The movie was released on December 19, 1997 and grossed $1.843 billion worldwide in its initial release, which made it at the time the highest-grossing movie in the world (surpassing Jurassic Park 1) until it was surpassed by Avatar in 2009. It's now the 3rd highest-grossing movie in the world ((behind Avatar and The Avengers 4) it would be the 5th (behind Avatar, The Avengers 4, Star Wars 7 and The Avengers 3) if it had never been re-released)