Titanic (film)

84 years later, a 100 year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning.

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Incorporating both historical and fictionalized aspects, it is based on accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Also starring are Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber, and Bill Paxton.

Cameron's inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks; he felt a love story interspersed with the human loss would be essential to convey the emotional impact of the disaster. Production began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the actual Titanic wreck. The modern scenes on the research vessel were shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which Cameron had used as a base when filming the wreck. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built at Baja Studios were used to re-create the sinking. The film was co-financed by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox; the former handled distribution in North America while the latter released the film internationally. It was the most expensive film ever made at the time, with a production budget of $200 million.

Upon its release on December 19, 1997, Titanic achieved significant critical and commercial success, and later received numerous accolades. Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, it tied All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations, and won 11, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director, tying Ben-Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. With an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark. It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron's Avatar surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of Titanic, released on April 4, 2012, to commemorate the centennial of the sinking, earned it an additional $343.6 million worldwide, pushing the film's worldwide total to $2.195 billion and making it the second film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide (after Avatar). In 2017, the film was re-released for its 20th anniversary and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

The sinking of the ship is widely considered to be a cinematic masterpiece. The filmmakers tended to favor practical effects over CGI, and when it came time for the water to gush through and destroy the ship’s interior, they really did flood and destroy their own set. This added more pressure to get everything right in one take.

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster movie. It was directed, written, and co-produced by James Cameron. The movie is about the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic. It stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The two play characters who are of different social classes. They fall in love after meeting aboard the ship, but it was not good for a rich girl to fall in love with a poor boy in 1912. Titanic ran for 200 days in cinemas. Production of the movie began in 1995. Cameron recorded footage of the real Titanic wreck. The reconstruction of the Titanic was created at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California. To create the sinking of the ship, scale models and computer-generated imagery were used. Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox helped with half of the funding for the movie. At the time when the movie was released, it was the most expensive movie ever made. It had a budget of $200 million.

The movie was released on December 19, 1997. It received positive critical reviews. The movie won 11 Academy Awards, and was nominated for fourteen total Academy Awards. It was also a commercial success with a total worldwide gross of $2.196 billion.

A 100-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells a story about her voyage on the famous ship Titanic. She is sharing the story with her granddaughter, Lizzy Calvert, and a crew of men who are interested in the Titanic shipwreck. The members of the crew are named Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell, and Anatoly Mikailavich. She tells the story while on the Keldysh. The men are on the Keldysh trying to find a famous necklace called "The Heart of the Ocean" that they think sank with the ship. She goes on to explain the whole story from the ship's departure to the sinking of Titanic on its first (and last) voyage at 2:20 in the morning on April 15, 1912. Most of the movie is not Old Rose telling the story, but Young Rose actually living the story.

On April 10th 1912, Young Rose boards a ship called Titanic with the upper-class passengers, her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon 'Cal' Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game.

After winning a trip on the RMS Titanic during a dockside card game, American Jack Dawson spots the society girl Rose DeWitt Bukater who is on her way to Philadelphia to marry her rich snob fiancé Cal Hockley. Rose feels helplessly trapped by her situation and makes her way to the aft deck and thinks of suicide until she is rescued by Jack. Cal is therefore obliged to invite Jack to dine at their first-class table where he suffers through the slights of his snobbish hosts. In return, he spirits Rose off to third class for an evening of dancing, giving her the time of her life. Deciding to forsake her intended future all together, Rose asks Jack, who has made his living making sketches on the streets of Paris, to draw her in the nude wearing the invaluable blue diamond Cal has given her. Cal finds out and has Jack locked away. Soon after wards, the ship hits an iceberg and Rose must find Jack while both must run from Cal even as the ship sinks deeper into the freezing water.

