After seeing titanic Before its official release 25 years ago, Angelo Guzzo gave this advice to his son Vincent, who was already in charge of programming the family cinema chain: “The number of screens must be doubled and even tripled ”.
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The father had flair. Since the first showings of James Cameron’s mega-production on December 19, 1997, cinemas in Quebec and around the world have been taken by storm.
“In some cinemas, Vincent Guzzo recalls, Titanic was shown in 50% of the screens. »
Long queues formed in front of the cinemas. Some cinephiles had to do it multiple times before being able to purchase a ticket.
“It’s one of the last movies that people have had trouble seeing for several days,” says Robin Plamondon, owner of Le Clap Cinemas in Quebec.
Archive photo
The fabulous reconstruction of the sinking of the Titanic as seen in James Cameron’s event film released in 1997.
Phenomenal Numbers
Although it spans 195 minutes, the sad love story between Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) and the sinking of the then-unsinkable boat has seduced millions of Quebecers.
According to the Observatoire de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, 3,386,382 admissions to Quebec cinemas were registered to see Titanic.
It’s phenomenal. To give an idea of the extent of the frenzy, our second all-time spot goes to Avatar, also the work of James Cameron, seen by 1,791,101 cinemagoers. Almost twice as much as Titanic.
“It was a movie event. The ingredients were there. The images of this drama that everyone remembered were majestic and the couple on screen was sublime,” analyzes Robin Plamondon.
Celine was there too. Quebecers watching the film also had their chests blown when they heard a local voice sing Titanic’s theme song, My Heart Will Go On.
File photo, Gary Hershorn / Portal
Celine Dion received two Grammys for “My Heart Will Go On”.
Carried by the wave, Celine Dion won an Oscar and two Grammys, but not everyone was thrilled with the song’s success.
“We cleaned the rooms between sessions,” says Vincent Guzzo, and it’s usually empty before the credits roll. boys could work. We had a problem with Titanic because everyone wanted to hear Celine Dion’s song. It added another 4-5 minutes to the length of the movie. »
James Cameron: Movies That Pay Off
Quebec World
- Titanic $18.2M $2.2B
- Avatar $17.0M $2.9M
- Avatar: The Way of Water $2.6M $300M
*Amounts are in Canadian dollars for Quebec and US dollars for the world.
*Avatar: Path of the Water earnings reflect the film’s first weekend of release.
Source: Quebec Observatory for Culture and Communication and Box Office Mojo.