James Cameron Was Never Interested in Titanic, Filmed $2.2B Movie With Kate Winslet For Purely Selfish Reasons: “Make a movie to pay for an expedition”

James Cameron Was Never Interested in Titanic, Filmed $2.2B Movie With Kate Winslet For Purely Selfish Reasons: “Make a movie to pay for an expedition”
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James Cameron is one of the most acclaimed directors in Hollywood, whose contribution to art and cinema has inspired many talents of his generation and gained him legions of admirers and fans worldwide. Cameron has a unique approach to filmmaking and uses the best technology, methods, and techniques to craft his projects. 

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The award-winning director has successfully helmed many monumental, big-budgeted, socially relevant, and mind-bending masterpieces that have captivated the audience, for he creates magic on the silver screen, which is why he remains on top of his A-game. His movies often grossed millions, even billions of dollars at the box office, making him one of the most-in-demand directors in showbiz. 

Throughout the 80s and 90s, he creatively led record-smashing movies and gained megastardom with his American disaster film Titanic, which anointed him as a cinematic genius. Cameron once revealed what inspired him to make this magnum opus project which amassed billions of dollars.

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James Cameron Revealed What Inspired Him To Make Titanic

James Cameron
James Cameron

In 1997, James Cameron directed Titanic hit theaters, and the response and reviews it earned were unbelievable. The movie to date is considered one of the best projects of his career. This film earned many top-level accolades, featuring A-list stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Based on heartbreaking accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, his film gained worldwide attention for its remarkable plot and themes. 

Also Read: James Cameron Used a Rare Fact About Linda Hamilton To His Advantage in Portraying a Killer T-1000 in $520M Film ‘Terminator 2’

The True Lies director was inspired to create this magnificent project because he was fascinated with shipwrecks. Cameron made this flick with his extraordinary talents and tried to illustrate what would have happened with the 1912 shipwreck. He once claimed that he made this romantic tragedy film only to get the expedition fund to dive into the deep sea to see the remains of the RMS Titanic ship himself. In 2009, he told Playboy magazine: 

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James Cameron on the set of Titanic
James Cameron on the set of Titanic

“I made ‘Titanic’ because I wanted to dive to the shipwreck, not because I particularly wanted to make the movie. The Titanic was the Mount Everest of shipwrecks, and as a diver, I wanted to do it right. When I learned some other guys had dived to the Titanic to make an IMAX movie, I said, ‘I’ll make a Hollywood movie to pay for an expedition and do the same thing.’ I loved that first taste, and I wanted more.”

James Cameron shared he found this to be the perfect opportunity for his deep-sea adventure and went on to direct this humongous project that allowed him to explore the remains of the 1912 shipwreck himself.

Also Read: James Cameron Made Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Co-star Add The Story Of His Miserable Divorce To $379M Film For Laughs

James Cameron Opens Up About the Challenges He Faced in Making Titanic

James Cameron
James Cameron

In an interview with Collider, James Cameron shared his experience making his 1997 epic disaster record-smashing Titanic, which was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2017. Cameron told the outlet: 

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“Titanic is not only endlessly fascinating, but it tends to suck you back in because there are so many unanswered questions. You feel like, “If we could have just done a little more on that expedition. If we could have just had one more dive. If our vehicle wouldn’t have failed at a critical moment, we would have gotten into that last corner or down into the boiler room.”

He continued,

“Before I shot the movie, we had already been out to the wreck the previous year and made 12 dives. There were all kinds of things that were not well explained by the conventional wisdom in the Titanic community. What we put into the movie was actually a composite of what was known, what was accepted, and a lot of new ideas that were kind of radical.”

James Cameron-directed Titanic earned critical acclaim and received praise for its breathtaking visual effects and performances of its lead stars, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Also Read: “I had my own Terminator with me”: Robert Rodriguez Took a Massive Risk With His $405M Movie Only to Impress James Cameron for a Bizarre Reason

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Source: Movie Web

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Written by Rama

Articles Published: 451

With 5 years of experience with major sites, Rama is a veteran of Entertainment Journalism. She writes explosive articles for FandomWire and is a close observer of pop culture and films. Above all, she always takes life with a grain of salt. And a slice of lemon. And a shot of tequila.