James Cameron has pooh-poohed rumours that he’s in talks to direct a series about the OceanGate submersible which killed five passengers after a “catastrophic implosion”.
Cameron set the record straight after British tabloid The Sun published a report titled: “DIVE DEEP: Titanic Director James Cameron in talks with major streaming network to create a drama series on doomed Titan sub”.
According to the report, a source claimed Cameron is the “first choice” to helm the series as the subject is “close to his heart”.
“He told the story of the Titanic so compassionately it feels like a natural step for him to take this on,” the source claimed.
“Retracing the steps of those on board the Titan is a massive undertaking but there would be a lot of time, money and resources dedicated to it.”
Not only that, but the publication reckons noted zoo buyer Matt Damon is on the “wish list of actors for the project”.
Well, it turns out the report consisted of nothing more than “offensive rumours”, as Cameron so eloquently put it.
“I don’t respond to offensive rumours in the media usually, but I need to now,” Cameron wrote in a v. impassioned tweet on Saturday.
“I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever.”
Let it out, babe! Take ’em down!
Last month, OceanGate Expeditions founder Stockton Rush and four passengers set out on a voyage to view the wreck of the Titanic in a submersible called the Titan. But about an hour and 45 minutes after the group descended into the Atlantic Ocean, the Titan lost contact with OceanGate, prompting a frantic search and rescue effort.
A few days later, the US Coast Guard confirmed debris from the submersible was found in the vicinity of the Titanic wreck, and the five crew members onboard the vessel were probably killed instantly in a “catastrophic implosion”.
After the tragic fate of the Titan was confirmed, Cameron — who has made 33 dives to the Titanic wreck — told ABC News “many people in the community were very concerned about this sub”.
“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 and so on,” he said.
“I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night and many people died as a result.
“For us, a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded 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.”
If you were hanging out for a dramatic retelling of the submersible tragedy directed by James Cameron, at least you now know not to get your hopes up.
Image credit: OceanGate & Steve Granitz / FilmMagic via Getty Images
