# List of 2004 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 2004.

## Number-one films

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Weekend end date | Film | Box office | Notes |
| 1 | January 4, 2004 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | $28,180,378 | |
| 2 | January 11, 2004 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | $14,209,098 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King became the first film since The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring to top the box office for four consecutive weekends. |
| 3 | January 18, 2004 | Along Came Polly | $27,721,185 | |
| 4 | January 25, 2004 | The Butterfly Effect | $17,065,227 | |
| 5 | February 1, 2004 | You Got Served | $16,123,105 | You Got Served broke She's All That's record ($16 million) for the highest Super Bowl weekend debut. |
| 6 | February 8, 2004 | Barbershop 2: Back in Business | $24,241,612 | |
| 7 | February 15, 2004 | 50 First Dates | $39,852,237 | 50 First Dates broke Sweet Home Alabama's record ($35.6 million) for the highest weekend debut for a romantic comedy. |
| 8 | February 22, 2004 | 50 First Dates | $20,427,325 | |
| 9 | February 29, 2004 | The Passion of the Christ | $83,848,082 | The Passion of the Christ broke Hannibal's records ($58 million) for the highest weekend debut in February and for a winter release. |
| 10 | March 7, 2004 | The Passion of the Christ | $53,246,801 | |
| 11 | March 14, 2004 | The Passion of the Christ | $32,130,978 | |
| 12 | March 21, 2004 | Dawn of the Dead | $26,722,575 | Dawn of the Dead broke Resident Evil's record ($17.7 million) for highest weekend debut for a zombie film. |
| 13 | March 28, 2004 | Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed | $29,438,331 | James Gunn became the first screenwriter in history to have two back to back number 1 films as he wrote both Dawn of the Dead and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. |
| 14 | April 4, 2004 | Hellboy | $23,172,440 | |
| 15 | April 11, 2004 | The Passion of the Christ | $15,216,723 | The Passion of the Christ reclaimed #1 in its seventh weekend on the Easter holiday, making it the first film since Titanic to top the box office in its seventh weekend. It also became the first film since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to top the box office for four weekends as well as the first film since Toy Story to top the box office for four non-consecutive weekends. |
| 16 | April 18, 2004 | Kill Bill: Volume 2 | $25,104,949 | |
| 17 | April 25, 2004 | Man on Fire | $22,751,490 | |
| 18 | May 2, 2004 | Mean Girls | $24,432,195 | |
| 19 | May 9, 2004 | Van Helsing | $51,748,040 | Van Helsing broke Interview with the Vampire's record ($36.3 million) for the highest weekend debut for a vampire film. |
| 20 | May 16, 2004 | Troy | $46,865,412 | |
| 21 | May 23, 2004 | Shrek 2 † | $108,038,878 | Shrek 2 broke Finding Nemo's record ($70.3 million) for the highest weekend debut for an animated film and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone's record ($90.3 million) for the highest weekend debut for a PG-rated film. Its $44.8 million gross on Saturday broke Spider-Man's record ($43.6 million) for largest single day tally of all time. Shrek 2 had the highest weekend debut of 2004. |
| 22 | May 30, 2004 | Shrek 2 † | $72,170,363 | Shrek 2 broke Spider-Man's record ($71.4 million) for the highest second weekend gross, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park's record ($72.1 million) for the highest Memorial Day weekend ever. In second place, The Day After Tomorrow's $68.7 million opening weekend broke Lilo & Stitch's record ($35.2 million) for the highest weekend debut for a film that did not open in first place as well as Erin Brockovich's record ($28.1 million) for the highest weekend debut for an environmentalist film. |
| 23 | June 6, 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | $93,687,367 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban broke Hulk's record ($62.1 million) for the highest weekend debut in June. It also broke The Matrix Reloaded's record ($91.8 million) for the highest opening for a Warner Bros. film. |
| 24 | June 13, 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | $34,910,393 | |
| 25 | June 20, 2004 | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | $30,070,196 | |
| 26 | June 27, 2004 | Fahrenheit 9/11 | $23,920,637 | Fahrenhelt 9/11 held the record for the highest weekend debut in less than 1,000 theaters. |
| 27 | July 4, 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | $88,156,227 | Spider-Man 2's opening day gross of $40.4 million broke Spider-Man's record ($39.4 million) for the highest opening day gross and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's record ($34.5 million) for the highest Wednesday gross of all-time. It also broke Austin Powers in Goldmember's record ($73.1 million) for the highest weekend debut in July and Men in Black II's record ($52.1 million) for the highest Fourth of July weekend debut. |
| 28 | July 11, 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | $45,180,743 | |
| 29 | July 18, 2004 | I, Robot | $52,179,887 | |
| 30 | July 25, 2004 | The Bourne Supremacy | $52,521,865 | |
| 31 | August 1, 2004 | The Village | $50,746,142 | The Village broke Scary Movie 3's record ($48.1 million) for highest weekend debut for a film featuring a female protagonist. |
| 32 | August 8, 2004 | Collateral | $24,701,458 | |
| 33 | August 15, 2004 | Alien vs. Predator | $38,291,056 | |
| 34 | August 22, 2004 | Exorcist: The Beginning | $18,054,001 | |
| 35 | August 29, 2004 | Hero | $18,004,319 | Hero broke Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's record ($8.6 million) for the highest weekend debut for a foreign language film. |
| 36 | September 5, 2004 | Hero | $8,807,757 | |
| 37 | September 12, 2004 | Resident Evil: Apocalypse | $23,036,273 | |
| 38 | September 19, 2004 | Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow | $15,580,278 | |
| 39 | September 26, 2004 | The Forgotten | $21,022,111 | |
| 40 | October 3, 2004 | Shark Tale | $47,604,606 | |
| 41 | October 10, 2004 | Shark Tale | $31,330,299 | |
| 42 | October 17, 2004 | Shark Tale | $22,005,952 | |
| 43 | October 24, 2004 | The Grudge | $39,128,715 | The Grudge broke Freddy vs. Jason's record ($36.4 million) for the highest weekend debut for a horror film. |
| 44 | October 31, 2004 | The Grudge | $21,817,598 | |
| 45 | November 7, 2004 | The Incredibles | $70,467,423 | The Incredibles broke Finding Nemo's record ($70.3 million) for the highest weekend debut for a non-sequel animated film, as well as for an original film overall. |
| 46 | November 14, 2004 | The Incredibles | $50,251,359 | |
| 47 | November 21, 2004 | National Treasure | $35,142,554 | |
| 48 | November 28, 2004 | National Treasure | $32,156,917 | |
| 49 | December 5, 2004 | National Treasure | $17,004,967 | |
| 50 | December 12, 2004 | Ocean's Twelve | $39,153,380 | |
| 51 | December 19, 2004 | Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | $30,061,756 | |
| 52 | December 26, 2004 | Meet the Fockers | $46,120,980 | Meet the Fockers' $19.5 million gross on Christmas Day broke The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's record ($13.9 million) for the highest grossing Christmas Day of all time. |
| 53 | January 2, 2005 | Meet the Fockers | $41,741,785 | |

