Titanic had record-setting sales.
Titanic (1997 film) . Upon its release on December 19 , 1997 , Titanic achieved critical and commercial success . With an initial worldwide gross of over $ 1.84 billion , Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark . It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron 's 2009 film Avatar surpassed it in 2010 . It became the second film to gross more than $ 2 billion worldwide ( after Avatar ) .