In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett and his team has reached the most famous shipwreck of all - the RMS Titanic. Emerging with a safe believed to contain a famous diamond called the "Heart of the Ocean", he discovers that the safe does not hold the diamond, but a drawing of a beautiful young woman wearing it. When Lovett is later interviewed on television, he shows the drawing to the cameras, and Rose Dawson Calvert, now 101, recognizes the young woman in the drawing - herself. She and her granddaughter Lizzy visit Lovett on his research ship over the wrecksite, and tells her story of the Titanic and its ill-fated maiden voyage.

In 1912, 17-year-old society girl Rose DeWitt Bukater boards the ship's first class suites with her fiance, Pittsburgh Steel tycoon owner Caledon Hockley, and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, in Southampton. Also boarding are poor artist Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi, after a lucky poker game wins them in steerage. When Rose attempts suicide by jumping off the stern in third class, Jack pulls her back onto the ship... and a bond is forged between them as Jack is invited by her into first class the following day. Rose's mother and Cal try desperate measures to keep them apart as Jack and Rose fall in love, until the Titanic collides with an iceberg and is critically damaged. Now Jack and Rose must fight to stay alive, as their passionate romance becomes a struggle for survival, but Jack eventually freezes to death due to spending too much time in extremely cold water.

The movie was based on the RMS Titanic (pictured in 1912).

The movie scenes of the ship's journey were taken on the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in July 1996. Principal photography for Titanic began in September 1996. The location was at the newly-built Fox Baja Studios.The poop deck was built on a move-able machine. This allow it to rise from zero to ninety degrees in a few seconds. This was used during the sinking scene of the movie. Many props were made of foam rubber. The material was used for the safety of the stuntmen. On November 15, the boarding scenes were recorded. Cameron decided to build his RMS Titanic on the starboard side. This was because weather data showed north-to-south winds. This caused the funnel smoke to move in one direction.

A full-time etiquette coach was hired. He taught the cast on the manners of the upper class during the year 1912. However, several critics noticed that some cast members were not very good. They also noticed the two main stars on the movie were not well trained. Cameron sketched Jack's nude portrait of Rose for the nude scene. He said "You know what it means for her, the freedom she must be feeling. It's kind of exhilarating (happy) for that reason." The nude scene was DiCaprio and Winslet's first scene together. Cameron said, "It wasn't by any kind of design, although I couldn't have designed it better. There's a nervousness and an energy and a hesitance [unsure] in them." This was the first scene to be recorded. Cameron said that the "big set" was not yet ready. The crew members had to record something so they decided to do the nude scene first.

An angry crew member put the dissociative drug PCP into the soup that Cameron and other members ate one night. This caused more than 50 people to be rushed to the hospital. "There were people just rolling around, completely out of it. Some of them said they were seeing streaks and psychedelics," said actor Lewis Abernathy. Cameron had vomited before the drug began working. Abernathy was shocked at the way he looked. "One eye was completely red, like the Terminator eye. A pupil, no iris, beet red. The other eye looked like he'd been sniffing glue since he was four." The person who poisoned the cast members was never found.

Filming was scheduled to last 138 days. However, it grew to 160. Many cast members came down with colds, flu, or kidney infections. This happened during the many hours they spent in the cold water. Winslet, who also had these symptoms, decided she would not work with Cameron again unless she earned "a lot of money". Several other cast members left the movie. Three stuntmen broke their bones. The Screen Actors Guild decided to begin an investigation. They concluded that there was nothing unsafe going on on the set.

The movie's budget reached $200 million. Fox executives were worrying. They suggested an hour of different scenes to be removed from the three-hour movie. Cameron did not accept this. He told Fox that if they want to remove some scenes out that they would need to fire him. The executives did not want to start over. This would mean they will loose their entire investment.

The soundtrack of the movie was written, orchestrated and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on November 18, 1997. When the movie was released, the soundtrack topped the charts in two-dozen countries. It sold over 30 million copies. It then became one of the best-selling albums of all time. It was also the highest-selling orchestral soundtracks ever. Horner wrote the song "My Heart Will Go On". He wrote the song in secrecy because Cameron did not want any songs with singing in the movie. Céline Dion agreed to record a demonstration. Her husband, René Angélil, asked Dion many times to do it, since she did not want to record it at first. Horner waited until Cameron was in a happy mood. After playing it several times, Cameron approved of the song. However, Cameron feared that he might be criticized for "going commercial at the end of the movie".

