Movie Theatrical Release Schedule for 1971

Release DateMovieDistributorDomestic
Box Office
to Date
January 1971
January 1 The Andromeda Strain (Wide) Universal $12,376,563
The Beguiled (Wide) Universal $1,100,000
The Big Doll House (Wide) MGM $10,000,000
Billy Jack (Wide) Warner Bros. $98,000,000
Carnal Knowledge (Wide) Avco Embassy $33,668
Fiddler on the Roof (Wide) United Artists $80,500,000
Klute (Wide) $12,512,637
Murmur of the Heart (Wide) $1,200,000
Play Misty for Me (Wide) Universal $10,600,000
Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song (Wide) $15,200,000
Willard (Wide) $14,545,941
Something Big (Limited) National General Pictures  
 
During 1971 Big Jake (Wide) $7,500,000
Cold Turkey (Wide) $11,000,000
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (Wide) $12,300,000
The Million Dollar Duck (Wide) $4,000,000
 
January 15 Vanishing Point (Limited) 20th Century Fox  
 
January 24 Zachariah (Limited) American Cinema Releasing  
February 1971
February 3 Doctor’s Wives (Limited) Columbia  
 
February 12 Raid on Rommel (Limited) Universal  
 
February 17 The Music Lovers (Limited)  
 
February 26 The 300 Year Weekend (Limited) American Cinema Releasing  
Pretty Maids All In A Row (Limited) MGM  
 
 
February TBD How to Frame a Figg (Limited) Universal  
April 1971
April 2 The House That Dripped Blood (Limited) Cinerama  
 
April 28 Bananas (Wide) MGM  
 
April 30 Summer of '42 (Wide) $32,063,634
May 1971
May 14 Blood and Lace (Limited) American International Pictures  
 
May 21 The Cat O’Nine Tails (Limited) National General Pictures  
 
May 28 The Grissom Gang (Limited) Cinerama  
 
 
May TBD The Murder of Fred Hampton (Limited) MGA  
June 1971
June 9 They Might be Giants (Limited) Universal  
 
June 15 Who is Harry Kellerman and why is he Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (Limited) National General Pictures  
 
June 17 The Anderson Tapes (Limited)  
Death in Venice (Limited) Warner Bros.  
Horror of Frankenstein (Limited) American Continental Films, Inc.  
 
June 23 Le Mans (Limited) National General Pictures  
Wild Rovers (Limited) MGM  
 
June 24 McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Wide) Warner Bros. $8,200,000
An Actor’s Revenge (Limited) New Yorker  
 
June 28 The Hellstrom Chronicle (Wide)  
 
June 30 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Wide) Paramount Pictures $5,747,299
Von Richthofen and Brown (Limited) United Artists  
What’s the Matter with Helen? (Limited) United Artists  
July 1971
July 2 Shaft (1971) (Wide) MGM $12,121,618
 
July 7 Two-Lane Blacktop (Limited) Universal  
 
July 8 The Nun (Wide) $30,245
 
July 13 The Panic in Needle Park (Limited) 20th Century Fox  
 
July 16 The Devils (Limited) Warner Bros.  
The Hired Hand (Limited) Universal  
The Hunting Party (Limited)  
The Light at the Edge of the World (Limited) National General Pictures  
August 1971
August 1 The Omega Man (Wide)  
 
August 4 Johnny Got His Gun (Limited) Cinemation Industries  
Night of Dark Shadows (Limited) MGM  
 
August 13 The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (Limited) Self Distributed  
 
August 27 Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (Limited) Paramount Pictures  
September 1971
September 2 Lust for a Vampire (Limited) American Continental Films, Inc.  
The Man who Haunted Himself (Limited) Levitt-Pickman  
 
September 17 Kotch (Limited) American Cinema Releasing  
 
September 25 Black God, White Devil (Limited) $7,826
 
 
September TBD Murders in the Rue Morgue (Limited) American International Pictures  
October 1971
October 7 Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Wide) Walt Disney $17,871,174
 
October 8 The Last Picture Show (Wide) Sony Pictures $20,505,085
 
October 9 The French Connection (Wide) $41,158,757
 
October 13 A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (Limited) American International Pictures  
Shoot Out (Limited) Universal  
 
October 20 T.R. Baskin (Limited)  
 
October 22 Les Lèvres Rouges (Limited)  
Daughters of Darkness (Limited) Gemini-Maron  
November 1971
November 19 Werewolves on Wheels (Limited) Fanfare Films  
 
November 22 King Lear (Limited)  
 
November 30 Brian’s Song (Limited) Columbia  
 
November TBD The Christian Licorice Store (Limited) National General Pictures  
December 1971
December 1 Chandler (Limited) MGM  
 
December 13 Nicholas and Alexandra (Limited)  
 
December 17 A Clockwork Orange (Wide) Warner Bros. $26,645,895
Diamonds Are Forever (Wide) MGM $43,800,000
The Hospital (Wide) MGM $14,142,409
 
December 19 The Butcher (Limited)  
 
December 20 Harold and Maude (Limited) Paramount Pictures  
Macbeth (Limited) Columbia  
 
December 22 Mary, Queen of Scots (Limited) Universal  
Straw Dogs (Limited) Cinerama  
 
December 24 Dirty Harry (Wide) Warner Bros. $28,153,434
 
December 31 There’s Always Vanilla (Limited) Cambist Films  
 
During 1971 Crucible of Horror (Limited) Cannon  
The Rover (Limited) Cinerama