First film to gross $1 billion

[Dan Kappes]

Why was this film the first film to gross $1 billion at the box office, which was unheard of in the 1990s, but nowadays superhero and science fiction films easily make this much?

Is it because ticket prices have grown because of inflation over the past 20 years?

And why was this the only Titanic film to gross $1 billion and not 1958's A Night to Remember or the 1953 film?

 

[Itsstillthinking]

It was a combination of all sorts of things.

First it has to be (even though most Titanic buffs dislike it) has to be the romance story, this made the story far more open to a general audience than ever before.

Another thing was that for most of early 1998, there was a lack of quality movies to run the movie off its tracks

It was the most expensive movie at that time, and having Jims name behind it gave it some hear say before release.

I think the last one is that it was just that it was a well made movie, ANTR while a nice film, is simply NOT a money making type of film. At its heart it is a documentary and few people are going to pay a fee to watch it.

This video went into detail about its success

 

[Steven Christian]

A lot of it is inflation. But if a movie makes 10 times its investment it is a block buster in anybodys book.
List of highest-grossing films - Wikipedia