$7,867,000 and set a record gross in its first 19 days, with $40,272,000. After 66 days, it had grossed $100 million to become Paramount's second-highest-grossing film, behind The Godfather, and ended its initial run with a gross of $132,472,560, which made it the highest-grossing film in 1978. In the United States and globally, it became the highest-grossing musical ever at the time, eclipsing the 13-year-old record held by The Sound of Music, with a worldwide gross of $341 million. In the United Kingdom, it opened with a record $2.2 million in its first eight days. It went on to become the highest-grossing film in the UK, with a gross of £14.7 million. It was re-released May 18, 1979, in 1,248 theatres in the United States and Canada (except for the New York City area, where it opened a week later), Paramount's biggest ever saturation release at the time, grossing $4.5 million in its opening weekend. The film played for four weeks and was then paired with the PG-rated version of Saturday Night Fever in late June. During the reissue, it overtook The Godfather as Paramount Pictures' highest-grossing film. It was re-released in March 1998 for its 20th anniversary, where it grossed a further $28 million in the United States and Canada. It remained the highest-grossing live-action musical until 2012 when it was overtaken by Les Misérables, and it remained the US champion until 2017 when it was surpassed by Beauty and the Beast. Discounting inflation, Grease is now the seventh-highest-grossing live-action musical worldwide. A further re-issue for its 40th anniversary in 2018 grossed $1 million. To date, Grease has grossed $189,969,103 domestically and $206.2 million internationally, totaling $396 million worldwide. Another re-issue took place in select AMC Theatres locations in August 2022 to honor Olivia Newton-John following her death earlier that month, with $1 per sold ticket and the proceeds going to breast cancer research, through a donation by AMC Cares. Similarly, in the UK, selected Merlin Cinemas venues also reissued the film during August, but partnered with Macmillan Cancer Support, with a contribution of £1 per ticket sold. Reception Grease received mostly positive reviews from film critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1978. The New York Times Vincent Canby, on its initial release in June 1978, called the film "terrific fun", describing it as a "contemporary fantasy about a 1950s teen-age musical—a