Titanic Opens

Setting the scene

James Cameron was known for action spectacles like Terminator 2 and True Lies, but he became obsessed with the 1912 RMS Titanic disaster after diving to the wreck. Fox and Paramount co-funded a $200 million romance-disaster hybrid skeptics called Cameron's folly. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were young stars not yet guaranteed to open a global epic.

What happened

Titanic opened on December 19, 1997, with DiCaprio as steerage artist Jack Dawson and Winslet as aristocrat Rose DeWitt Bukater aboard the doomed liner. Cameron recreated the ship at scale in Mexico, and Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On played over the bow scene that became the decade's most parodied pose. The film ran over three hours with intermissions in some countries.

Why it still matters

It grossed about $2.2 billion, won eleven Oscars tying Ben-Hur, and dominated pop culture for months as fans returned to theaters. The wreck itself became a media event through Cameron's footage. Memorable detail: DiCaprio's line I'm the king of the world was improvised on the bow as Cameron filmed a test shot the crew loved.

Background

James Cameron tied romance to disaster spectacle and Celine Dion dominance.