Titanic (1997 film) on December 19, 1997, "Titanic" achieved critical and commercial success. Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, it tied "All About Eve" (1950) for the most Oscar nominations, and won 11, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director, tying "Ben-Hur" (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. 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 "Avatar" surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of "Titanic," released on April 4, 2012, to commemorate the centennial of the
Ben-Hur (1959 film) however. The Tunberg script had Ben-Hur and Messala reuniting and falling out in a single scene. Vidal broke the scene in two, so that the men first reunite at the Castle Antonia and then later argue and end their friendship at Ben-Hur's home. Vidal also added small character touches to the script, such as Messala's purchase of a brooch for Tirzah and Ben-Hur's purchase of a horse for Messala. Vidal claimed that he worked on the first half of the script (everything up to the chariot race), and scripted 10 versions of the scene where Ben-Hur confronts Messala and begs