This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 1996 .[ 1]
†
This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year.[ 2]
#
Weekend end date
Film
Total weekend gross
Notes
Ref
1
January 7, 1996
12 Monkeys
$13,842,990
12 Monkeys broke Good Morning, Vietnam ' s record ($11.7 million) for the highest weekend debut in January.
[ 3]
2
January 14, 1996
$9,974,510
[ 4] [ 5]
3
January 21, 1996
From Dusk till Dawn
$10,240,805
[ 6]
4
January 28, 1996
Mr. Holland's Opus
$8,297,082
Mr. Holland's Opus reached #1 in its second week of release.
[ 7]
5
February 4, 1996
Black Sheep
$10,593,609
[ 8]
6
February 11, 1996
Broken Arrow
$15,583,510
[ 9]
7
February 18, 1996
$11,704,778
[ 10] [ 11]
8
February 25, 1996
Rumble in the Bronx
$9,858,380
[ 12]
9
March 3, 1996
Up Close & Personal
$11,101,955
[ 13]
10
March 10, 1996
The Birdcage
$18,275,828
The Birdcage was number one for the most weeks (4) in 1996.
[ 14]
11
March 17, 1996
$16,034,306
[ 15]
12
March 24, 1996
$13,294,404
[ 16]
13
March 31, 1996
$10,106,414
[ 17]
14
April 7, 1996
Primal Fear
$9,871,222
[ 18]
15
April 14, 1996
$8,108,561
[ 19]
16
April 21, 1996
$6,585,472
[ 20]
17
April 28, 1996
The Quest
$7,029,120
[ 21]
18
May 5, 1996
The Craft
$6,710,995
[ 22]
19
May 12, 1996
Twister
$41,059,405
Twister broke Lethal Weapon 3 ' s record ($33.2 mil) for the highest weekend debut in May and Pocahontas ' s record ($29.5 million) for highest weekend debut for a film featuring a female protagonist.
[ 23]
20
May 19, 1996
$37,093,440
[ 24]
21
May 26, 1996
Mission: Impossible
$45,436,830
Mission: Impossible was the first film to open in more than 3,000 theaters and broke Twister ' s record ($41.1 mil) for the highest weekend debut in May (which was set 2 weeks ago). It also broke The Flintstones ' records ($29.7 mil) for the highest Memorial Day weekend debut and for a film based on a television show, GoldenEye ' s record ($26.2 million) for the highest weekend debut for a spy film, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ' s record ($29.4 mil) for the highest weekend debut for a Paramount film. In second place, Twister broke Jurassic Park ' s record ($27.7 million) for the highest third weekend gross.[ 25]
[ 26]
22
June 2, 1996
$21,629,362
[ 27]
23
June 9, 1996
The Rock
$25,069,525
[ 28]
24
June 16, 1996
The Cable Guy
$19,806,226
[ 29]
25
June 23, 1996
Eraser
$24,566,446
[ 30]
26
June 30, 1996
The Nutty Professor
$25,411,725
[ 31]
27
July 7, 1996
Independence Day †
$50,228,264
Independence Day broke Terminator 2: Judgment Day ' s records ($31.7 mil) for the highest weekend debut in July and for the Fourth of July weekend. It also broke The Lion King ' s record ($40.8 mil) for the highest weekend debut for an original film. Independence Day had the highest weekend debut of 1996.
[ 32]
28
July 14, 1996
$35,242,709
[ 33]
29
July 21, 1996
$21,274,817
[ 34]
30
July 28, 1996
A Time to Kill
$14,823,159
[ 35]
31
August 4, 1996
$13,262,934
[ 36]
32
August 11, 1996
Jack
$11,191,496
[ 37]
33
August 18, 1996
Tin Cup
$10,128,834
[ 38]
34
August 25, 1996
The Island of Dr. Moreau
$9,101,987
[ 39]
35
September 1, 1996
The Crow: City of Angels
$9,785,111
Highest Labor Day weekend debut.
[ 40]
36
September 8, 1996
Bulletproof
$6,014,400
[ 41]
37
September 15, 1996
Maximum Risk
$5,612,707
[ 42]
38
September 22, 1996
The First Wives Club
$18,913,411
The First Wives Club broke Seven ' s record ($13.9 mil) for the highest weekend debut in September.
