For a large-scale commercial film, if the second week’s box office surpasses that of the first week, it is undoubtedly a miracle, and Titanic is unquestionably creating one.
The film’s North American box office defied expectations by increasing for two consecutive weekdays, leaving many astonished. On Thanksgiving Day, due to the market once again lacking a strong competitor, Titanic became the first choice for family audiences. The PG-13 rating made it suitable for all ages, ensuring it wouldn’t disappoint viewers.
Compared to Wednesday, a weekday, Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday saw Titanic’s single-day box office rise again, with an astonishing 55% increase, bringing in $27.59 million.
In its first week in North America, Titanic officially surpassed the $100 million milestone, reaching a total of $123.36 million!
Simultaneously, the film debuted in the UK for a week, and in Titanic’s homeland, it performed equally well, grossing $29.55 million during the same period.
The abnormal trend of Titanic defying market norms was just the beginning, far from its end.
After Thanksgiving, the number of North American theaters showing the film increased again, from 3,358 to 3,398. Mainstream commercial theater screenings rose to an extraordinary 76%.
It is well-known that since Hollywood films began large-scale releases, particularly in the 1980s, opening weekend box office numbers have become increasingly significant for commercial films, often accounting for the majority of their earnings. Additionally, it is common for subsequent weekend box office numbers to decline. In fact, for a film to achieve less than a 30% drop in weekend box office figures is already considered exceptional.
After Thanksgiving, Titanic entered its second weekend. On Friday, the box office experienced some expected fluctuations, dropping to $19.50 million. However, by Saturday, the single-day box office soared to $26.75 million again. By the end of the weekend, Titanic left everyone speechless with its second-weekend box office numbers.
Instead of declining compared to its opening weekend, North American box office figures showed an unbelievable 25% increase, with a three-day total of $55.80 million!
This also set a record for the highest second-weekend box office in Hollywood history!
By this time, even those who had consistently doubted Titanic realized one thing: don’t measure this ship with the usual commercial movie standards!
The trajectory of this maritime epic was unusually steady. The sharp daily declines of 30% or even 40% seen in other commercial films were almost non-existent in this case.
As a new week began, Duke returned to Los Angeles to continue his work, while Titanic continued its unstoppable box office performance, with figures described as nothing short of miraculous.
Monday: $17.55 million.
Tuesday: $15.21 million.
Wednesday: $13.22 million.
Thursday: $12.14 million.
When the film had been in theaters for two full weeks, the cumulative North American box office had reached $237.28 million. Predictions claiming that Titanic would barely surpass $250 million domestically were now entirely discredited. Even the most uninformed observers could tell that this number was far from the film’s final North American gross. Several Wall Street forecasting institutions quietly revised their predictions for the domestic box office to $400 million.
"I’ve heard that Las Vegas has started taking bets on the film’s final North American box office," said Mike Dawson, during a discussion about the film. "$400 million odds are 1:1, and $500 million odds are only 1.5:1..." Follow current novels on novel※fire.net
Duke laughed, "Anyone interested in making a wager?"
Such betting could easily be manipulated behind the scenes, so Duke wasn’t naive enough to think a big bet would yield corresponding returns. Still, throwing in a small amount for entertainment wasn’t out of the question.
"Sure!" Anna Prinz was intrigued and responded first, "I’ll take the $500 million odds."
Zach Snyder gave her a disdainful look and said, "I’ll also go with the $500 million odds."
Everyone was aware of the dangers of gambling and treated it purely as a lighthearted pastime.
Duke turned to Tina Fey and said, "Same here. Place $100,000 for me."
Tina Fey’s eyes lit up. "Then I’ll put in $100,000 too."
For them, this was pocket change. After some jokes, they returned to work, while Tina left the editing room to continue monitoring Titanic’s box office trends for Duke.
It must be said that Titanic’s success was inevitable in some ways, but there were also coincidental factors. Most notably, the Thanksgiving-Christmas season lacked strong competitors. For example, Starship Troopers, released by Sony Columbia Pictures, had a huge budget but an underwhelming box office performance. Not only was it far from rivaling Titanic, but even recouping costs seemed unlikely.
On the third weekend, Titanic finally faced a relatively strong film from Duke’s memory: Good Will Hunting, produced by Miramax and starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. While its box office numbers were ultimately solid, it followed Miramax’s typical Oscar-focused strategy, opening in just seven theaters, posing no real threat.
With no formidable competitors, Titanic easily claimed its third consecutive weekend box office crown, earning $39.52 million in three days and pushing its North American total to $276.80 million.
That same weekend, 20th Century Fox expanded the film’s release to Latin America and Western Europe. As is typical for North American box office hits—except niche comedies and cult films—it also achieved great success overseas. A cultural wave centered on the ship began sweeping the globe.
However, during its fourth North American weekend, Titanic faced a major competitor: the 18th James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, which opened in 2,807 theaters.
But this year undoubtedly belonged to Titanic. Despite being meticulously crafted, the Bond film was overshadowed by the "big ship." Even though Tomorrow Never Dies debuted its opening weekend, it couldn’t compete with Titanic’s fourth weekend.
Affected by Titanic, Tomorrow Never Dies grossed a lower-than-expected $25.14 million in its opening weekend. In any other timeframe, this would have secured the top spot, but it was no match for Titanic.
Titanic maintained its extraordinary steadiness, earning $33.31 million over the weekend, securing its fourth consecutive weekend at the top of the box office charts. Including the four weekdays, which brought in $28.75 million, its North American total reached $338.86 million!
Once this number was announced, Las Vegas adjusted its odds, changing the $500 million prediction to 1:1 odds.
During the following week leading up to Christmas, more films crowded into theaters to compete for this prime holiday season. However, whether it was Miramax’s Scream 2 and Life is Beautiful or Sony Columbia Pictures’ As Good as It Gets, none posed any real competition to Titanic. The market’s lack of strong contenders ensured the ship’s dominance.
Titanic’s success was inevitable, driven by numerous factors. However, the lack of strong competitors was also a critical external factor.
In short, the combination of internal inevitability and external coincidence resulted in unprecedented success for this film.
By Christmas 1997, Titanic had been in theaters for 37 days, with the number of screens staying above 3,300. Despite fluctuations, it repeatedly showed extraordinary growth, with a cumulative North American gross of $375.62 million.
Meanwhile, the film was also expanding globally, with overseas earnings growing at an astonishing rate, reaching $250 million. Although the combined domestic and international grosses had yet to recoup the total investment from the three production companies, everyone understood it was only a matter of time before Titanic turned a profit.
Before Christmas, Titanic also introduced an important piece of merchandise: the soundtrack album. In its first week, it sold 443,000 copies in North America alone. The second week saw sales rise to 519,000, with a peak in the third week of 765,000. Although the fourth week dipped to 658,200, the fifth week rebounded to 758,800 copies.
During this five-week period, Titanic not only achieved five consecutive weeks atop the box office charts but also dominated the Billboard album sales chart, outperforming numerous pop divas and superstars.
The soundtrack’s massive success benefited not just Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Duke’s studio but also Celine Dion. Thanks to My Heart Will Go On, she cemented her place among North America’s top female artists, being compared to Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston.
Overseas, the soundtrack sold at nearly double the rate of its North American sales.
In addition, the three investors actively pursued other merchandise opportunities, working with various manufacturers to maximize the revenue generated by the ship. The income figures would make anyone green with envy.