#1 of 6 1973 · Drama, Romance
$45M worldwide · 55% of the chart's total
The Way We Were (1973) is the highest-grossing romance movie released in 1973, with $45M worldwide, ahead of Last Tango in Paris (1973) at $36.2M and The Mother and the Whore (1973) at $47.3K. 6 romance films released in 1973 report a worldwide gross, $81.3M in all, 100% of it from the US & Canada. That is 58.3 times the total of 1972, whose releases took $1.4M. By language, French leads with $47.3K across 1 romance release.
#1 of 6 1973 · Drama, Romance
$45M worldwide · 55% of the chart's total
The Way We Were (1973) leads with $45M, 55% of the total. The top 5 together took $81.3M, almost all of what the 6 films earned. Each bar splits a film's gross into the US & Canada and the rest of the world.
Number 1
Number 2
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Number 5 US & Canada (domestic) Rest of the world
Lifetime worldwide grosses in US dollars, not adjusted for inflation; domestic means the US & Canada. Films are grouped by their release date in 1973.
Oct 19, 1973 US and Canada: $45M Rest of the world: $493 Worldwide: $45M
Jan 27, 1973 US and Canada: $36.1M Rest of the world: $39.1K Worldwide: $36.2M
Oct 5, 1973 US and Canada: $40.6K Rest of the world: $6.8K Worldwide: $47.3K
Nov 18, 1973 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $17.8K
Oct 12, 1973 US and Canada: $8.1K Rest of the world: $1.8K Worldwide: $10K
Feb 23, 1973 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $965 Of the top 6, The Way We Were (1973) earned the biggest share at home (100% in the US & Canada), while The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1973) made 18% of its gross abroad. Across all 6 films, $81.2M (100%) came from the US & Canada. 2 films of the top 6 report no US & Canada figure.
October releases took the most, $45.1M from 3 films, led by The Way We Were (1973). February was the quietest month ($965). Each column is a release month and links to that month's chart.
Of these 10 years, 1965 earned the most: $272.3M from 9 films, led by The Sound of Music (1965). 1973 took $81.3M.
| Year | Films | Worldwide | Change | Biggest film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 11 films | 11 | $83.8M | – | My Fair Lady (1964) $72.7M |
| 1965 9 films · +225% | 9 | $272.3M | +225% | The Sound of Music (1965) $159.5M |
| 1966 3 films · −100% | 3 | $146.4K | −100% | A Man and a Woman (1966) $136.5K |
| 1967 9 films · +74665% | 9 | $109.5M | +74665% | The Graduate (1967) $105M |
| 1968 10 films · −52% | 10 | $52.3M | −52% | Funny Girl (1968) $52.2M |
| 1969 9 films · −71% | 9 | $15M | −71% | Paint Your Wagon (1969) $14.5M |
| 1970 7 films · +25% | 7 | $18.7M | +25% | Getting Straight (1970) $13.3M |
| 1971 9 films · −44% | 9 | $10.5M | −44% | Fiddler on the Roof (1971) $10.4M |
| 1972 11 films · −87% | 11 | $1.4M | −87% | Bombay to Goa (1972) $886.7K |
| 1973 6 films · +5732% | 6 | $81.3M | +5732% | The Way We Were (1973) $45M |
Every year from 1919 to 2026 with its total and its biggest film. 2008 leads with $7.3B, led by Mamma Mia! (2008).
The chart's numbers in short: the #1 film, the total, the billion-dollar hits and the US & Canada share, answered from the same 6 films as the chart.
The Way We Were (1973) leads with $45M worldwide, $45M of it in the US & Canada. Next come Last Tango in Paris (1973) at $36.2M and The Mother and the Whore (1973) at $47.3K.
6 romance films released in 1973 report a worldwide gross, $81.3M in all, or $13.5M per film on average. 1972 releases took $1.4M.
None. The biggest, The Way We Were (1973), earned $45M.
Films are ranked by lifetime worldwide gross in US dollars, not adjusted for inflation, and grouped by their release date in 1973. The figures are the reported box office grosses in our database. A gross that looks misattributed, such as one figure shared by two unrelated films or a blockbuster total on an obscure title, is left out rather than shown as a fact.
Grosses change while films are in theaters and whenever a new figure is reported; this chart reads the latest numbers in our database, so an older film can still move after a re-release.