Acclaimed filmmaker James Cameron has denied rumors that he is in talks to direct a disaster movie about the sinking of the Titan.
The rumors began circulating online last week after a report from The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Cameron was “in early talks” to helm the project.
Cameron noted that he didn’t normally find it necessary to address such rumors publicly, but that he felt this one was egregious enough to require immediate attention.
However, Cameron quickly took to Twitter to deny the rumors, calling them “offensive.”
“I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now. I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be,” he tweeted.
“I’m not in talks to direct a Titan movie,” Cameron tweeted. “The rumors are offensive and I suggest you stop spreading them.”
Cameron is no stranger to disaster movies. He directed the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, which won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
He also directed the 2009 sequel Avatar, which is the highest-grossing film of all time.
“A number of the top players in the deep submergence engineering community even wrote letters to the company, saying that what they were doing was too experimental to carry passengers and that it needed to be certified,” Cameron said during a recent appearance o ABC News. “I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night and many people died as a result. For us, it’s a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded.”
Underwater expert and engineer Jose Luis Martin said he believed the passengers aboard the doomed submersible likely had just enough time to realize what was happening before the craft imploded.
“The Titan changes position and falls like an arrow vertically because the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of passengers that were at the porthole unbalance the submersible. Everyone rushes and crowds on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear, and the agony,” he said. “It had to be like a horror movie. In that period of time, they are realizing everything, and what’s more, in complete darkness. It’s difficult to get an idea of what they experienced in those moments … After those 48 seconds, or one minute, the implosion and instantaneous sudden death occurs.”
I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now. I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be.
— James Cameron (@JimCameron) July 15, 2023
