20 Facts About the Making of 'Titanic.'
![20 Facts About the Making of 'Titanic.'](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/6/7/871667_320x180.jpg)
In 1997, Titanic was the most expensive movie ever made, costing around $200 million. Sure, today Jeff Bezos can easily come up with a $1 billion budget for the first season of Lords of Power Ring Whatever in order to placate the demand for him to give back what has never belonged to him in the first place — but back then, Titanic’s budget was pure insanity. As it usually happens with James Cameron’s feats of God-spitting hubris, however, the gamble paid off, teaching us yet again that we shouldn’t ever doubt the man’s mad genius. And indeed, his not-so-historically accurate movie about the real-life tragedy ended up winning an astonishing eleven Oscars.
Of course, that’s not all. The massive project also became the highest grossing film at the time, ultimately earning $2 billion, which is curiously the exact budget for Amazon Prime’s new series Cool Billionaire. Alright, we’ll just say it: Unlike certain people, Cameron actually does deserve all the money. All the Oscars, all the money, and our most untouched body bits. Just on the basis of his narcissistic madness and poor anger management, Titanic succeeded, and so we’re examining 20 ball-tripping facts about its making. For example, did you know the film failed to show the one bathtub shared by hundreds of passengers? Maybe Cameron just thought recreating it would be disgusting – but search your heart: you know exactly who’d get off on it. Comedic rule of three, baby! Also, Titanic facts!
The Pitch
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC STUDIO HEADS WERE BAFFLED AT CAMERON'S PITCH FOR ROMEO AND JULIET ON THE TITANIC. They were like, 'Oooooohkaaaaaay-a three-hour romantic epic? Sure, that's just what we want. Is there a little bit of Terminator in that? Any Harrier jets, shoot-outs, or car chases?' I said, 'No, no, no. It's not like that.''' They said yes only because it was him.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/9/871689.jpg)
Leonardo DiCaprio
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC LEONARDO DICAPRIO ALMOST TURNED DOWN JACK. DiCaprio nailed his audition, but then decided he wanted a more tortured, antihero-like character. Cameron had to convince him that this Jimmy Stewart character, pure of heart was still a nice challenge.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/6/871686.jpg)
Time on the Titanic
![TITANIC JAMES CAMERON MAY HAVE SPENT MORE TIME ON THE REAL TITANIC THAN ITS PASSENGERS. Cameron already became obsessed with the deep when he was filming 1989's The Abyss, but starting in 1995, he got Fox to pay for him diving to the bottom of the Atlantic to film the wreckage of the Titanic. And he returned there 12 times. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/0/871690.jpg)
James Cameron, the Dictator
![CRACKED.COM Weddis TITANIC JAMES CAMERON WAS PRETTY MUCH A TYRANT ON SET. Always the perfectionist, Cameron drove everyone to madness, pushed filming way beyond safety, exhausted his extras so much they would fall asleep during safety meetings, and gave orders with the sort of dark humor and, erm, physical enthusiasm that HR departments just love.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/8/871688.jpg)
Matthew McConaughey
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC JACK WAS ALMOST PLAYED BY MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY. McConaughey was, in fact, sure he had the role in the bag. Cameron, however, chose to go with DeCaprio after he saw all the women swooning after him.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/5/871685.jpg)
The Set Design
![TITANIC THE SET DESIGN WAS LED BY THE COMPANY THAT DESIGNED THE REAL TITANIC. Researchers from White Star Line helped make the sets as close to reality as possible. Cameron used wallpaper, crystal chandeliers, and carpets made by the same companies that decorated the original ship. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/7/871687.jpg)
Extras' Backstories
![TITANIC EVERY BIT CHARACTER HAD THEIR BACKSTORY. Cameron met with a core team of 150 extras, gave them their own names and backstories, and even made them take a course on period- accurate behavior and gestures. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/2/871682.jpg)
A Grueling Experience
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC SHOOTING THE MOVIE WAS HELL. A set rigger described the shoot as the closest thing to slavery that I've ever laid my eyes on. Crews would cram 80 hours of work into six-day weeks, and actors got kidney infections from being submerged in filthy water all day.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/8/871678.jpg)