James Cameron announced that Titanic was being converted to 3D. The 3D version came out on April 6, 2012. This was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. It took $18 million to produce it. The 3D conversion was done by Stereo D. Sony Music with Slam Content's Panther Records, re-worked the soundtrack. The movie grossed $4.7 million on the first day of its re-release in North America. It went on to make $17.3 million during the weekend. It then became the third most-watched movie for that week. The movie earned $35.2 million worldwide. It then became the second most-watched movie for that week. The following week saw an increase of the movie's earnings. It became the number one movie for that week with $98.9 million. It was more successful in China. It earned $11.6 million on its opening day in that country. It then earned a record-breaking $67 million for that week. The re-release earned a total of $343.4 million worldwide. In China the total was at $145 million. In Canada and the United States, it made $57.8 million from those countries.

More than two decades after its 1997 release, Titanic is still one of the most loved and successful films of all time. The story about two lovers who meet on the doomed RMS Titanic has captured the hearts of millions around the world because, while the film itself is fiction, it was set against a very real disaster that left a lasting impact.

You can tell from watching the three-hour film that a lot of work and money went into creating such a masterpiece. From the set design to the costumes to the sacrifices made by the actors, nothing was taken lightly. Keep reading to find out 15 facts that you might not have known about the making of Titanic and what really went on behind the scenes.

1 Kate Winslet Improvised Spitting In Billy Zane’s Face

One of the film’s most iconic scenes is when Rose finally decides to abandon her fiancé and rescue Jack down in the ship’s E-Deck. When Cal tries to stop her, she spits in his face. Interestingly, Kate Winslet improvised the move, which was originally supposed to be her stabbing him with a hairpin instead.

2 Johnny Depp Turned Down The Role Of Jack Dawson

In our opinion, Leonardo DiCaprio was perfect for the role of Jack Dawson. But before he won the role, it was offered to Johnny Depp, who turned it down. Other actors who could have appeared in the film include Matthew McConaughey, who the studio wanted for Jack, and Angelina Jolie for Rose.

3 It Was Filmed In A Giant Pool

Of course, the film wasn’t really filmed in the ocean. Rather, the water scenes were filmed in a giant pool known as a horizon tank which contained 17 million gallons of water. The tank is located in Mexico’s Baja studios. As well as holding a replica of the ship, the tank boasted views of what looked like the open ocean.

4 And The Cast Relieved Their Bladder In That Pool

Things are said to have become quite intense during the filming of the sinking scenes. James Cameron allegedly told the actors they would lose their jobs if they left the set to relieve themselves, so those who were desperate had to go in the water. The things you do for art!

5 The Ship's Destruction Wasn't CGI — The Sets Really Were Destroyed

The sinking of the ship is widely considered to be a cinematic masterpiece. The filmmakers tended to favor practical effects over CGI, and when it came time for the water to gush through and destroy the ship’s interior, they really did flood and destroy their own set. This added more pressure to get everything right in one take.

6 The Water Was Purposely Kept Cold

On the night the Titanic sank, the water in the Atlantic Ocean was cold enough to freeze the passengers. The water during filming wasn’t that cold, of course, but it was kept at about 60 degrees. Their reactions to the temperature of the water are genuine—it really was super cold.

7 Kate Winslet Got Hypothermia While Filming

Because she refused to wear a wetsuit during filming, Kate Winslet ended up with hypothermia after so many takes in the water. This nearly led her to quit the film, but luckily for us, James Cameron convinced her to stay on. Interestingly, Winslet refused to wear a wetsuit again many years later during the filming of Flushed Away.

8 Neil deGrasse Tyson Told James Cameron The Stars In The Night Sky Were Off... They Fixed It For The Film's Re-Release

James Cameron really tried to pay attention to detail, so he wasn’t happy to receive a snarky email from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson pointing out that the star field shown behind the sinking ship in the film was inaccurate in relation to how it would have been that night. Cameron corrected it before the film’s re-release in 2012.

