# List of 1979 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 1979 per Variety. The data was based on grosses from 20 to 22 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, 1979 | Superman † | $4,859,936 | Superman grossed $13,135,498 nationally from all markets for the 4-day weekend ended January 1, a record weekend gross. Its 3-day gross of $10,364,384 beat the record $10.2 million set by Star Wars in its 1978 reissue |
| 2 | January 10, 1979 | Superman † | $3,424,808 | Superman grossed $7,492,687 for the weekend ended January 7 |
| 3 | January 17, 1979 | Superman † | $2,461,956 | |
| 4 | January 24, 1979 | Superman † | $2,123,217 | |
| 5 | January 31, 1979 | Superman † | $2,200,610 | |
| 6 | February 7, 1979 | Superman † | $2,045,669 | |
| 7 | February 14, 1979 | The Warriors | $2,159,182 | The Warriors grossed $3,529,675 for the weekend ended February 11, 1979 from all markets |
| 8 | February 21, 1979 | The Warriors | $1,963,705 | |
| 9 | February 28, 1979 | Superman † | $1,315,729 | Superman returned to number one in its eleventh week of release |
| 10 | March 7, 1979 | Superman † | $1,082,516 | |
| 11 | March 14, 1979 | Superman † | $1,035,227 | |
| 12 | March 21, 1979 | The China Syndrome | $2,258,078 | |
| 13 | March 28, 1979 | The China Syndrome | $2,486,149 | |
| 14 | April 4, 1979 | The China Syndrome | $2,326,181 | |
| 15 | April 11, 1979 | The China Syndrome | $2,036,307 | |
| 16 | April 18, 1979 | The Deer Hunter | $1,927,378 | The Deer Hunter reached number one in its 13th week on the chart |
| 17 | April 25, 1979 | The Deer Hunter | $1,340,362 | |
| 18 | May 2, 1979 | Love at First Bite | $1,461,097 | Love at First Bite reached number one in its fourth week of release |
| 19 | May 9, 1979 | Manhattan | $1,155,174 | Manhattan reached number one in its second week of release |
| 20 | May 16, 1979 | Manhattan | $1,352,694 | |
| 21 | May 23, 1979 | Manhattan | $1,241,692 | |
| 22 | May 30, 1979 | Alien | $2,327,321 | Alien grossed $3,522,581 for the 4-day Memorial Day weekend ended May 28 from all markets |
| 23 | June 6, 1979 | Alien | $1,965,402 | Alien grossed $2,192,025 for the weekend ended June 3 from all markets |
| 24 | June 13, 1979 | Alien | $1,721,543 | Alien grossed $2,669,177 for the weekend ended June 10 from all markets |
| 25 | June 20, 1979 | Rocky II | $2,570,683 | Rocky II grossed $6,390,537 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended June 17 |
| 26 | June 27, 1979 | Rocky II | $2,747,481 | |
| 27 | July 4, 1979 | Moonraker | $3,585,238 | Moonraker grossed $7,108,344 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended July 1 |
| 28 | July 11, 1979 | Moonraker | $2,839,120 | |
| 29 | July 18, 1979 | Dracula | $1,838,533 | Dracula grossed $3,141,281 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended July 15. Meatballs grossed $4,112,000 for the weekend |
| 30 | July 25, 1979 | Dracula | $1,435,465 | |
| 31 | August 1, 1979 | The Amityville Horror | $4,253,684 | The Amityville Horror grossed $7,843,467 nationally for the weekend ended July 29 |
| 32 | August 8, 1979 | The Amityville Horror | $3,606,900 | The Amityville Horror grossed $6,901,959 nationally for the weekend ended August 5 |
| 33 | August 15, 1979 | The Amityville Horror | $2,256,732 | |
| 34 | August 22, 1979 | Star Wars (reissue) | $2,058,618 | Star Wars grossed $6,760,165 nationally for the weekend ended August 19 |
| 35 | August 29, 1979 | The Muppet Movie | $1,037,414 | The Muppet Movie reached number one in its tenth week of release |
| 36 | September 5, 1979 | The Muppet Movie | $1,060,063 | |
| 37 | September 12, 1979 | North Dallas Forty | $720,867 | North Dallas Forty reached number one in its sixth week of release |
| 38 | September 19, 1979 | North Dallas Forty | $557,813 | |
| 39 | September 26, 1979 | Monty Python's Life of Brian | $1,262,773 | Life of Brian reached number one in its sixth week of release |
| 40 | October 3, 1979 | Monty Python's Life of Brian | $1,143,800 | When a Stranger Calls grossed $2,597,032 in its opening 4 days. Life of Brian grossed $9,055,143 from 3 weeks of general release |
| 41 | October 10, 1979 | Starting Over | $970,650 | |
| 42 | October 17, 1979 | When a Stranger Calls | $1,593,114 | When a Stranger Calls reached number one in its third week of release |
| 43 | October 24, 1979 | 10 | $1,649,481 | 10 reached number one in its second week of release |
| 44 | October 31, 1979 | 10 | $1,437,056 | |
| 45 | November 7, 1979 | 10 | $1,432,139 | |
| 46 | November 14, 1979 | ...And Justice for All | $1,222,477 | ...And Justice for All. reached number one in its fourth week of release |
| 47 | November 21, 1979 | 10 | $1,098,879 | 10 returned to number one in its sixth week of release |
| 48 | November 28, 1979 | 10 | $1,426,059 | |
| 49 | December 5, 1979 | 10 | $965,755 | |
| 50 | December 12, 1979 | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | $5,643,078 | Star Trek grossed $11,926,421 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended December 9, beating the 3-day weekend record of $10.3 million set by Superman and the $9.9 million opening weekend record set by Jaws 2 |
| 51 | December 19, 1979 | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | $3,064,569 | Star Trek grossed $7,215,848 nationally from all markets for the weekend ended December 16 |
| 52 | December 26, 1979 | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | $2,778,258 | Star Trek grossed $12,075,000 nationally from all markets for the 5-day weekend ended December 25 |