#2 - $2.186 billion James Cameron's Titanic was the highest grossing movie of all-time for an incredible twelve years, a truly historic moment in the history of cinema. You might think that the romantic aspects of the story would have turned some viewers off, but the then-revolutionary digital effects utilised by The Terminator helmer during what sounds like a hellish production made it a must-see. At the end of Titanic's initial theatrical run, it had earned $1.8 billion, while a 2012 re-release helped the movie sail past $2 billion (thanks in part to the addition of 3D). With only Cameron's own Avatar beating it to the top spot, the movie has sat comfortable in the top two for seventeen solid years. That's a remarkable achievement, but so too was Titanic itself. It earned countless awards and received glowing reviews from critics and film fans alike. The fact that it's horribly overlong and features more than a few examples of questionable acting (here's looking at you, Billy Zane) means that it's not the all-time classic that its success might have you believe. As with Avatar though, Cameron made up for that by wowing moviegoers with a final hour that set a new benchmark for event movies.
