'Titanic In 3D' Sails To No. 3 At Weekend Box Office

For the third consecutive week, The Hunger Games satiated the box office at No. 1, reaping $33.5 million, for a cumulative total of a staggering $302,839,000. The sci-fi thriller reached the $300 million benchmark in just 17 days, making it the sixth fastest movie to reach the milestone.

At No. 2 was the fourth installment of franchise American Reunion, which launched with $21.5 million. And coming in boldly at No. 3 with Titanic In 3D, the second all-time top grossing film—timed to the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking—which added a respectable $17.4 million to its total (beginning in late 1997) of $1.8 billion. (Rounding out the Top 5 flicks were Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror.)

Of course, synonymous with Titanic's success is Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." Written by Oscar-winning composer James Horner with Will Jennings, the soaring ballad was the world's best-selling single of 1998, it has sold more than 15 million copies since, won four Grammy Awards, an Oscar for Best Original Song and ranks at No. 14 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movie songs. Indeed, it remains Celine's signature song and one of the finest pop tunes in history.

"As with all phenomena, it's a triangulation of events," says Craig Marks, editor in chief of the music site Popdust.com. "It's the biggest movie that's both for grown-ups but especially for ardent teenagers who see emotions as these big huge things that are uncontrollable. The song matched that feeling. There is no bigger-sounding song, really, than 'My Heart Will Go On.'"

And here, from my pal Gary Trust at Billboard, are some Celine stats: With the movie's re-release, the song rises from 6,000 to 8,000 downloads sold this week.

As for Dion's top-selling songs, here's how they stack up physically/digitally... 1) "Because You Loved Me" 2) "My Heart Will Go On" 3) "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" 4) "The Power of Love" 5) "Beauty and the Beast," with Peabo Bryson. He adds that while "Because" takes overall best-seller honors, "Heart" is easily Dion's most popular download, which reinforces its appeal more than 14 years after its original release, when Titanic first stormed theaters. *