9 The Director Really Did Dive To The Real Titanic

The beginning of the film features a lot of cool footage of the Titanic shipwreck and most of it is totally authentic. James Cameron really did dive down 13,000 feet to get the footage of the wreck and was the first person to do so. Among the real footage is also the submerged set and miniatures.

10 The Same Company That Wove The Titanic’s Carpet Did It Again For The Movie

James Cameron was all about detail and wanted to keep as much of his set as accurate as possible. He even went so far as to have the carpet that appears on the replica Titanic woven by the same company that wove the original ship’s carpet in 1912.

11 The Filmmakers Thought Titanic Would Be A Failure

It’s hard to believe now that Titanic is one of the most successful films of all time, but the filmmakers originally believed that their project would be a commercial failure. Even James Cameron believed the studio was going to make a loss on the film, considering the fact that it was three hours long and so expensive to make.

12 James Cameron Was Highly Stressed The Whole Time

He certainly knows how to make a killer movie, but James Cameron wasn’t the most pleasant man to work with on set because he was so stressed the whole time. Kate Winslet revealed that she was genuinely frightened of the director due to his fiery temper and unpredictable outbursts. Forbidding your actors to leave the set is pretty intense!

13 One Crewman's Family Was Offended By His Portrayal In The Film

One family that wasn’t so happy with the final result of the film was that of Officer Murdoch, who is shown shooting Jack’s friend Fabrizio and then turning the gun on himself. To make up for the scene, an executive from Fox visited Murdoch’s home town and donated to his memorial fund.

14 It Cost More To Make The Movie Than Build The Real Ship

You can tell just by watching Titanic that is was not a cheap film to make. After filming started, they quickly surpassed their $109-million budget and, in the end, it ended up costing $200 million. To put things into perspective, the real RMS Titanic would have cost $150 million by 1997 standards.

15 My Heart Will Go On Was Not Supposed To Be In The Film

None of us can imagine Titanic without Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’. But the now-iconic song was not supposed to appear in the film at all. Director James Cameron originally envisioned his work without any songs whatsoever. But when he heard the song for the first time, he couldn’t say no. Totally understandable.

Upon its release on December 19, 1997, Titanic achieved significant critical and commercial success, and later received numerous accolades. Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, it tied All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations, and won 11, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director, tying Ben-Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. With an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark. It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron's Avatar surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of Titanic, released on April 4, 2012, to commemorate the centennial of the sinking, earned it an additional $343.6 million worldwide, pushing the film's worldwide total to $2.195 billion and making it the second film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide (after Avatar). In 2017, the film was re-released for its 20th anniversary and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

The sinking of the ship is widely considered to be a cinematic masterpiece. The filmmakers tended to favor practical effects over CGI, and when it came time for the water to gush through and destroy the ship’s interior, they really did flood and destroy their own set. This added more pressure to get everything right in one take.

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster movie. It was directed, written, and co-produced by James Cameron. The movie is about the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic. It stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The two play characters who are of different social classes. They fall in love after meeting aboard the ship, but it was not good for a rich girl to fall in love with a poor boy in 1912. Titanic ran for 200 days in cinemas. Production of the movie began in 1995. Cameron recorded footage of the real Titanic wreck. The reconstruction of the Titanic was created at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California. To create the sinking of the ship, scale models and computer-generated imagery were used. Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox helped with half of the funding for the movie. At the time when the movie was released, it was the most expensive movie ever made. It had a budget of $200 million.

The movie was released on December 19, 1997. It received positive critical reviews. The movie won 11 Academy Awards, and was nominated for fourteen total Academy Awards. It was also a commercial success with a total worldwide gross of $2.196 billion.

