BoomGeeks: Making of the Movie Titanic

My Heart Will Go On

James Cameron did not want a song. But James Horner was certain of his facts with the title My Heart Will Go On , written by Will Jennings on the main theme. He then secretly recorded comp with Celine Dion who finally conquered the director. The song won an Oscar and remains to this day the biggest selling single in the world.

The duration of the shoot

The shooting lasted for 160 days spread over eight months from July 1996 to March 1997. In the end, James Cameron was enough projecting twelve days non-stop film.

A titanic budget

Given the proportions taken by the budget, James Cameron gave up his salary (which amounted to $ 8 million) and its percentage of the receipts. But he caught himself largely due to his income producer! Paramount paid $ 65 milllion of the 200 that cost the film but refused to pay the overruns that Fox eventually took over. The ad campaign cost to itself, only 80 million and $ 30 million special effects.

Special effects

The special effects were produced by Digital Domain, the same studios that revived the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park (1993, Steven Spielberg ). They worked on shots where the Titanic broke in two and the overall plans of the boat, computer-generated ocean, smoke stack and characters.

The perfect cast

For the role of Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic , James Cameron 's first thought was to Matthew McConaughey and Chris O'Donnell . But they were too old to play as Jack, who is 20 years old. Same concern for Rose who is 17 years in the film. Before yielding to the insistence of Kate Winslet that was certain to take the role of his life, James Cameron had planned to hire Gwyneth Paltrow , Claire Danes or Gabrielle Anwar . Michael Biehn almost play the role of Cal. Accustomed director, he starred in The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2 (1991), Aliens (1986) and Abyss (1989).

The rebirth of the Titanic

Set construction began in Rosarito Beach, Mexico May 31, 1996 (85 years to the day after putting to sea from the ship) and required three months of work. For reasons largely economic, boat, boats, windows were made to 90% of their original size. The top, built in a basin on hydraulic cylinders that can contain 65 million liters of water, the wind was such that smoke or hair of the characters go in the right direction. A crane of 55m would allow Cameron to realize its impossible tracking shots along the hull. Different models have complemented the main structure.

The king of box office

Titanic was a real tidal wave at its output, beating the record of entries in over 50 countries, and prevails to this day the head of the worldwide box office with over $ 1.835 billion in revenue. It was the first film to surpass the one billion dollars. He is currently No. 1 in France with over 20 million entries, No. 1 in the U.S. with more than $ 600 million and No. 1 in Britain with nearly 69 million pounds.

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