James Cameron has taken to his Instagram Story to refute the rumors of his involvement in an OceanGate film. The Academy Award winner addressed the speculations, stating that despite what’s been circulating, he has no plans to work on a movie centered around the company responsible for the Titan submersible, which imploded while exploring the Titanic wreckage last month.
In a message to his Instagram followers, the renowned filmmaker expressed his usual reluctance to respond to offensive rumors in the media. However, he felt the need to clarify this particular matter. He made it clear that he is not in discussions regarding any OceanGate film, and he has no intentions of ever being part of such a project.
“I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now,” Cameron wrote to his Instagram fans. “I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be.”
James Cameron also reiterated his stance on Twitter, reinforcing his denial in response to reports from the Daily Mail and The Sun, which suggested that he was approached for a series focused on the Titan submersible disaster.
The Titanic Expedition and the Ill-Fated Submersible
On June 22nd, the search for the missing submersible, which was en route to the Titanic wreckage site, came to an end when debris indicative of a “catastrophic implosion” was discovered on the ocean floor. It was strongly believed that the wreckage belonged to the Titan.
The ill-fated Titan had five individuals on board when it vanished and imploded on Father’s Day.
Among the passengers were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush 61, British Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood 48, Shahzada’s son Suleman Dawood 19, British billionaire Hamish Harding 58, and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet 77.
In the ensuing days, the U.S. Coast Guard disclosed that they had recovered what they presumed to be human remains during the wreckage search. These remains were carefully retrieved from the debris, and subsequently, the Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) took custody of them to conduct further analysis and testing.
After OceanGate officially declared that the passengers were presumed deceased, James Cameron expressed his deep concern about the safety of the submersible even prior to the ill-fated expedition. He revealed that several prominent figures in the deep submergence engineering community had written letters to the company, expressing their reservations about the experimental nature of the undertaking and urging the need for proper certification.
“A number of the top players in the deep submergence engineering community even wrote letters to the company, saying that what they were doing was too experimental to carry passengers and that it needed to be certified,” James Cameron said in June.
James Cameron Compared the Submersible Tragedy to the Titanic 1912
James Cameron also drew comparisons between the recent submersible tragedy and the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
“I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself,” Cameron remarked. He highlighted the similarity of the Titanic’s captain ignoring repeated warnings about ice ahead and sailing at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night, resulting in numerous fatalities.
“For us, it’s a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded,” Cameron added. He expressed bewilderment at the incident occurring at the exact same site amidst the ongoing diving activities worldwide, describing the situation as surreal.
“To take place at the same exact site with all the diving that’s going on all around the world, I think it’s just astonishing. It’s really quite surreal.”