | July 11, 1973 | Live and Let Die | $1,203,690 | |
| 29 | July 18, 1973 | Live and Let Die | $858,900 | |
| 30 | July 25, 1973 | Live and Let Die | $731,400 | |
| 31 | August 1, 1973 | Karado: The Hong Kong Flash | $725,000 | |
| 32 | August 8, 1973 | Live and Let Die | $514,950 | Live and Let Die returned to number one in its sixth week of release |
| 33 | August 15, 1973 | Coffy | $625,750 | Coffy reached number one in its 14th week of release |
| 34 | August 22, 1973 | Paper Moon | $911,685 | Paper Moon reached number one in its twelfth week on the chart |
| 35 | August 29, 1973 | Enter the Dragon | $802,280 | Enter the Dragon reached number one in its second week of release |
| 36 | September 5, 1973 | Enter the Dragon | $825,300 | |
| 37 | September 12, 1973 | Lady Kung Fu | $699,000 | |
| 38 | September 19, 1973 | The Shanghai Killers | $399,600 | Shanghai Killers reached number one in its third week on the chart |
| 39 | September 26, 1973 | Dillinger | $412,000 | Dillinger reached number one in its 13th week on the chart |
| 40 | October 3, 1973 | Deadly China Doll | $400,000 | |
| 41 | October 10, 1973 | Enter the Dragon | $643,200 | Enter the Dragon returned to number one in its eighth week of release |
| 42 | October 17, 1973 | The Cheerleaders/Fritz the Cat (double bill) | $260,000 | |
| 43 | October 24, 1973 | Paper Moon | $465,800 | Paper Moon returned to number one in its 21st week on the chart |
| 44 | October 31, 1973 | Billy Jack (reissue) | $2,526,455 | |
| 45 | November 7, 1973 | Billy Jack (reissue) | $2,085,425 | |
| 46 | November 14, 1973 | Billy Jack (reissue) | $1,258,167 | |
| 47 | November 21, 1973 | The Way We Were | $1,345,000 | The Way We Were reached number one in its fifth week on the chart |
| 48 | November 28, 1973 | The Way We Were | $1,496,100 | |
| 49 | December 5, 1973 | The Way We Were | $967,700 | |
| 50 | December 12, 1973 | The Way We Were | $772,500 | |
| 51 | December 19, 1973 | The Way We Were | $504,100 | |
| 52 | December 26, 1973 | Serpico | $907,102 | Serpico reached number one in its third week of release |

## Highest-grossing films

Highest-grossing films of 1973 by calendar year gross based on the cities covered by Variety for the weekly charts.
| Rank | Title | Studio | Playing weeks | Gross ($) |
| 1. | The Poseidon Adventure | 20th Century Fox | 1,229 | 12,850,359 |
| 2. | Billy Jack | Warner Bros. | 1,446 | 9,328,613 |
| 3. | Last Tango in Paris | United Artists | 804 | 8,937,300 |
| 4. | The Way We Were | Columbia | 690 | 8,184,256 |
| 5. | Live and Let Die | United Artists | 803 | 7,739,979 |
| 6. | The Devil in Miss Jones | MBL | 607 | 7,681,782 |
| 7. | Paper Moon | Paramount | 954 | 7,245,869 |
| 8. | The Getaway | National General Pictures | 594 | 5,244,568 |
| 9. | The Heartbreak Kid | 20th Century Fox | 663 | 4,708,831 |
| 10. | Deliverance | Warner Bros. | 757 | 4,626,320 |
| 11. | Deep Throat | Damiano | 182 | 4,617,211 |
| 12. | Sleuth | 20th Century Fox | 547 | 4,528,312 |
| 13. | Cabaret | Allied Artists | 1,080 | 4,511,703 |
| 14. | Jesus Christ Superstar | Universal | 485 | 4,267,763 |
| 15. | The Day of the Jackal | Universal | 563 | 4,234,494 |
| 16. | American Graffiti | Universal | 411 | 4,227,708 |
| 17. | A Touch of Class | Avco Embassy | 527 | 4,202,988 |
| 18. | Enter the Dragon | Warner Bros. | 351 | 3,835,710 |
| 19. | Tom Sawyer | United Artists | 335 | 3,688,035 |
| 20. | Sounder | 20th Century Fox | 566 | 3,675,623 |
| 21. | Five Fingers Of Death | Warner Bros. | 408 | 3,638,868 |
| 22. | Across 110th Street | United Artists | 528 | 3,560,285 |
| 23. | Pete 'n' Tillie | Universal | 510 | 3,432,595 |
| 24. | Westworld | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 434 | 3,369,655 |
| 25. | Man of La Mancha | United Artists | 361 | 3,192,703 |