‘Titanic’: James Cameron admits after scientific study that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character ‘may have survived’

James Cameron, like the vast majority, has had enough of the great cinematic history debate for which he is responsible: Could Jack have saved himself if he had carved out a spot in the charts with Rose in “Titanic”? “Maybe, maybe after 25 years I won’t have to deal with all this anymore”, said the director, who devoted himself to preparing a scientific study where he finally answers the question. This had already been tried to be tested, but never by the director himself, who delves into it in a National Geographic documentary titled ‘Titanic: 25 Years Later’. “We will find out once and for all if Jack could have survived the sinking of the Titanic”says the director.

Cameron organized everything: in a laboratory specializing in the effects of cold on the human body recreated an exact replica of the table and hired two stuntmen of exact complexion to Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio’s characters in the film to recreate the scene in a 35 degree swimming pool, as a lower temperature would cause clinical hypothermia. Little by little, the director and his team of specialists are studying the obstacles and difficulties that the couple must face in order to survive.

.@GMA FIRST LOOK: @natgeo the special “Titanic: 25 years later with James Cameron” will settle the debate once and for all: would Jack have survived?@Jim Cameron@natgeotv pic.twitter.com/OkKCXaEkvF

? Good Morning America (@GMA) February 2, 2023

At first, the hypothesis seems confirmed: Jack would be dead, because if he had remained in the water he would have gone into a state of hypothermia in less than twenty minutes. This time, compared to the two hours it took the rescue team to find Rose, he wouldn’t offer a much different (albeit less romantic) ending.

They continue to study another case: the specialist actor finds a way to stay afloat on the table, where apparently there was room for both. “It helps you when you are [en la tabla con la mitad superior del cuerpo] out of the water, shaking violently”Cameron says. “By projecting it, it could have survived… for quite a while, a few hours”. But the stuntmen are not in the same condition as the characters in the film: exhausted. Therefore, in pursuit of the rigor and truthfulness of the study, the director gives directions for them to play the entire scene to tire them to the extreme, with the help of a specialist in charge of tiring them. The documentary also includes the moment Rose hands him the life jacket and helps him warm up. “We have reached a point where it stabilizes and Jack may even have held out until a lifeboat arrived.”Cameron reports.

Cameron’s conclusion

However, Cameron only half accepts defeat: “Jack could have survived… but there are many variables”. He ventures into the character’s mind: “I think her thought was ‘I’m not going to do anything to put her in danger’ and that’s 100% her character”, to justify. The scientific study was intended to prove that Jack could not have survived on the table, although the director now proves that this is not the case. However, everything has the moral of him: “Knowing what I know now, I would have made the table much smaller so there would be no doubts”concludes.

He February 10thjust in time for Valentine’s Day, ‘Titanic’ will be back in theaters in 3D and special formats so that we can once again enjoy one of the great classics of romantic cinema on the big screen, and even more so now that the discussion has been clarified.