# List of 1997 box office number-one films in the United States

This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 1997.

## Number-one films

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Weekend end date | Film | Total weekend gross | Notes |
| 1 | January 5, 1997 | Michael | $12,144,926 | |
| 2 | January 12, 1997 | The Relic | $9,064,143 | |
| 3 | January 19, 1997 | Beverly Hills Ninja | $12,220,920 | |
| 4 | January 26, 1997 | Jerry Maguire | $5,518,727 | Jerry Maguire reclaimed #1 in its sixth week of release. |
| 5 | February 2, 1997 | Star Wars (Special Edition) | $35,906,661 | Star Wars (Special Edition) broke 12 Monkeys' record ($13.8 million) for the highest weekend debut in January and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's record ($33.9 million) for the highest weekend debut for a PG-rated film. |
| 6 | February 9, 1997 | Star Wars (Special Edition) | $24,277,091 | In second place, Dante's Peak ($18.4 million) broke Wayne's World's record ($18.1 million) for the highest weekend debut in February. |
| 7 | February 16, 1997 | Star Wars (Special Edition) | $21,370,589 | |
| 8 | February 23, 1997 | The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) | $21,975,993 | Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) broke Dante's Peak's record ($18.4 million) for the highest weekend debut in February (which had been set two weeks earlier). |
| 9 | March 2, 1997 | The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) | $13,145,852 | |
| 10 | March 9, 1997 | Private Parts | $14,616,333 | |
| 11 | March 16, 1997 | Return of the Jedi (Special Edition) | $16,293,531 | |
| 12 | March 23, 1997 | Liar Liar | $31,423,025 | Liar Liar broke Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's record ($25.4 million) for the highest weekend debut in March and for the highest weekend debut for a spring release. |
| 13 | March 30, 1997 | Liar Liar | $25,377,435 | |
| 14 | April 6, 1997 | Liar Liar | $18,275,295 | |
| 15 | April 13, 1997 | Anaconda | $16,620,887 | |
| 16 | April 20, 1997 | Anaconda | $12,013,566 | |
| 17 | April 27, 1997 | Volcano | $14,581,740 | |
| 18 | May 4, 1997 | Breakdown | $12,307,128 | |
| 19 | May 11, 1997 | The Fifth Element | $17,031,345 | |
| 20 | May 18, 1997 | The Fifth Element | $11,410,863 | |
| 21 | May 25, 1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | $72,132,785 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park had the widest release of all-time opening in 3,565 theaters and broke Batman Forever's records ($52.7 mil) for the highest weekend debut in the summer, for a PG-13 rated film, and of all time. It also broke Jurassic Park's record ($47.0 mil) for the highest weekend debut for a creature feature film and Mission: Impossible's records ($45.4 mil) for the highest weekend debut in May and for the Memorial Day weekend. The Lost World: Jurassic Park had the highest weekend debut in 1997. |
| 22 | June 1, 1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | $34,116,390 | |
| 23 | June 8, 1997 | Con Air | $24,131,738 | |
| 24 | June 15, 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control | $16,158,942 | |
| 25 | June 22, 1997 | Batman & Robin | $42,872,605 | |
| 26 | June 29, 1997 | Face/Off | $23,387,530 | |
| 27 | July 6, 1997 | Men in Black † | $51,068,455 | Men in Black broke Independence Day's records ($50.2 mil) for the highest weekend debut in July and the highest Fourth of July weekend debut. |
| 28 | July 13, 1997 | Men in Black † | $30,062,317 | |
| 29 | July 20, 1997 | Men in Black † | $19,029,928 | |
| 30 | July 27, 1997 | Air Force One | $37,132,505 | Air Force One broke Interview with the Vampire's record ($36.4 mil) for the highest weekend debut for an R-rated film. |
| 31 | August 3, 1997 | Air Force One | $25,731,622 | |
| 32 | August 8, 1997 | Conspiracy Theory | $19,313,566 | |
| 33 | August 17, 1997 | Cop Land | $13,510,482 | |
| 34 | August 24, 1997 | G.I. Jane | $11,094,241 | |
| 35 | August 31, 1997 | G.I. Jane | $8,183,861 | |
| 36 | September 7, 1997 | Fire Down Below | $6,073,094 | |
| 37 | September 14, 1997 | The Game | $14,337,029 | |
| 38 | September 21, 1997 | In & Out | $15,019,821 | |
| 39 | September 28, 1997 | The Peacemaker | $12,311,939 | |
| 40 | October 5, 1997 | Kiss the Girls | $13,215,167 | |
| 41 | October 12, 1997 | Kiss the Girls | $11,122,441 | |
| 42 | October 19, 1997 | I Know What You Did Last Summer | $15,818,645 | I Know What You Did Last Summer broke Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare's record ($12.9 million) for highest weekend debut for a slasher film. |
| 43 | October 26, 1997 | I Know What You Did Last Summer | $12,507,880 | |
| 44 | November 2, 1997 | I Know What You Did Last Summer | $9,406,297 | |
| 45 | November 9, 1997 | Starship Troopers | $22,058,773 | |
| 46 | November 16, 1997 | The Jackal | $15,164,595 | |
| 47 | November 23, 1997 | Mortal Kombat Annihilation | $16,771,694 | |
| 48 | November 30, 1997 | Flubber | $26,725,207 | |
| 49 | December 7, 1997 | Flubber | $11,292,933 | |
| 50 | December 14, 1997 | Scream 2 | $32,926,342 | Scream 2 broke Beavis and Butt-Head Do America's record ($20.1 million) for the highest weekend debut in December and I Know What You Did Last Summer's record ($15.8 million) for the highest weekend debut for a slasher film. |
| 51 | December 21, 1997 | Titanic | $28,638,131 | Titanic held the record for the highest-grossing film of all time ($1.8 billion) until Avatar surpassed it on January 24, 2010. |
| 52 | December 28, 1997 | Titanic | $35,455,673 | Titanic broke Scream 2's record ($32.9 mil) for the highest weekend gross in December (which had been set two weeks earlier). |

