Upon release, both the album and its accompanying film were met with generally negative reviews from critics, who felt it failed in trying to capture a genuine 1980s theme, and there were too many guest appearances. Retrospective reviews, however, have been largely positive, with many saying the album was unfairly maligned. Universally, "Glitter" was viewed as a commercial and critical failure, leading to Virgin Records cancelling Carey's $100 million five-album contract and dropping her from the label. While it debuted at number seven on the US "Billboard" 200, it was Carey's lowest first-week sales of any album she had ever released. Internationally, it peaked outside the top ten in many countries, but topped the charts in Japan. "Glitter" became Carey's least successful album at the time, selling two million copies worldwide.