It was reported that "Titanic" made over $6 million on Saturday, reaching over $465 million as of Saturday night. I it already the all-time #1 movie in North America.

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), March 15, 1998

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LOS ANGELES--"It might have been his first time -or her fifth -but on Saturday, a moviegoer somewhere in the United States or Canada bought a ticket that pushed "Titanic" past "Star Wars" to become the top domestic money-earner of all time.

Yet frankly, my dear, the record is "Gone With the Wind" if you count the 1939 classic's admissions and multiply by current ticket prices. With that adjustment, "GWTW" would have sold $1.29 billion in 1998 tickets.

But "Titanic's" achievements are nonetheless awesome.

Going into Saturday, the shipwreck saga claimed receipts of $458.2 million and was projected by industry estimates to have grossed at least $7 million more by evening. This gave it a total of more than $465 million, thus breaking the all-time domestic mark of $461 million set by "Star Wars."

"Without a doubt we passed the record today," Paramount spokesman Blaise Noto said Saturday evening.

Actually, the 1977 George Lucas blockbuster would have made $812 million in sales in today's dollars, according to the Hollywood trade paper Variety. But it took five re-releases for "Star Wars" to make that kind of money, while "Titanic" is steaming in the same direction on its first time out.

"The question now is how high is high? Will it get to $600 million? You have to believe it will get to $500 million," said Tom Sherak, chairman of the 20th Century Fox domestic film division, which co-produced the $200 million film with Paramount.

"Titanic" already holds the record for worldwide returns with receipts in excess of $1.1 billion. "Titanic" was expected to claim the top domestic spot of all-time on the same weekend it was projected to fall out of first place on the charts. The movie had been the nation's No. 1 film for 12 straight weeks, one weekend short of the record shared by 1984's "Beverly Hills Cop" and 1982's "Tootsie."

Meanwhile, the weekend's top film, early projections showed, was "The Man in the Iron Mask," a Three Musketeers drama starring "Titanic's" Leonardo DiCaprio in dual roles as twin brothers.

"In no way does it signify any weakness for that film. It's extraordinary what it has achieved," said Gerry Rich, the president of worldwide marketing for "The Man in the Iron Mask" producer MGM.

Some box-office watchers say that DiCaprio's sudden fame could push "The Man in the Iron Mask" to robust opening numbers. "Leo's the hottest star worldwide right now," Rich said.

"The Man in the Iron Mask" is opening wider than any other film in MGM history -about 3,700 prints in some 3,100 theater locations. Despite some mixed reviews, the film could challenge MGM's all-time best weekend, set by 1995's "GoldenEye" with $26.2 million. The strongest March opening ever was recorded by last year's "Liar" with $31.4 million.

"Titanic" is likely to be out of first place for at least the next two weekends -the highly publicized "Primary Colors" opens Friday. But if "Titanic" wins the best picture Oscar at March 23's Academy Awards, the epic could cruise back into first".

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), March 15, 1998.

Saturday, March 14:

"Titanic": $8,165,000 Total: $466,372,000 "TMITIM": $7,005,000 Total: $12,795,000

As of Sunday night, estimated grossing for "Titanic": $471,300,000

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), March 16, 1998.