A 100-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells a story about her voyage on the famous ship Titanic. She is sharing the story with her granddaughter, Lizzy Calvert, and a crew of men who are interested in the Titanic shipwreck. The members of the crew are named Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell, and Anatoly Mikailavich. She tells the story while on the Keldysh. The men are on the Keldysh trying to find a famous necklace called "The Heart of the Ocean" that they think sank with the ship. She goes on to explain the whole story from the ship's departure to the sinking of Titanic on its first (and last) voyage at 2:20 in the morning on April 15, 1912. Most of the movie is not Old Rose telling the story, but Young Rose actually living the story.

On April 10th 1912, Young Rose boards a ship called Titanic with the upper-class passengers, her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon 'Cal' Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game.

After winning a trip on the RMS Titanic during a dockside card game, American Jack Dawson spots the society girl Rose DeWitt Bukater who is on her way to Philadelphia to marry her rich snob fiancé Cal Hockley. Rose feels helplessly trapped by her situation and makes her way to the aft deck and thinks of suicide until she is rescued by Jack. Cal is therefore obliged to invite Jack to dine at their first-class table where he suffers through the slights of his snobbish hosts. In return, he spirits Rose off to third class for an evening of dancing, giving her the time of her life. Deciding to forsake her intended future all together, Rose asks Jack, who has made his living making sketches on the streets of Paris, to draw her in the nude wearing the invaluable blue diamond Cal has given her. Cal finds out and has Jack locked away. Soon after wards, the ship hits an iceberg and Rose must find Jack while both must run from Cal even as the ship sinks deeper into the freezing water.

In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett and his team has reached the most famous shipwreck of all - the RMS Titanic. Emerging with a safe believed to contain a famous diamond called the "Heart of the Ocean", he discovers that the safe does not hold the diamond, but a drawing of a beautiful young woman wearing it. When Lovett is later interviewed on television, he shows the drawing to the cameras, and Rose Dawson Calvert, now 101, recognizes the young woman in the drawing - herself. She and her granddaughter Lizzy visit Lovett on his research ship over the wrecksite, and tells her story of the Titanic and its ill-fated maiden voyage.

In 1912, 17-year-old society girl Rose DeWitt Bukater boards the ship's first class suites with her fiance, Pittsburgh Steel tycoon owner Caledon Hockley, and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, in Southampton. Also boarding are poor artist Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi, after a lucky poker game wins them in steerage. When Rose attempts suicide by jumping off the stern in third class, Jack pulls her back onto the ship... and a bond is forged between them as Jack is invited by her into first class the following day. Rose's mother and Cal try desperate measures to keep them apart as Jack and Rose fall in love, until the Titanic collides with an iceberg and is critically damaged. Now Jack and Rose must fight to stay alive, as their passionate romance becomes a struggle for survival, but Jack eventually freezes to death due to spending too much time in extremely cold water.

The movie was based on the RMS Titanic (pictured in 1912).

The movie scenes of the ship's journey were taken on the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in July 1996. Principal photography for Titanic began in September 1996. The location was at the newly-built Fox Baja Studios.The poop deck was built on a move-able machine. This allow it to rise from zero to ninety degrees in a few seconds. This was used during the sinking scene of the movie. Many props were made of foam rubber. The material was used for the safety of the stuntmen. On November 15, the boarding scenes were recorded. Cameron decided to build his RMS Titanic on the starboard side. This was because weather data showed north-to-south winds. This caused the funnel smoke to move in one direction.

A full-time etiquette coach was hired. He taught the cast on the manners of the upper class during the year 1912. However, several critics noticed that some cast members were not very good. They also noticed the two main stars on the movie were not well trained. Cameron sketched Jack's nude portrait of Rose for the nude scene. He said "You know what it means for her, the freedom she must be feeling. It's kind of exhilarating (happy) for that reason." The nude scene was DiCaprio and Winslet's first scene together. Cameron said, "It wasn't by any kind of design, although I couldn't have designed it better. There's a nervousness and an energy and a hesitance [unsure] in them." This was the first scene to be recorded. Cameron said that the "big set" was not yet ready. The crew members had to record something so they decided to do the nude scene first.

