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: A Tale of the Christ by Heston. A BBC Radio 4 dramatization of the book in four parts was first broadcast in the United Kingdom in March–April, 1995, starring Jamie Glover as Ben-Hur, with a cast that included Samuel West and Michael Gambon. "Ben-Hur"s success encouraged the publication of other historical romance stories of the ancient world, including G. J. Whyte-Melville's "The Gladiators: A Tale of Rome and Judea" (1870), Marie Corelli's "Barabbas" (1901), and Florence Morse Kingsley's "Titus, A Comrade of the Cross" (1897). Other novels adapted Wallace's story: Herman M. Bien's "Ben-Beor" (1891), J. O. A. Clark's "Esther: A Sequel to Ben-Hur" (1892),