At 68, James Cameron has few regrets as a director: his career has led him to give birth to three of the four biggest box office hits in world cinema, including the unmissable Titanic, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. On the eve of the return to the big screen of this blockbuster, in an anniversary edition, the Canadian confesses that he would have conceived this drama differently, if he had been able to foresee the indignation of the fans, outraged by the tragic death of the hero, Jack , at the end of the film. “Given what I know now, I would have created a smaller raft, so that there is no doubt!” A quarter of a century after its release, debates still rage between fans. Many insist that the chilled lover embodied by Leonardo DiCaprio should never have died after the sinking of the liner. All he had to do was get on the raft improvised by his sweetheart, Rose. Instead, the pretty heart decides that the door on which floats the character played by Kate Winslet is not big enough for two, and sacrifices himself to save it from the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. See also on KonbiniPersistent , the controversy surrounding her death is just one example of how the Titanic story “seems to never end for the public”, said Mr Cameron during a press conference before the return of the film on the big screen this week. “There have been far greater tragedies since the Titanic” and its sinking caused by a collision with an iceberg in 1912, he adds, mentioning the two World Wars which mourned the Twentieth century. “But Titanic has this kind of enduring, almost mythical, romantic quality to it.” embarked on board the lifeboats so that women and children can survive”. Life-size testFor the 25th anniversary of the film, released in December 1997, the director tested the theory of the fans, thanks to a life-size test in a pool of freezing water, with two stuntmen and an exact replica of the door used for the filming. how quickly they would fall victim to hypothermia. The experience revealed that Jack’s tragic fate was not inevitable. A first test where the vagrant clings to the door without climbing on it, as in the film, confirms that he would have died of hypothermia. But a second test, where the stuntmen manage to balance on the door to keep their torsos — and therefore their vital organs — above water, suggests that Jack could have been saved. In this scenario, “he might have been able to hold out until the lifeboat arrived”, admits the director. “Final verdict? Jack could have possibly survived. But it depends on many variables.” For its return to theaters a week before Valentine’s Day, this tragic love story does not include an alternative ending. That shouldn’t stop it from adding to its dizzying box office: with $2.2 billion at the worldwide box office, Titanic is the third biggest box-office hit in history, behind the superhero movie Avengers. : Endgame and another juggernaut from James Cameron, Avatar. Including the second part of the saga, Avatar: The Way of the Water, currently in theaters whose receipts will soon exceed those of Titanic, Mr. Cameron reaped with his three biggest films $7.25 billion, equivalent to Bermuda’s GDP. Figures that the director strives to put into perspective. “I grant you only 100 million from our box office [sur Titanic, ndlr] is due to the charm of Leonardo DiCaprio on 14-year-old teenagers”, he jokes. Beyond having made his fortune, Titanic and his three hours above all left another legacy. “Before Titanic, the doxa […] wanted a long movie that couldn’t make money,” Cameron remarks. The blockbuster proved otherwise, paving the way for the first Avatar and its acclaimed three-hour eco-fable. The second part of the saga now lasts “three hours and twelve minutes”, underlines Mr. Cameron. “And he is very successful”.
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