Every Movie Titanic Defeated At The Box Office During Its Initial Run
Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be the biggest franchise in the history of cinema, but it took an army of filmmakers and independent superheros to become what it is. If there is one, single unquestioned king of the box office, it is undoubtedly James Cameron. The man, as it stands, has made three of the four highest-grossing movies of all time, with "Avatar," "Avatar: The Way of Water," and "Titanic." The latter was released way back in 1997 and it still managed to cross the $2 billion mark in global ticket sales, something no other film did until (checks notes) "Avatar" in 2009. In its initial run, the film earned $1.84 billion, before subsequent re-releases took it all the way up to $2.19 billion.
No other film in history had a run quite like that of "Titanic," which topped the charts at the domestic box office for an absolutely staggering 15 weekends in a row. It is a record that no movie has ever come close to topping in the years since and, quite frankly, it seems downright impossible to imagine it will ever happen again ... barring an absolutely seismic shift in the way the industry and public at large approaches moviegoing.
During that historic run in late '97 and early '98, Cameron's epic based on a true story with a fictional romance at its center managed to defeat many, many other movies that entered the fold not expecting to come up against the might of this mega blockbuster. In honor of the movie's re-release for its 25th anniversary, we're looking back at all of the classics, franchise entries, forgotten favorites, and every other wide release that "Titanic" managed to defeat during its legendary box office run, weekend-by-weekend.
Weekend of December 19: Tomorrow Never Dies and Mouse Hunt
On its opening weekend, "Titanic" took in a very healthy $28.6 million. 25 years ago, $100 million openings weren't a thing. Be that as it may, this movie still had a massive $200 million production budget to account for, and that number didn't quite suggest the money was well spent. Yet. Even so, that number was good enough to put Cameron's epic above "Tomorrow Never Dies," the second Pierce Brosnan James Bond film, which narrowly lost the weekend, taking in $25.1 million. Yes, amazingly enough, even 007 couldn't sink the "Titanic." That did, however, set the tone for this impressive run. Meanwhile, "Mouse Hunt" never stood a chance, taking in just $6 million that same weekend.
Weekend of December 26: As Good as it Gets, Jackie Brown, and An American Werewolf in Paris
In its second weekend, "Titanic" went on something of a killing spree as a handful of eventual classics (and one misguided sequel) entered the fold, failing to get anywhere near the top of the charts. The biggest defeated movie was the eventual Best Picture Oscar nominee "As Good as it Gets," which debuted to $12.6 million, landing at number three on the charts that weekend. "Tomorrow Never Dies" ($20.4 million) and "Titanic" ($35.4 million) did not make it a particularly close fight. You might care to note that Cameron's expensive movie made even more in its second weekend, as buzz was growing. We also had Quentin Tarantino's follow-up to "Pulp Fiction" in the form of "Jackie Brown," which landed at number five with $9.2 million. At number seven was "An American Werewolf in Paris" with $7.6 million, while Kevin Costner's costly "The Postman" ($5.26 million) and Disney's "Mr. Magoo" ($5.23 million) rounded out the top 10 as respective disappointments. They never stood a chance.
Weekend of January 9: Firestorm
The weekend of January 2 brought with it no new releases, so "Titanic" had an easy path to victory in the first frame of 1998. But the weekend of January 9 saw 20th Century Fox release the first big new flick of the year in the form of the largely forgotten thriller "Firestorm." Directed by Dean Semler, this one stars Scott Glenn, William Forsythe and, interestingly enough, former NFL player Howie Long. Glenna and Long play firefighters who come across a convict in the midst of a forest fire and, largely, this one was panned by critics, leading it to a meager $3.8 million debut. That was only good enough for number seven on the charts. Cameron's buzzy hit, meanwhile, dropped just 13.8% in its fourth weekend to bring in another $28.7 million which, as you'll care to note, was still more than its opening weekend.
Weekend of January 16: Fallen, Half-Baked and Hard Rain
On the weekend of January 16, which was a long one thanks to the MLK holiday, an odd trio of films lost handily to "Titanic," which added a ridiculous $36 million to its total thanks to the extra Monday holiday. The oft-forgotten "Fallen" ($10.4 million), the disaster flick "Hard Rain" ($8 million), and the stoner classic "Half-Baked" ($7.7 million) all failed to even have a fighting chance at box office victory. Meanwhile, Barry Levinson's acclaimed "Wag the Dog" did well in expansion, bringing in $6.4 million, but it was never going to actually compete for the top spot.
Weekend of January 23: Spice World and Phantoms
The weekend of January 23 saw a couple of eventual cult classics of sorts debut, though neither of them ever really had a shot at taking the crown. Sony capitalized on the insane popularity of the Spice Girls with "Spice World," which brought in $10.5 million in its debut, good enough for number two on the charts. Yet, it was nowhere near "Titanic," which brought in another $25.2 million in its sixth frame. That $200 million investment was starting to look smart. Meanwhile, the critical flop "Phantoms" also opened that weekend and disappointed with just $3 million, coming in at number nine on the charts. If it's any consolation, as Jay and Silent Bob once pointed out, Ben Affleck was the bomb in "Phantoms."
Weekend of January 30: Great Expectations, Desperate Measures, and Deep Rising
Seven weekends into its run, "Titanic" was showing no signs of slowing down. The weekend of January 30 saw the film earn yet another $25.9 million, yet again increasing its take from the prior week. As a result, "Great Expectations" ($9.5 million) wasn't even within striking distance. We also had "Desperate Measures" ($5.8 million) and "Deep Rising" ($4.7 million) further down on the charts with debuts that didn't even put them in the same ballpark. It was becoming clear that time — lots and lots of time — was the only thing capable of dismantling this run atop the charts.
