A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On March 23, 1998, “Titanic” tied an Academy Awards record by winning 11 Oscars, including best picture, best director for James Cameron and best original song for “My Heart Will Go On.”
Oscar was celebrating his 70th birthday that night in Los Angeles in 1998, and Cameron’s epic feature was expected to do well. It had already won a boatload of Golden Globes.
“Titanic” also earned 10 Guinness World Records, including most expensive film produced and highest box-office film gross for a drama.
For the record, “Ben Hur” won 11 Oscars in 1959. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” matched the feat in 2003.
“Titanic” was the top grossing film of all time for nearly a dozen years, but now it is third overall. Cameron has three of the top four all-time big box-office moves, led by “Avatar.”
In total, “Ben Hur” received 12 Oscar nominations and “Titanic” earned 14. “The Return of the King” won all 11 of its nominations, marking the largest sweep in Oscar history.
Here are some fun “Titanic” stories from Deseret News archives:
“Tradition and `Titanic’ are foremost as Oscar celebrates 70th birthday”
“Costly `Titanic’ steams off with 4 Golden Globe awards”
“What movie has won the most Oscars? Here are the top 15″
“A history of surprising — and sometimes puzzling — Academy Award wins”
“James Cameron has visited Titanic wreckage 33 times. Here’s what he said about the Titan”
“Before movie, Titanic was a news story”
“`Titanic’ director charts course for small screen”
“`Titanic’ video sails on banner maiden voyage”
“Demand for edited `Titanic’ is hot”
