EXCLUSIVE: Secrets of How 'Titanic' Miraculously Stayed Afloat Revealed — The Battles, Sex and Drugs Behind The Scenes of the Blockbuster That Beat All Hollywood Odds
'Titanic' stayed afloat amid a barrage of challenges.
May 16 2025, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
James Cameron’s 1997 romantic disaster film Titanic was so costly and difficult to make, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox were certain it was destined to be a $200 million flop.
And RadarOnline.com can reveal the secrets behind the making of the surprise blockbuster, which starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as star-crossed lovers aboard the doomed ocean liner Titanic.
Kate Winslet broke the ice on set by flashing Leonardo DiCaprio before her first nude scene.
■ Writer/director Cameron was able to convince studio bosses that his fictional love story mixed with the shocking human loss of the real-life vessel’s destruction in 1912 would highlight the emotional impact of the disaster and capture moviegoers’ hearts, creating one of the most successful films in Hollywood history.
■ Interspersed with shots of modern-day salvagers searching for a pricey necklace, the movie – which runs more than three hours – features two hours and 40 minutes of scenes set in 1912 – the exact amount of time it took the Titanic to sink into the ocean.
■ Upon learning her first scene would be the one in which DiCaprio's Jack sketches her character Rose in the nude, Winslet – then 21 – broke the ice by flashing him.
■ The actual sketch of Rose in the movie was drawn by Cameron, whose hands are seen in on-camera close-ups.
■ Winslet says fans frequently ask her to sign photos of the racy drawing – and she refuses, saying: "It feels very uncomfortable."
■ Filming did not go smoothly, as Cameron was a hard-charging perfectionist, prone to screaming at cast and crew.
"There were times when I was frightened of him. Jim has a temper like you wouldn’t believe," recalled Winslet.
Bill Paxton described James Cameron as a terrifying perfectionist with a volcanic temper.
"Jim is not one of those guys who has the time to win hearts and minds," admitted the late Bill Paxton, who played treasure hunter Brock Lovett.
In response to criticism, Cameron said: “Filmmaking is war. A great battle between business and aesthetics.”
Another secret were the costs of Titanic – which were as epic as its love story.
After Cameron racked up bills that were double his original $135 million budget, Fox executives panicked and wanted to cut the film to ensure more theater showings and up their box-office take – even though such extreme editing would hurt the film's Oscar prospects.
The suggestion enraged Cameron, who blared: "You want to cut my movie? You're going to have to fire me. You want to fire me? You're going to have to kill me."
In a more cool-headed moment, Cameron offered to give up his share of the film's profits, which the studio rejected as an empty gesture, as they assumed the movie wouldn’t actually make any money.
Celine Dion's haunting ballad 'My Heart Will Go On' became the biggest hit of her career.
In reality, the film’s worldwide lifetime grosses topped $2 billion dollars, and the movie snagged 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
■ The love song of the film, Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On, became a blockbuster success making it the biggest hit of her career. The tune still remains one of the best-selling singles of all time.
■ Busting budgets and personal battles aside, shooting was nearly torpedoed by a bizarre drug-related sabotage.
During the crew's time in Nova Scotia, Canada, someone spiked the on-set buffet, lacing the lobster chowder with phencyclidine – better known as PCP or angel dust.
"I didn’t have any experience with drugs," said set painter Marilyn McAvoy. "But others were saying it was like the beginning of an acid trip."
Lewis Abernathy said Cameron's eyes looked straight out of 'The Terminator.'
Within 15 minutes after eating, Paxton recalled: "The crew was all milling about. Some people were laughing, some people were crying, some people were throwing up."
Thinking it might be food poisoning, Paxton jumped in a van and headed for Dartmouth General Hospital.
"One minute, I felt okay," he said, adding: "The next minute I felt so anxious I wanted to breathe in a paper bag. Cameron was feeling the same way."
The director managed to make himself vomit before the drug took full effect, but actor Lewis Abernathy says he was shocked by Cameron's appearance.
"One eye was completely red, like the 'Terminator' eye," said Abernathy, referencing the director's hit The Terminator, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"A pupil, no iris, beet red. The other eye looked like he'd been sniffing glue since he was 4," he recounted.
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Marilyn McAvoy recalled the spiked chowder incident as a surreal acid-like haze on set.
"These people were stoned," said Dr. Rob Roy, who treated several on-set victims, all of whom recovered – adding: "They had no idea what was going on."
Shooting resumed the next day, but Paxton said he felt sluggish for two weeks after the incident.
■ DiCaprio, who was 23 when "Titanic" was released, admits he didn’t realize how successful the film would be – or how it would launch him into superstardom.
"Titanic was very much an experiment for Kate Winslet and I," said DiCaprio, now 42. "We'd done all of these independent movies. I loved her as an actress and she said, 'Let's do this together, we can do this.'"
"We did it," he said, "and it became something that we could've never foreseen."