Weekend of February 6: The Replacement Killers and Blues Brothers 2000
The weekend of February 6 was very much "another week, another batch of titles to throw in the kill list" that "Titanic" was quickly amassing. In its eighth weekend, Cameron's record-breaker added $23 million, dropping just 11.1% from the prior week. As a result, Antoine Fuqua's "The Replacement Killers" ($8 million) had to settle for a distant second place. That same weekend the largely panned sequel "Blues Brothers 2000" debuted at number four with $6.1 million, losing to "Good Will Hunting" ($6.8 million), which was having its own little fairytale run in its tenth weekend.
Weekend of February 13: The Wedding Singer, Sphere, and The Borrowers
Would you believe me if I told you that "Titanic" actually, once again, increased its earnings on the weekend of February 13? The record-destroying blockbuster earned $28.1 million that weekend, up 22.3% from the prior frame. Downright unheard-of stuff. So sure, did Adam Sandler's "The Wedding Singer" put up a fight with an $18.8 million debut over Valentine's Day weekend? You bet! But it was still more than $9 million away from the top spot. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. found themselves on the wrong side of a costly flop with the sci-fi flick "Sphere," which debuted with just $14.4 million against an $80 million budget. We also had John Goodman's "The Borrowers" enter the fold with $4.4 million but, again, it never really had a fair shot at taking down the unsinkable ship.
Weekend of February 20: Senseless and Palmetto
The weekend of February 20 was a pretty uneventful one, all things considered. "Titanic" sailed away with it, taking in $21 million, suffering a 25.3% drop. Granted, that drop was still minimal, but considering how often it had been increasing grosses week-to-week, a drop of that size was one of the very first signs that the run was perhaps going to run out of steam in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, a couple of largely lost-to-time flicks in "Senseless" ($5.3 million) and "Palmetto" ($2.8 million) were left to fight for relative scraps in their debuts.
Weekend of February 27: Dark City and Krippendorf's Tribe
As February 1998 looked to wrap things up over the weekend of the 27th, "Titanic" continued to slide a tiny bit, dropping 6.7% with a $19.6 million haul in its 11th weekend. A stunning figure, to be certain. The weekend's newcomers didn't do much to make it interesting, with the eventual cult classic "Dark City" getting closest with $5.5 million in the number four spot. We also had the widely forgotten "Krippendorf's Tribe" taking in $3.3 million, while "Caught Up" ($2.4 million) and "Kissing a Fool" ($2.3 million) performed rather poorly, much lower down on the charts.
Weekend of March 6: U.S. Marshals, The Big Lebowski, and more
On paper, "U.S. Marshals," the sequel to the massive hit "The Fugitive," seemed like a lock to take the top spot that weekend. What Warner Bros. didn't count on, however, was that Cameron would have a once-in-a-lifetime (until 2009) hit with "Titanic," which added $17.6 million in its 12th weekend, the weekend of March 6. That same weekend, "U.S. Marshals" debuted with $16.8 million, narrowly missing the top spot and giving Cameron's blockbuster the closest run for its money to date. It just wasn't a good enough run. Meanwhile, several other movies entered the fold, including "Twilight" (not that one) with $5.8 million, "Hush" ($5.7 million), and, most surprising of all, "The Big Lebowski" ($5.5 million). That Coen brothers comedy would absolutely achieve classic status, but not right away. In its debut, it had to settle for sixth place. Perhaps if fewer new releases had arrived that weekend, "U.S. Marshals" could have ended things right then and there, but that's not the way it shook out.
Weekend of March 13: The Man in the Iron Mask, Chairman of the Board
MGM almost certainly thought they had the goods with "The Man in the Iron Mask," which served as Leonardo DiCaprio's follow-up to "Titanic." It arrived the weekend of March 13, a full three months after Cameron's film first debuted in theaters. Clearly, the idea was for DiCaprio to score a second #1 film in a row — it just didn't pan out that way. Director Randall Wallace's tale of revenge debuted to largely negative reviews and that probably killed its chances at taking the crown. The film opened to $17.27 million, just narrowly missing the top spot, with "Titanic" pulling in $17.57 million, hardly dropping at all from the prior weekend. A brutal defeat for MGM, and probably the most brutal kill on this entire list. Much further down on the charts that weekend, Carrot Top's "Chairman of the Board" flopped hard with just $181,000.
Weekend of March 20: Primary Colors, Wild Things, and Mr. Nice Guy
The penultimate weekend of the record-setting run for "Titanic" came on March 20. It was a diverse week at the box office, with the political flick "Primary Colors" entering the fold, taking in a respectable $12 million. That wasn't nearly enough to unseat the champ, which added $17.1 million, again dropping mere fractions of millions in its 14th weekend of release. "Wild Things," John McNaughton's steamy thriller starring Neve Campbell and Denise Richards, also debuted, taking in $9.6 million. We also saw Jackie Chan's "Mr. Nice Guy" taking in $5.2 million, though a film like that never had a #1 debut on its mind.
Weekend of March 27: Grease, The Newton Boys, Ride, and Meet the Deedles
And so it was: the weekend of March 27, 1998 would be the final time that "Titanic" would top the charts in its initial run, with a $15.2 million haul in its 15th frame. "Grease" actually got closest to taking the crown away in re-release, with $12.7 million. As far as new releases went, we had "The Newton Boys" ($4 million), "Ride" ($2.5 million), and Disney's surfer flick "Meet the Deedles" ($2 million) getting nowhere near the top spot. The following weekend, an unlikely champion in the form of "Lost in Space," the pricey big screen adaptation of the sci-fi TV show of the same name, would finally dethrone "Titanic" with a $20.1 million debut. Though its story would ultimately be one of financial disappointment, in the long run, it does earn its place in cinema history as the movie that finally sank the unsinkable ship.