After months of anticipation, fans of “Titanic” will finally be able to watch their beloved film as many times as they want when the movie is released on video Tuesday.

Although the film has already made millions of dollars through ticket sales, posters, T-shirts, coffee mugs and every other kind of merchandise imaginable, stores are hoping to pull down the ship even more by selling copies of the movie on video.

Many stores in Ames and surrounding areas are offering special opportunities for customers to purchase the blockbuster disaster movie as soon as it comes out.

Hollywood Video, 637 Lincoln Way in Ames, is giving away 50 previously viewed copies to the first 25 people to rent “Titanic” on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to Assistant Manager Michael Bakken, the store is staying open late on Monday until 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, with sales and rentals of the video beginning at midnight.

“We’re expecting [the midnight sale] to be really big,” Bakken said. “[‘Titanic’] is definitely as big as ‘Gone With The Wind’ or ‘Casablanca.’ I like the whole story of Titanic, so I’m really excited.”

In addition to widescreen and standard editions of the movie, Hollywood video will offer a version of the film in Spanish.

Bakken added that Hollywood Video has 500 copies of “Titanic” available for rent, 300 for sale and has already pre-sold 200 copies.

Best Buy, at 5100 South East 14 St. in Des Moines, has been preparing for the big release date as well.

The store will close at 9 p.m. on Monday evening but will re-open again at midnight, and begin selling “Titanic” at 12:01 a.m.

Best Buy has 2,500 copies in stock and is expecting to receive more in the next few days, said Raymond Blanchard, media specialist for Best Buy’s Des Moines location.

“The ’90s have a great way of hyping anything,” he explained. “I think [the midnight sale] is just gonna create more buzz and excitement so more people will buy it later.”

Best Buy is giving away free “Titanic” calendars to each customer who buys the movie.

Video Update, located at 3615 Lincoln Way in Ames, will also launch the release of “Titanic” with a midnight madness sale.

According to employee Matt Hubbs, the store has received about 70 pre-orders for the movie and expects to sell out their entire stock.

Despite all of the hype surrounding “Titanic,” there are still some people who have not seen the film.

“I haven’t even seen the movie so I don’t really care,” Hubbs said. “I’m sure there will be plenty of loonies in here buying it.”

Todd Welch, store manager of Suncoast Motion Picture Company, located in North Grand Mall, said his store has taken close to 600 reservations for the video.

“We’re expecting a pretty big turnout,” Welch said. “We’re looking to sell close to 250 to 300 copies on the first day.”

Suncoast will open early on Tuesday, at 8 a.m., before most of the stores in the mall open, Welch said.

“I think it will be the biggest video release we’ve seen in the past few years,” Welch added. “We are anticipating sales better than our biggest selling title, ‘The Star Wars Trilogy.'”