[ 43]
39
September 29, 1996
$15,314,530
[ 44]
40
October 6, 1996
$11,017,356
[ 45]
41
October 13, 1996
The Ghost and the Darkness
$9,215,063
[ 46]
42
October 20, 1996
Sleepers
$12,305,745
[ 47]
43
October 27, 1996
$9,605,059
[ 48]
44
November 3, 1996
Romeo + Juliet
$11,133,231
[ 49]
45
November 10, 1996
Ransom
$34,216,088
[ 50]
46
November 17, 1996
Space Jam
$27,528,529
[ 51]
47
November 24, 1996
Star Trek: First Contact
$30,716,131
[ 52]
48
December 1, 1996
101 Dalmatians
$33,504,025
101 Dalmatians broke Toy Story ' s record ($29.1 million) for the highest Thanksgiving weekend debut.
[ 53]
49
December 8, 1996
$13,944,053
[ 54]
50
December 15, 1996
Jerry Maguire
$17,084,296
[ 55]
51
December 22, 1996
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
$20,114,233
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America broke Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ' s record ($18.1 million) for the highest weekend debut in December and The Land Before Time ' s record ($7.5 million) for the highest weekend debut for a non-Disney animated film.
[ 56]
52
December 29, 1996
Michael
$17,435,711
[ 57]
Highest-grossing films [ edit ]
Highest-grossing films of 1996 by Calendar Gross[ 2]
Rank
Title
Studio(s)
Actor(s)
Director(s)
Gross
1.
Independence Day
20th Century Fox
Will Smith , Bill Pullman , Jeff Goldblum , Mary McDonnell , Judd Hirsch , Margaret Colin , Randy Quaid , Robert Loggia , James Rebhorn and Harvey Fierstein
Roland Emmerich
$306,156,090
2.
Twister
Warner Bros. Pictures
Helen Hunt , Bill Paxton , Jami Gertz , Cary Elwes and Philip Seymour Hoffman
Jan de Bont
$241,721,524
3.
Mission: Impossible
Paramount Pictures
Tom Cruise , Jon Voight , Emmanuelle Béart , Henry Czerny , Jean Reno , Ving Rhames , Kristin Scott Thomas and Vanessa Redgrave
Brian De Palma
$180,981,856
4.
The Rock
Walt Disney Studios
Sean Connery , Nicolas Cage , Ed Harris , Michael Biehn and William Forsythe
Michael Bay
$134,069,511
5.
The Nutty Professor
Universal Pictures
Eddie Murphy , Jada Pinkett , James Coburn , Dave Chappelle , Larry Miller and John Ales
Tom Shadyac
$128,814,019
6.
Ransom
Walt Disney Studios
Mel Gibson , Rene Russo , Gary Sinise , Delroy Lindo and Lili Taylor
Ron Howard
$125,502,048
7.
The Birdcage
United Artists
Robin Williams , Gene Hackman , Nathan Lane , Dianne Wiest , Dan Futterman , Calista Flockhart , Hank Azaria and Christine Baranski
Mike Nichols
$124,060,553
8.
A Time to Kill
Warner Bros. Pictures
Sandra Bullock , Samuel L. Jackson , Matthew McConaughey , Kevin Spacey , Brenda Fricker , Oliver Platt , Charles S. Dutton , Ashley Judd , Patrick McGoohan and Donald Sutherland
Joel Schumacher
$108,766,007
9.
101 Dalmatians
Walt Disney Studios
Glenn Close , Jeff Daniels , Joely Richardson and Joan Plowright
Stephen Herek
$108,240,682
10.
The First Wives Club
Paramount Pictures
Bette Midler , Goldie Hawn , Diane Keaton , Maggie Smith , Dan Hedaya , Bronson Pinchot and Marcia Gay Harden
Hugh Wilson
$105,489,203
Highest-grossing films of 1996 by In-year release[ 58]
Rank
Title
Distributor
Domestic gross
1.
Independence Day
20th Century Fox
$306,169,268
2.
Twister
Warner Bros.
$241,721,524
3.
Mission: Impossible
Paramount Pictures
$180,981,856
4.
Jerry Maguire
TriStar Pictures
$153,952,592
5.
Ransom
Walt Disney Studios
$136,492,681
6.
101 Dalmatians
$136,189,294
7.
The Rock
$134,069,511
8.
The Nutty Professor
Universal Pictures
$128,814,019
9.
The Birdcage
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
$124,060,553
10.
A Time to Kill
Warner Bros.
$108,766,007
Americas
Argentina Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Ecuador Mexico Paraguay United States Venezuela
Asia-Pacific
Australia China Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan New Zealand Pakistan Philippines South Korea Taiwan
Thailand
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
Austria Belgium France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Lithuania Netherlands Poland Romania Spain Turkey United Kingdom
1996 Related
Preceded by
1996
Succeeded by