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So...

With the current state of the industry, wouldn't it be great if something would come along and knock Titanic right off its thrown, grossing more then 700 million at the box office?

We sure could use it now.

I remember seeing the film as a kid. It was shown on multiple screens in every theatre. One three plex even ran it on all screens (1200 seats total).

Every showing was selling out, left and right. It was a phenomenal event. I remember the lights dimming and the curtain opening, and for the first time ever... the crowd actually hushing.

Now, I don't quite remember specifically.. but, did this film start out on a bunch of screens with everyone thinking it would be huge, or did it just kind of happen? I went to school with one kid who's mom saw it in the theatre close to 20 times (no joke). I as a kid saw it thrice.

When do you think the next "HIGHEST GROSSING PICTURE OF ALL TIME" will come around?

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Since 1987

BUMP

Posted late last night.

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Since 1987

jeez, are you young!

That seems like yesterday to me, and I aint even that old!

Anyways, that would indeed be a blessed event for this industry, but I think the planets were aligned just so for Titanic, and I think the planets, if anything, are in complete disarray now (to continue my metaphor).

If I remember right Titanic was supposed to be a blockbuster, but, I don't think anybody guessed it would do quite that well.

Seems like yesterday to me also. But then I have been at this for 30 years.

For us it opened slow right before the christmas holidays. And then by early January it started to take off.

What did it for us was the constant stream of female fans of Leo DeCaprio, returning over and over and over again. By April it was almost like a contest between them. Overhearing them talk about how many times they had seen it to each other.

Truly was an alignment of the planets!

I seem to remember hearing something that James Cameron told his actors he'd pay them a commission for their acting, and everyone was paid very low, because he had gone so over budget and had used his own money too.

Wasn't Star Wars (1977) the highest grossing picture of all time? That's 19 years until Titanic! Think We'll have to wait until 2016/2017?

Just remember: Its bound to happen again.

Dunno... but there sure were a lot of memories from that time....

We ran that film for 6 months... single screen auditorium... something like 600 seats... 3 shows on weekdays... 5 on weekends. We wore out 2 prints... and yes, the place was packed for weeks.

Other films from around that time... "Animal House"... "Superman"... Yep, it was a different planet, just under 30 years ago.

Similar sweet memories from that timeframe, here too... I could add another 50 pictures to your list Jack, and they all had something in common: they were new & different from what had been made previously... And they had GOOD STORYLINES, too bad the studios haven't the balls to break some new ground instead of rehashing the same tired old storylines from the last 40 years... That's what happens when a commitee of beancounters is in charge of the store, instead of a batch of real moviemakers...

Too bad the Oscars shunned "Brokeback Mountain".

Let's see: innovation, racy, controversial, good storyline, fantastic cinematography/photography, great acting and it did fairly well at the box office during a very poor period when patron counts dropped.

Seems it was too innovative. Instead, let "Crash" win. Now, don't get me wrong, "Crash" was an excellent movie, but NO Picture of the Year.

How stupid do we have to be? One step forward, three steps (atleast) back.

the best pic won. I thought brokeback was excellent but essentially a classic tortured love story but Crash hit it on all points. IMHO

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

Mike,

There's a lot that would agree with you, and a lot that wouldn't.

Just watched Titanic yesterday. Still a classic. I've talked to several people and they said they'd like to see it in the theatre again.

How come Titanic is never on TV? Do you think a re-release next year (10th anniversary) in theatres or DVD is possible?

Too long for TV. At least the ones that need to put in commercials.

I do see it on from time to time on cable channels. Was on The Movie Channel about 3 weeks ago.


[This message has been edited by sevstar (edited June 05, 2006).]

never! but Johnny and the Pirates looks pretty good!

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

Actually, wasn't E.T. the highest? 1982 - E.T. grossed $359,197,037 to Star Wars' $307,263,857 in 1977. It's still 15 years until Titanic's monster run to $600,788,188. Seems like an awful big number that will be hard to conquer, even with the ever increasing ticket price.

Big Guy - I'm a numbers geek. Counting re-releases and special editions, the top 10 films of all time in the US are:

1 Titanic Par. $600,788,188 1997
2 Star Wars Fox $460,998,007 1977
3 Shrek 2 DW $441,226,247 2004
4 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $435,110,554 1982
5 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Fox $431,088,301 1999
6 Spider-Man Sony $403,706,375 2002
7 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Fox $380,270,577 2005
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King NL $377,027,325 2003
9 Spider-Man 2 Sony $373,585,825 2004
10 The Passion of the Christ NM $370,782,930 2004


Adjusted for inflation, the list reads:

1 Gone with the Wind MGM $1,293,085,600 1939
2 Star Wars Fox $1,139,965,400 1977
3 The Sound of Music Fox $911,458,400 1965
4 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $907,867,700 1982
5 The Ten Commandments Par. $838,400,000 1956
6 Titanic Par. $821,413,700 1997
7 Jaws Uni. $819,704,400 1975
8 Doctor Zhivago MGM $794,466,900 1965
9 The Exorcist WB $707,639,500 1973
10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Dis. $697,600,000 1937