From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishset the world on fire/alightset the world on fire/alightspokenSUCCESSFUL to have a big effect or be very successful Her last film didn’t exactly set the world on fire. → world
Examples from the Corpus
set the world on fire/alight• And now we have Sliver which was the subject of much wrangling and hasn't exactly set the world on fire.• But if Rhodes hasn't set the world on fire with his batting, he certainly has with his fielding.• Either way, the speed and acceleration is not going to set the world on fire.• None of the three papers was going to set the world on fire.• It was a lovely accomplishment, of course, but nothing to set the world on fire with.• The sonorities glow, and the whole thing is user-friendly without setting the world on fire. 