This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1961.
Number-one films Ben-Hur became the highest grossing film of 1961, as had happened the year before. But its reign at the #1 spot was the majority of 1960, it never reached #1 during 1961. Week ending Film Notes 1 SpartacusSpartacus reached number one in its 13th week of release 2 3 Exodus 4 Spartacus Spartacus returned to number one in its 16th week of release 5 Swiss Family RobinsonSwiss Family Robinson grossed $265,000 in the key cities sampled 6 The Misfits 7 Exodus 8 The Misfits 9 Exodus 10 11 12 Although Variety listed Exodus as the champ for the week based on their cities sampled, it noted that The Alamo likely grossed more nationally. 13 14 15 16 The Absent-Minded Professor 17 18 19 Gone with the Wind (reissue) Gone with the Wind grossed $250,000 from 17 key cities. 20 The Absent-Minded Professor 21 Gone with the Wind (reissue) 22 The Young SavagesThe Young Savages grossed around $300,000 from 18 key cities. 23 The Pleasure of His Company 24 25 26 27 The Parent Trap 28 FannyFanny opened at Radio City Music Hall where it grossed over $200,000. 29 30 Fanny was still grossing $200,000 at Radio City Music Hall 31 The Guns of Navarone 32 33 34 35 Come September 36 37 38 39 40 41 The Hustler The Hustler grossed over $200,000 from 11 key cities 42 Breakfast at Tiffany'sBreakfast at Tiffany's reached number one despite playing in only 5 key cities 43 44 45 46 47 King of Kings 48 The Comancheros The Comancheros grossed nearly $300,000 from 21 key cities 49 King of Kings 50 51 West Side Story 52 Flower Drum Song
Highest-grossing films The highest-grossing films during the calendar year based on theatrical rentals were as follows: Rank Title Distributor Rental 1 Ben-Hur Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $14,700,000 2The Guns of Navarone Columbia Pictures $8,600,000 3 The Absent-Minded ProfessorBuena Vista $8,200,000 4The Parent Trap $8,000,000 5 Swiss Family Robinson $7,500,000 6 Exodus United Artists $7,350,000 7 The World of Suzie Wong Paramount Pictures $7,300,000 8 The Alamo United Artists $7,250,000 9 Gone with the Wind Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $6,000,000 10 One Hundred and One DalmatiansBuena Vista $5,800,000
See also List of American films — American films by year Lists of box office number-one films
References
Chronology