An angry crew member put the dissociative drug PCP into the soup that Cameron and other members ate one night. This caused more than 50 people to be rushed to the hospital. "There were people just rolling around, completely out of it. Some of them said they were seeing streaks and psychedelics," said actor Lewis Abernathy. Cameron had vomited before the drug began working. Abernathy was shocked at the way he looked. "One eye was completely red, like the Terminator eye. A pupil, no iris, beet red. The other eye looked like he'd been sniffing glue since he was four." The person who poisoned the cast members was never found.

Filming was scheduled to last 138 days. However, it grew to 160. Many cast members came down with colds, flu, or kidney infections. This happened during the many hours they spent in the cold water. Winslet, who also had these symptoms, decided she would not work with Cameron again unless she earned "a lot of money". Several other cast members left the movie. Three stuntmen broke their bones. The Screen Actors Guild decided to begin an investigation. They concluded that there was nothing unsafe going on on the set.

The movie's budget reached $200 million. Fox executives were worrying. They suggested an hour of different scenes to be removed from the three-hour movie. Cameron did not accept this. He told Fox that if they want to remove some scenes out that they would need to fire him. The executives did not want to start over. This would mean they will loose their entire investment.

The soundtrack of the movie was written, orchestrated and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on November 18, 1997. When the movie was released, the soundtrack topped the charts in two-dozen countries. It sold over 30 million copies. It then became one of the best-selling albums of all time. It was also the highest-selling orchestral soundtracks ever. Horner wrote the song "My Heart Will Go On". He wrote the song in secrecy because Cameron did not want any songs with singing in the movie. Céline Dion agreed to record a demonstration. Her husband, René Angélil, asked Dion many times to do it, since she did not want to record it at first. Horner waited until Cameron was in a happy mood. After playing it several times, Cameron approved of the song. However, Cameron feared that he might be criticized for "going commercial at the end of the movie".

James Cameron announced that Titanic was being converted to 3D. The 3D version came out on April 6, 2012. This was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. It took $18 million to produce it. The 3D conversion was done by Stereo D. Sony Music with Slam Content's Panther Records, re-worked the soundtrack. The movie grossed $4.7 million on the first day of its re-release in North America. It went on to make $17.3 million during the weekend. It then became the third most-watched movie for that week. The movie earned $35.2 million worldwide. It then became the second most-watched movie for that week. The following week saw an increase of the movie's earnings. It became the number one movie for that week with $98.9 million. It was more successful in China. It earned $11.6 million on its opening day in that country. It then earned a record-breaking $67 million for that week. The re-release earned a total of $343.4 million worldwide. In China the total was at $145 million. In Canada and the United States, it made $57.8 million from those countries.

More than two decades after its 1997 release, Titanic is still one of the most loved and successful films of all time. The story about two lovers who meet on the doomed RMS Titanic has captured the hearts of millions around the world because, while the film itself is fiction, it was set against a very real disaster that left a lasting impact.

You can tell from watching the three-hour film that a lot of work and money went into creating such a masterpiece. From the set design to the costumes to the sacrifices made by the actors, nothing was taken lightly. Keep reading to find out 15 facts that you might not have known about the making of Titanic and what really went on behind the scenes.

1 Kate Winslet Improvised Spitting In Billy Zane’s Face

One of the film’s most iconic scenes is when Rose finally decides to abandon her fiancé and rescue Jack down in the ship’s E-Deck. When Cal tries to stop her, she spits in his face. Interestingly, Kate Winslet improvised the move, which was originally supposed to be her stabbing him with a hairpin instead.

2 Johnny Depp Turned Down The Role Of Jack Dawson

In our opinion, Leonardo DiCaprio was perfect for the role of Jack Dawson. But before he won the role, it was offered to Johnny Depp, who turned it down. Other actors who could have appeared in the film include Matthew McConaughey, who the studio wanted for Jack, and Angelina Jolie for Rose.

