Near, far, wherever you are…you’re probably a stone’s throw from someone hotly debating a certain moment from the end of James Cameron’s film Titanic involving hypothermia, a floating door and a very cold Leonardo DiCaprio. Spoilers ahead for a movie that debuted in 1997: at the end of the film, Kate Winslet’s Rose clings to life on a door in the wreck of the titular ship; DiCaprio’s Jack holds onto the side of it, eventually succumbing to the cold water and sinking to his death.
In the years since the film’s release, cinephiles have pondered one question relating to the film above all others: why didn’t Jack also, you know, get onto the door? Winslet herself addressed the issue in a 2022 interview, saying, “I don’t f*cking know.” She later clarified that she believed that there might have been room on the door, but that she wasn’t entirely sure if the door would have been able to keep two people afloat.
Cue the film’s writer/director, who seems eager to answer this question once and for all. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron will re-stage the film’s ending in a National Geographic special with the aim of answering the question asked by legions of fans for decades now. Think Mythbusters meets blockbuster filmmaking, with a bit of maritime history thrown into the mix.
A preview of the segment offers a glimpse of what to expect, with Cameron teaming with a stunt crew to reenact the film’s finale. They tested out a number of different scenarios, including finding one way in which Jack might have survived — but viewers looking for a definitive solution might not find what they’re looking for.
Then again, let’s be honest — even if Cameron had looked into the camera and said conclusively, “Yes; I, James Cameron, writer and director of Titanic, say that Jack could not have survived,” people would still be debating the matter, and likely will be for years to come.
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