Torturing Kate Winslet
![TITANIC IT WASN'T A FUN EXPERIENCE FOR KATE WINSLET. Winslet and Cameron seem to be on good terms today, but back then, the grueling shot, underwater scenes, director temper, and hypothermia almost killed her. I chipped a small bone in my elbow, and at one point I had deep bruises all over my arms. I looked like a battered wife. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/0/871680.jpg)
James Cameron's Salary
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC CAMERON GAVE UP HIS SALARY. Studio suits got cold feet (no, not hypothermia like the cast and crew - the metaphorical kind). To stop them from slashing the budget, Cameron renounced his $8 million salary and profit earnings, only getting royalties from the film. Не believed in Titanic, and was clearly right.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/9/871679.jpg)
Shooting Time
![TITANIC THE SHOOT TOOK LONGER THAN EXPECTED. Principal photography was supposed to last for 138 days, but that proved to not be enough, so the shooting schedule had to be extended. In the end, it took a bit over five months. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/7/871677.jpg)
King of the World
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD! WAS MADE UP ON THE SPOT They couldn't crack the scene and were losing daylight, so Cameron told DiCaprio to spread his arms and shout, I'm the king of the world! DiCaprio was, Huh? but managed to pull it off.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/6/871676.jpg)
The Drawing Hand
![TITANIC THAT'S JAMES CAMERON DRAWING KATE WINSLET. Leonardo DiCaprio can't draw, so the hand doing the drawing belongs to Cameron. However, since DiCaprio is right-handed and Cameron left-handed, they had to flip the image. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/1/871681.jpg)
The Grand Staircase Disaster
![TITANIC THE SHOOT ALMOST ENDED IN REAL DISASTER. The scene in which water rushes in through the glass ceiling of the Grand Staircase was planned up to the very last detail, but things still went wrong. The water lifted the buoyant wood and ripped off the staircase's steel footing, trapping two extras. Fortunately, they weren't hurt, but it was a pretty scary moment, Cameron said. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/3/871683.jpg)
Predicted Flop
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC THE MOVIE WAS PREDICTED TO BE A FAILURE. Cameron was criticized for stuff like the ballooning budget and set safety. We were the biggest morons in Hollywood history and the press had the long knives out, sharpening them as we approached our summer release.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/4/871684.jpg)
Angel Dust Chowder
![TITANIC CAST AND CREW GOT UNINTENTIONALLY HIGH ON PCP. While shooting in Canada, someone spiked the catering chowder with PCP. And it was tasty, so Cameron, Bill Paxton, and the cast and crew ate a lot, and everyone started tripping balls. 80 people ended up in the hospital, and the agent of chaos was never found. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/4/871674.jpg)
The Cast and Crew Of 'Titanic' Once Ate Chowder Laced With PCP, and Chaos Ensued
The Door Issue
![TITANIC NO, JACK COULDN'T FIT ON THE DOOR. First, that was actually a door frame. Second, Cameron's concern wasn't its size, but its buoyancy. And even though the MythBusters showed that it was maybe possible, that misses the point. As Cameron said, It's called art, things happen for artistic reasons, not for physics reasons. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/5/871675.jpg)
The Stars
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC THE RE-RELEASE FIXED THE STARS. Physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sent Cameronquite a snarky email saying that the night sky isn't correct, and that he should have known better. Cameron asked for the exact star map and then made the corrections for the 2012 3D re-release.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/3/871673.jpg)
The Sinking
![CRACKED.COM TITANIC RECENT RESEARCH HAS PROVEN THE MOVIE WRONG. Early in the movie it is explained that the ship broke in two. What didn't happen, however, was the left-over half sinking so fast. In reality it might have stood above water for longer.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/2/871672.jpg)
Alternate Ending
![CRACKED.COM WHINING TITANIC THERE WAS A (BAD) ALTERNATE ENDING. Old Rose throws the Heart of the Ocean into the water, and Bill Paxton's character learns... something. Paxton disliked this ending, even though it gave him more screen time. The film tells you what it needs and what it does not need, he said-and it did not need this scene.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/1/871671.jpg)