side-by-side photos of director James Cameron, dressed in black, and the bow of the wrecked Titanic

Movies

‘Titanic’ Director James Cameron Once Described Shipwreck Site as ‘Sacred Ground’

'Titanic' director James Cameron has visited the site of the infamous shipwreck more than 30 times. He described it as a monument to 'human hubris.'

by Megan Elliott

Published on June 20, 2023

2 min read

Director James Cameron turned one of the most notorious disasters of all time into one of the biggest blockbusters in movie history. His 1997 movie Titanic dramatized the first (and only) voyage of the doomed luxury ocean liner the RMS Titanic. The ship sank after it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic in April 1912.

Cameron had long been fascinated by the Titanic tragedy, in which 1,500 people died. He’s even said making the Kate Winslet-Leonardo DiCaprio movie really was a way for him to justify diving to see the wreck itself, which was discovered in 1985 by oceanographer Robert Ballard.

“I sort of joke about this, but it’s more true than not, that I made the movie because I wanted to do an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic, and I did explore it,” he told NPR in 2012.

The director has since made at least 33 trips to see the remains of the ship. He’s “actually spent more time on the Titanic wreck than the captain spent on the ship,” as he said in a 2018 interview with 60 Minutes Australia (via YouTube).

James Cameron has said the Titanic wreck is a reminder of ‘human hubris’

Black and white photo of the RMS Titanic before it sank in 1912 — RMS Titanic | History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Avatar filmmaker is hardly the only person who’s gone to great lengths to look at the infamous ship. The wreck lies about 12,500 feet below the ocean’s surface. It can only be accessed by diving in a specialized submersible.

OceanGate Expeditions has advertised trips carrying tourists to view the Titanic’s wreckage for $250,000 per person. On Sunday, June 18, one of the company’s subs vanished while on a trip to visit the wreck site.

A massive search is currently underway for the Titan sub, which lost contact with its support ship about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive. Five passengers are aboard the vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard says the sub’s crew had about 40 hours of breathable air left as of June 20.

So far, Cameron has not commented publicly on the missing submersible. But in past interviews, he’s reflected on the continuing interest in the tragedy and the wreck site.

“I think there’s a feeling that it’s sacred ground,” he told 60 Minutes. “That it’s a monument that means a great deal to people symbolically about the price of human hubris and arrogance.”

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