# List of 1971 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 1971 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. The weekly chart was based on the first-run situations in the top 10 markets plus an additional 12 to 14 cities of lesser size.

## Number-one films

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Week ending | Film | Gross | Notes |
| 1 | January 6, 1971 | 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 | January 13, 1971 | Love Story † | $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 | January 20, 1971 | Love Story † | $926,100 | |
| 4 | January 27, 1971 | Love Story † | $892,200 | |
| 5 | February 3, 1971 | Love Story † | $815,900 | |
| 6 | February 10, 1971 | The Owl and the Pussycat | $1,051,428 | The Owl and the Pussycat reached number one in its 14th week of release |
| 7 | February 17, 1971 | Love Story † | $1,191,227 | Love Story returned to number one in its ninth week of release |
| 8 | February 24, 1971 | Love Story † | $908,800 | |
| 9 | March 3, 1971 | Love Story † | $821,500 | |
| 10 | March 10, 1971 | Love Story † | $673,300 | |
| 11 | March 17, 1971 | Love Story † | $634,600 | |
| 12 | March 24, 1971 | Love Story † | $599,100 | |
| 13 | March 31, 1971 | Husbands | $556,000 | Husbands reached number one in its 16th week of release |
| 14 | April 7, 1971 | A New Leaf | $535,950 | A New Leaf reached number one in its fourth week of release |
| 15 | April 14, 1971 | Cold Turkey | $715,833 | Cold Turkey reached number one in its tenth week of release |
| 16 | April 21, 1971 | Patton/MASH (double bill) | $740,421 | |
| 17 | April 28, 1971 | Patton/MASH (double bill) | $567,500 | |
| 18 | May 5, 1971 | Patton/MASH (double bill) | $373,100 | |
| 19 | May 12, 1971 | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice/Cactus Flower (double bill) | $340,000 | |
| 20 | May 19, 1971 | Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song | $357,500 | Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song reached number one in its seventh week on the chart |
| 21 | May 26, 1971 | Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song | $421,000 | |
| 22 | June 2, 1971 | A New Leaf | $778,100 | A New Leaf returned to number one in its 12th week on the chart |
| 23 | June 9, 1971 | Gimme Shelter | $283,027 | Gimme Shelter reached number one in its 21st week on the chart |
| 24 | June 16, 1971 | Lawrence of Arabia (reissue) | $549,500 | Lawrence of Arabia reissue reached number one in its 14th week on the chart |
| 25 | June 23, 1971 | Lawrence of Arabia (reissue) | $255,000 | |
| 26 | June 30, 1971 | 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 | July 7, 1971 | Love Story † | $1,116,951 | |
| 28 | July 14, 1971 | Love Story † | $672,207 | |
| 29 | July 21, 1971 | Summer of '42 | $666,435 | Summer of '42 reached number one in its 13th week on the chart |
| 30 | July 28, 1971 | Willard | $1,329,970 | Willard reached number one in its sixth week on the chart |
| 31 | August 4, 1971 | Willard | $755,500 | |
| 32 | August 11, 1971 | Klute | $596,000 | Klute reached number one in its seventh week on the chart |
| 33 | August 18, 1971 | The Andromeda Strain | $479,000 | The Andromeda Strain reached number one in its 20th week on the chart |
| 34 | August 25, 1971 | The Anderson Tapes | $654,200 | The Anderson Tapes reached number one in its tenth week on the chart |
| 35 | September 1, 1971 | The Omega Man | $500,000 | The Omega Man reached number one in its fifth week on the chart |
| 36 | September 8, 1971 | Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song | $387,000 | Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song returned to number one in its 19th week on the chart |
| 37 | September 15, 1971 | Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song | $283,000 | |
| 38 | September 22, 1971 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | $343,652 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller reached number one in its eleventh week on the chart |
| 39 | September 29, 1971 | The Stewardesses | $450,070 | The Stewardesses reached number one in its 43rd week on the chart |
| 40 | October 6, 1971 | The Stewardesses | $526,216 | |
| 41 | October 13, 1971 | The Stewardesses | $454,700 | |
| 42 | October 20, 1971 | The Omega Man | $500,000 | The Omega Man returned to number one in its tenth week on the chart |
| 43 | October 27, 1971 | The Organization | $646,500 | |
| 44 | November 3, 1971 | The Organization | $473,600 | |
| 45 | November 10, 1971 | Cry Uncle! | $502,500 | Cry Uncle! reached number one in its twelfth week on the chart |
| 46 | November 17, 1971 | The French Connection | $489,600 | The French Connection reached number one in its sixth week on the chart |
| 47 | November 24, 1971 | The French Connection | $776,050 | |
| 48 | December 1, 1971 | The French Connection | $914,700 | |
| 49 | December 8, 1971 | The French Connection | $628,078 | |
| 50 | December 15, 1971 | The French Connection | $508,207 | |
| 51 | December 22, 1971 | Diamonds Are Forever | $1,521,800 | For the weekend ending December 19, 1971, Diamonds Are Forever grossed $1,569,249 from all markets in the United States and Canada. |
| 52 | December 29, 1971 | Diamonds Are Forever | $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 | Studio | Playing weeks | Gross ($) |
| 1. | Love Story | Paramount | 1,163 | 19,303,390 |
| 2. | Summer of '42 | Warner Bros. | 936 | 7,704,068 |
| 3. | Little Big Man | National General Pictures | 664 | 6,552,922 |
| 4. | Carnal Knowledge | Avco Embassy | 463 | 6,280,736 |
| 5. | The Owl and the Pussycat | Columbia | 656 | 6,046,961 |
| 6. | The Stewardesses | Sherpix | 522 | 5,712,562 |
| 7. | Ryan's Daughter | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 587 | 5,371,146 |
| 8. | The French Connection | 20th Century Fox | 279 | 5,009,791 |
| 9. | The Anderson Tapes | Columbia | 323 | 4,766,507 |
| 10. | A New Leaf | Paramount | 348 | 4,670,247 |
| 11. | Willard | CRC | 271 | 4,599,340 |
| 12. | Tora! Tora! Tora! | 20th Century Fox | 439 | 3,934,026 |
| 13. | Shaft | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 257 | 3,916,721 |
| 14. | Klute | Warner Bros. | 408 | 3,686,063 |
| 15. | Diamonds Are Forever | United Artists | 145 | 3,588,437 |
| 16. | Plaza Suite | Paramount | 285 | 3,525,483 |
| 17. | The Andromeda Strain | Universal | 333 | 3,431,440 |
| 18. | Five Easy Pieces | Columbia | 535 | 3,237,844 |
| 19. | Fiddler on the Roof | United Artists | 82 | 3,204,410 |
| 20. | Song of Norway | CRC | 351 | 3,130,729 |
| 21. | Bananas | United Artists | 396 | 3,016,073 |
| 22. | The Love Machine | Columbia | 244 | 3,007,834 |
| 23. | Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song | Cinemation | 179 | 2,994,704 |
| 24. | Cold Turkey | United Artists | 421 | 2,857,938 |
| 25. | Kotch | CRC | 407 | 2,762,265 |