## Highest-grossing films
### Calendar Gross

Highest-grossing films of 2004 by Calendar Gross
| Rank | Title | Studio(s) | Actor(s) | Director(s) | Gross |
| 1. | Shrek 2 | DreamWorks Pictures | voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Rupert Everett and Jennifer Saunders | Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon | $441,226,247 |
| 2. | Spider-Man 2 | Columbia Pictures | Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris and Donna Murphy | Sam Raimi | $373,585,825 |
| 3. | The Passion of the Christ | Newmarket Films | Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, Maia Morgenstern and Sergio Rubini | Mel Gibson | $370,274,604 |
| 4. | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Warner Bros. Pictures | Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Richard Griffiths, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters | Alfonso Cuarón | $249,541,069 |
| 5. | The Incredibles | Walt Disney Pictures | voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson and Elizabeth Peña | Brad Bird | $248,939,765 |
| 6. | The Day After Tomorrow | 20th Century Fox | Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Emmy Rossum and Sela Ward | Roland Emmerich | $186,740,799 |
| 7. | The Bourne Supremacy | Universal Pictures | Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, Karl Urban, Gabriel Mann and Joan Allen | Paul Greengrass | $176,241,941 |
| 8. | Shark Tale | DreamWorks Pictures | voices of Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and Martin Scorsese | Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron and Rob Letterman | $160,241,941 |
| 9. | The Polar Express | Warner Bros. Pictures | voices of Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett and Eddie Deezen | Robert Zemeckis | $151,621,905 |
| 10. | National Treasure | Walt Disney Pictures | Nicolas Cage, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Justin Bartha and Christopher Plummer | Jon Turteltaub | $150,121,985 |

### In-Year Release

Highest-grossing films of 2004 by In-year release :
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic Gross |
| 1. | Shrek 2 | DreamWorks | $441,226,247 |
| 2. | Spider-Man 2 | Columbia | $373,585,825 |
| 3. | The Passion of the Christ | Newmarket Films | $370,782,930 |
| 4. | Meet the Fockers | Universal | $279,261,160 |
| 5. | The Incredibles | Disney | $261,441,092 |
| 6. | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Warner Bros. | $249,541,069 |
| 7. | The Day After Tomorrow | 20th Century Fox | $186,740,799 |
| 8. | The Polar Express | Warner Bros. | $183,373,735 |
| 9. | The Bourne Supremacy | Universal | $176,241,941 |
| 10. | National Treasure | Disney | $173,008,894 |
Highest-grossing films by MPAA rating of 2004 :
| G | The Polar Express |
| PG | Shrek 2 |
| PG-13 | Spider-Man 2 |
| R | The Passion of the Christ |