Market Charts > 1972 > Movie Chart

North America (US and Canada) Domestic Movie Chart for 1972

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Note: We only have detailed box office data from 1977 onwards. For earlier years the total box office is sometimes assigned to the release year of a movie, while the box office amount could have been earned during two or even more years.

Inflation-adjusted figures are based on ticket sale estimates.

See Movie Index 1972 for an overview of all movies released in 1972.

Top Grossing Movies of 1972

RankMovieRelease
Date		DistributorGenre1972 GrossTickets Sold
1 The Godfather Mar 15, 1972 Paramount Pictures Drama $133,698,921 78,646,424
2 The Poseidon Adventure Dec 13, 1972 20th Century Fox $93,300,000 54,882,352
3 What's Up, Doc? Mar 10, 1972 Warner Bros. Comedy $57,142,740 33,613,376
4 Deliverance Jul 21, 1972 Warner Bros. Thriller/Suspense $46,122,355 27,130,797
5 Deep Throat Jun 30, 1972 $45,000,000 26,470,588
6 Jeremiah Johnson May 12, 1972 Warner Bros. Western $44,693,786 26,290,462
7 Cabaret Feb 12, 1972 Allied Artists Musical $41,326,446 24,309,674
8 The Getaway Dec 15, 1972 Universal Action $36,734,619 21,608,599
9 Last Tango in Paris Oct 14, 1972 MGM Drama $36,144,824 21,261,661
10 Lady Sings the Blues Oct 20, 1972 Paramount Pictures Drama $19,726,490 11,603,817
11 Everything You Always Wante… Aug 11, 1972 MGM Comedy $18,016,290 10,597,817
12 The Valachi Papers Oct 27, 1972 Sony Pictures $17,106,087 10,062,404
13 Sounder Aug 18, 1972 20th Century Fox Drama $16,889,761 9,935,153
14 The Life and Times of Judge… Dec 15, 1972 National General … Western $16,530,578 9,723,869
15 Pete 'n' Tillie Dec 15, 1972 Universal $14,999,969 8,823,511
16 Frenzy Jun 21, 1972 Universal Thriller/Suspense $12,600,000 7,411,764
17 Shaft’s Big Score Jun 8, 1972 MGM Action $10,000,000 5,882,352
18 Across 110th Street Jan 1, 1972 United Artists Thriller/Suspense $10,000,000 5,882,352
19 Conquest of the Planet of t… Jun 30, 1972 20th Century Fox $9,700,000 5,705,882
20 The Cowboys Jan 13, 1972 Warner Bros. $7,500,000 4,411,764
21 Joe Kidd Jan 1, 1972 Universal Western $6,330,000 3,723,529
22 The Last House on the Left Aug 30, 1972 $3,100,000 1,823,529
Total Gross of All Movies$696,662,866
Total Tickets Sold409,801,676

Our Theatrical Market pages are based on the Domestic Theatrical Market performance only. The Domestic Market is defined as the North American movie territory (consisting of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam).

The yearly amounts on our Theatrical Market pages are based on box office years. Each box office year starts on the first Monday of the year, so the previous year ends on the Sunday before the first Monday. For example, the "2017 box office year" started on January 2, 2017 so the "2016 box office year" ended on Sunday, January 1, 2017.