On July 21, 1978 while still in current release in 38 theatres in the U.S., the film expanded into a 1,744 theatre national saturation windup of release and set a new U.S. weekend record of $10,202,726. The gross prior to the expansion was $221,280,994. The expansion added a further $43,774,911 to take its gross to $265,055,905. Reissues in 1979 ($22,455,262), 1981 ($17,247,363), and 1982 ($17,981,612) brought its cumulative gross in the U.S and Canada to $323 million, and extended its global earnings to $530 million. The film remained the List of highest-grossing films until E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial broke that record in 1983.. How many years after the film was expanded into a 1,744 theatre national saturation windup of release did E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial break the record for highest-grossing films?