This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1970.
Number-one films †This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. Week ending Film Gross Notes 1 On Her Majesty's Secret Service $1,209,000 2 $614,700 3 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid $500,489Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid returned to number one after 17 weeks of release 4 $384,598 5 The Secret of Santa Vittoria $401,500The Secret of Santa Vittoria reached number one in its 16th week of release 6 Funny Girl $795,000 Funny Girl returned to number one after 73 weeks of release 7 $596,000 8 $729,500 9 $480,750 10 Cactus Flower $936,200Cactus Flower reached number one in its 12th week of release 11 $660,500 12 Airport † $741,500Airport reached number one in its third week of release 13 $747,400 14 Marooned$758,000Marooned reached number one in its 17th week of release 15 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid/The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (double bill) $650,000 16 $553,000 17 Airport † $502,500Airport returned to number one after 8 weeks of release 18 $426,500 19 The Liberation of L.B. Jones $532,400 The Liberation of L.B. Jones reached number one in its eighth week of release 20 Airport † $409,250Airport returned to number one after 11 weeks of release 21 $400,000 22 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice $1,064,100Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice reached number one in its 34th week of release 23 $914,100 24 A Man Called Horse $549,500A Man Called Horse reached number one in its eighth week of release 25 Jenny $380,000 Jenny reached number one in its 26th week of release 26 Airport † $1,015,000 Airport returned to number one after 17 weeks of release 27 Beneath the Planet of the Apes $863,500Beneath the Planet of the Apes reached number one in its sixth week of release 28 Airport † $631,600Airport returned to number one after 19 weeks of release 29 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls $707,000Beyond the Valley of the Dolls reached number one in its fifth week of release 30 Patton $500,600Patton reached number one in its 25th week of release 31 Z $540,000Z reached number one its 34th week of release 32 The Out-of-Towners $550,237The Out-of-Towners reached number one in its 11th week on release 33 Getting Straight $589,400Getting Straight reached number one in its 14th week of release 34 Woodstock $746,500Woodstock reached number one in its 22nd week of release 35 Getting Straight $568,500 Getting Straight returned to number one in its 16th week of release 36 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever $741,500 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever reached number one in its twelfth week of release 37 $415,100 38 MASH $463,100 MASH reached number one in its 34th week of release 39 $371,700 40 Hello, Dolly!$345,000Hello, Dolly! reached number one in its 42nd week of release 41 The Bird with the Crystal Plumage $727,200 The Bird with the Crystal Plumage reached number one in its twelfth week of release 42 C.C. and Company $532,000 43 The Professionals/In Cold Blood (reissues double bill) $334,490 44 Trog/Taste the Blood of Dracula (double bill) $300,000 45 Sunflower $308,000Sunflower reached number one in its seventh week of release 46 Five Easy Pieces $382,314Five Easy Pieces reached number one in its ninth week of release 47 Lovers and Other Strangers$521,200Lovers and Other Strangers reached number one in its 15th week of release 48 Scrooge $604,100Scrooge reached number one in its fourth week of release 49 Lovers and Other Strangers$515,900Lovers and Other Strangers returned to number one in its 17th week of release 50 Scrooge $475,800Scrooge returned to number one in its sixth week of release 51 $555,500 52 Love Story $983,770 Love Story reached number one in its second week of release. For the weekend ending December 27, 1970, Love Story grossed $2,363,767 from all markets in the United States and Canada.
Highest-grossing films Highest-grossing films of 1970 by calendar year gross based on the cities covered by Variety for the weekly charts. Rank Title StudioPlaying weeks Gross ($)Rank on 1970 rental chart1.AirportUniversal 62912,378,25912.MASH20th Century Fox93212,186,90623. Patton20th Century Fox832 9,327,63634.Hello, Dolly!20th Century Fox7399,078,33865.ZC59287,919,478146.Bob & Carol & Ted & AliceColumbia7487,160,50647. WoodstockWarner Bros.5367,108,60058.Catch-22Paramount3915,982,49089.Cactus FlowerColumbia4865,167,043710.Lovers and Other StrangersCRC4784,496,6083411.Cotton Comes to HarlemUnited Artists303 4,458,4012212.Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 20th Century Fox 717 4,413,816N/A13.The Out-of-TownersParamount286 4,411,6831314.They Shoot Horses, Don't They?CRC4684,317,8351515.Getting StraightColumbia451 4,298,7122316.Midnight Cowboy United Artists 551 4,036,491N/A17.Paint Your WagonParamount4443,919,143 N/A18.Beneath the Planet of the Apes20th Century Fox3313,822,1611219.Funny GirlColumbia3433,800,202N/A20.On a Clear Day You Can See ForeverParamount336 3,737,7602921.Joe Cannon3713,553,2834222.MaroonedColumbia3273,370,8333323.The Adventurers Paramount3383,292,310 1124.Darling Lili Paramount184 3,226,8023725.The Boys in the BandNational General Pictures4363,216,38036
Highest-grossing films of 1970 by rental in the United States and Canada accruing to the distributor to the end of 1970 (not total receipts as listed above for a selection of cities and includes rentals from December 1969). Rank Title StudioDirector Producer Rental ($)1.AirportUniversal George SeatonRoss Hunter37,650,7962.MASH20th Century FoxRobert AltmanIngo Preminger22,000,0003. Patton20th Century FoxFranklin J. SchaffnerFrank McCarthy21,000,0004.Bob & Carol & Ted & AliceColumbiaPaul MazurskyLarry Tucker13,900,0005. WoodstockWarner Bros.Michael WadleighBob Maurice13,500,0006.Hello, Dolly!20th Century FoxGene KellyErnest Lehman13,000,0007.Cactus FlowerColumbiaGene SaksM. J. Frankovich11,300,0008.Catch-22ParamountMike NicholsJohn Calley9,250,0009.On Her Majesty's Secret ServiceUnited ArtistsPeter R. HuntAlbert R. BroccoliHarry Saltzman9,000,00010.The ReiversCinema Center FilmsNational General PicturesMark RydellIrving Ravetch8,000,000
See also List of American films — American films by year Lists of box office number-one films
Notes
References
Chronology