Give Titanic to Someone You Love

White text atop a color photograph of film still from the movie Titanic feature Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet

James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film Titanic was a surprise hit and record breaking film. Inspired by the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, the movie, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, is reported to have cost $200 million to make, has a run time over three hours, and created cinematic history. It won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and it was the first film to have a video release (to VHS) while the film was still showing in theaters; the film screened at cinemas for fifty-four weeks! Film executives at the time reported that they had not anticipated the demand and popularity of the film, and scrambled to have tie in merchandise. Some companies even sold items like replica life vests as souvenirs. Promotion did pick up in time for the two-tape VHS release in September of 1998, and in some cities people waited in lines outside the store at midnight to purchase the film. By that point, they were prepared for the demand: a total of 24 million copies of the film were created for VHS.