3 It Was Filmed In A Giant Pool

Of course, the film wasn’t really filmed in the ocean. Rather, the water scenes were filmed in a giant pool known as a horizon tank which contained 17 million gallons of water. The tank is located in Mexico’s Baja studios. As well as holding a replica of the ship, the tank boasted views of what looked like the open ocean.

4 And The Cast Relieved Their Bladder In That Pool

Things are said to have become quite intense during the filming of the sinking scenes. James Cameron allegedly told the actors they would lose their jobs if they left the set to relieve themselves, so those who were desperate had to go in the water. The things you do for art!

5 The Ship's Destruction Wasn't CGI — The Sets Really Were Destroyed

The sinking of the ship is widely considered to be a cinematic masterpiece. The filmmakers tended to favor practical effects over CGI, and when it came time for the water to gush through and destroy the ship’s interior, they really did flood and destroy their own set. This added more pressure to get everything right in one take.

6 The Water Was Purposely Kept Cold

On the night the Titanic sank, the water in the Atlantic Ocean was cold enough to freeze the passengers. The water during filming wasn’t that cold, of course, but it was kept at about 60 degrees. Their reactions to the temperature of the water are genuine—it really was super cold.

7 Kate Winslet Got Hypothermia While Filming

Because she refused to wear a wetsuit during filming, Kate Winslet ended up with hypothermia after so many takes in the water. This nearly led her to quit the film, but luckily for us, James Cameron convinced her to stay on. Interestingly, Winslet refused to wear a wetsuit again many years later during the filming of Flushed Away.

8 Neil deGrasse Tyson Told James Cameron The Stars In The Night Sky Were Off... They Fixed It For The Film's Re-Release

James Cameron really tried to pay attention to detail, so he wasn’t happy to receive a snarky email from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson pointing out that the star field shown behind the sinking ship in the film was inaccurate in relation to how it would have been that night. Cameron corrected it before the film’s re-release in 2012.

9 The Director Really Did Dive To The Real Titanic

The beginning of the film features a lot of cool footage of the Titanic shipwreck and most of it is totally authentic. James Cameron really did dive down 13,000 feet to get the footage of the wreck and was the first person to do so. Among the real footage is also the submerged set and miniatures.

10 The Same Company That Wove The Titanic’s Carpet Did It Again For The Movie

James Cameron was all about detail and wanted to keep as much of his set as accurate as possible. He even went so far as to have the carpet that appears on the replica Titanic woven by the same company that wove the original ship’s carpet in 1912.

11 The Filmmakers Thought Titanic Would Be A Failure

It’s hard to believe now that Titanic is one of the most successful films of all time, but the filmmakers originally believed that their project would be a commercial failure. Even James Cameron believed the studio was going to make a loss on the film, considering the fact that it was three hours long and so expensive to make.

12 James Cameron Was Highly Stressed The Whole Time

He certainly knows how to make a killer movie, but James Cameron wasn’t the most pleasant man to work with on set because he was so stressed the whole time. Kate Winslet revealed that she was genuinely frightened of the director due to his fiery temper and unpredictable outbursts. Forbidding your actors to leave the set is pretty intense!

13 One Crewman's Family Was Offended By His Portrayal In The Film

One family that wasn’t so happy with the final result of the film was that of Officer Murdoch, who is shown shooting Jack’s friend Fabrizio and then turning the gun on himself. To make up for the scene, an executive from Fox visited Murdoch’s home town and donated to his memorial fund.

14 It Cost More To Make The Movie Than Build The Real Ship

You can tell just by watching Titanic that is was not a cheap film to make. After filming started, they quickly surpassed their $109-million budget and, in the end, it ended up costing $200 million. To put things into perspective, the real RMS Titanic would have cost $150 million by 1997 standards.

15 My Heart Will Go On Was Not Supposed To Be In The Film

None of us can imagine Titanic without Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’. But the now-iconic song was not supposed to appear in the film at all. Director James Cameron originally envisioned his work without any songs whatsoever. But when he heard the song for the first time, he couldn’t say no. Totally understandable.