## Highest-grossing films
### Calendar Gross

Highest-grossing films of 1997 by Calendar Gross
| Rank | Title | Studio(s) | Actor(s) | Director(s) | Gross |
| 1. | Men in Black | Columbia Pictures | Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Tony Shalhoub and Rip Torn | Barry Sonnenfeld | $250,690,539 |
| 2. | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Universal Pictures | Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Arliss Howard, Vince Vaughn, Vanessa Lee Chester, Richard Schiff, Peter Stormare and Richard Attenborough | Steven Spielberg | $229,086,679 |
| 3. | Liar Liar | Universal Pictures | Jim Carrey, Maura Tierney, Justin Cooper, Jennifer Tilly, Cary Elwes, Amanda Donohoe, Jason Bernard, Swoosie Kurtz and Anne Haney | Tom Shadyac | $181,410,615 |
| 4. | Air Force One | Columbia Pictures | Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Wendy Crewson, Paul Guilfoyle, William H. Macy, Liesel Matthews, Dean Stockwell and Glenn Close | Wolfgang Petersen | $171,482,545 |
| 5. | Star Wars (Special Edition) | 20th Century Fox | Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew | George Lucas | $137,690,767 |
| 6. | My Best Friend's Wedding | TriStar Pictures | Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett and Philip Bosco | P. J. Hogan | $127,120,029 |
| 7. | Titanic | Paramount Pictures | Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Nucci, David Warner, Gloria Stuart, Suzy Amis and Bill Paxton | James Cameron | $112,594,173 |
| 8. | Face/Off | Paramount Pictures | John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon, Alessandro Nivola and Colm Feore | John Woo | $112,276,146 |
| 9. | Batman & Robin | Warner Bros. Pictures | Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle and Elle Macpherson | Joel Schumacher | $107,325,195 |
| 10. | George of the Jungle | Walt Disney Studios | Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church, Holland Taylor, Richard Roundtree, John Cleese and Keith Scott | Sam Weisman | $105,263,257 |

### In-Year Release

Highest-grossing films of 1997 by In-year release :
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic gross |
| 1. | Titanic | Paramount | $600,788,188 |
| 2. | Men in Black | Sony | $250,690,539 |
| 3. | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Universal | $229,086,679 |
| 4. | Liar Liar | Universal | $181,410,615 |
| 5. | Air Force One | Sony | $172,956,409 |
| 6. | As Good as It Gets | Sony | $148,478,011 |
| 7. | Good Will Hunting | Miramax | $138,433,435 |
| 8. | Star Wars (Special Edition) | 20th Century Fox | $138,257,865 |
| 9. | My Best Friend's Wedding | Sony | $127,120,029 |
| 10. | Tomorrow Never Dies | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $125,304,276 |
Highest-grossing films by MPAA rating of 1997 :
| G | Hercules |
| PG | Star Wars (Special Edition) |
| PG-13 | Titanic |
| R | Air Force One |