Director James Cameron says he’s firmly against using AI-generated actors, calling the results “horrifying.”
In a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the filmmaker addressed speculation that he might turn to AI for future installments of the popular &#8220;Avatar&#8221; franchise and made clear he has no interest in doing so.
“For years, there was this sense that, ‘Oh, they’re doing something strange with computers and they’re replacing actors,’ when in fact, once you really drill down and you see what we’re doing, it’s a celebration of the actor-director moment,” Cameron said.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Extended interview: James Cameron" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o0uKh4VT6s8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“Now, go to the other end of the spectrum, and you’ve got generative AI, where they can make up a character,” he went on. “They can make up an actor. They can make up a performance from scratch with a text prompt. It’s like, no. That’s horrifying to me. That’s the opposite. That’s exactly what we’re not doing.”
When asked why he’s against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-actors-union-slams-ai-synthetic-performer-pitched-as-the-next-scarlett-johansson">AI-generated actors like Tilly Norwood</a>, the “Titanic” director replied, “I don’t want a computer doing what I pride myself on being able to do with actors. I don’t want to replace actors, I love working with actors.”
Cameron said he was excited about how emerging technology could help the fledgling genres of sci-fi and fantasy films, which are costly to make, without entirely replacing live actors.
He also mentioned some of the pitfalls of AI. 
“What generative AI can’t do is create something new that’s never been seen. If you think about it, the models… it’s a magic trick, what they can do is quite astonishing. But the models are trained on everything that’s ever been done before that; it can’t be trained on that which has never been done,” Cameron said. 
“So you will innately see, essentially, all of human art and human experience put into a blender, and you’ll get something that is kind of an average of that. So what you can’t have is that individual screenwriter’s unique lived experience and their quirks. You won’t find the idiosyncrasies of a particular actor.”
The director predicted that live performances will become more “sacred” in the future.

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James Cameron Rejects AI Virtual Actors: ‘Horrifying’

James Cameron Calls The Concept Of Generative AI Actors 'Horrifying'

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Before director James Cameron became <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-cameron-reflects-king-of-the-world-titanic-oscars-speech-2023-3">&#8220;king of the world&#8221;</a> he sat on the hottest of hot seats.
Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic” arrived with enough bad buzz to sink a battleship. Time magazine ran a cover story on the bloated, $200 million affair with the words, <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/titanic-trailer-james-cameron-bad-buzz-blockbuster-1236552019/">“Glub, Glub, Glub” as the tag line.</a>
All signs suggested the headstrong director behind “Terminator” and “True Lies” had bitten off far more than he could chew, and Hollywood was ready to rub his nose in an epic failure.
What happened next? “Titanic” became the biggest blockbuster of all time, at least up until he dethroned himself (twice) with 2009’s “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022).
One man is responsible for three of the most popular American films in U.S. history. This Cameron fella knows what he’s doing and, more importantly, what moviegoers crave. He better, since Hollywood is banking on his latest film to give theaters one last jolt before 2025 wraps.
And, up until now, it hasn’t been a blockbuster year for movies. Can Cameron save Hollywood with “Avatar: Fire and Ash?”
The December 19 release is the third film in the enviro-friendly franchise. Once again, Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang bring the world of Pandora to life, along with endless zeroes and ones. The CGI-heavy franchise slathers recognizable stars with endless digital effects.
<div id="attachment_1000779" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1000779" class="size-large wp-image-1000779" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-1024x425.jpg" alt="“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” 2025. Sam Worthington. Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="1024" height="425" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-1024x425.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-300x125.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-768x319.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-1536x638.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS &#8211; Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
The latest “Avatar” installment finds the Sully clan dealing with a new threat along with a familiar foe. A violent Na’vi faction dubbed the Ash People has aligned with the evil Colonel Quaritch (Lang), setting up more action-packed sequences in the bustling saga.
That’s roughly all we know about the film. Team Cameron knows less is more when it comes to movie marketing.
Plenty is riding on the film, including the saga’s future. Cameron has said if “Fire and Ash” underperforms, <a href="https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/10/3/james-cameron-says-avatar-3-has-to-make-a-lot-of-money-for-the-franchise-to-continue">parts 4 and 5 could be in jeopardy</a>. He’s betting “Fire and Ash” will come close to replicate his past successes, partially based on early box office predictions. The film is expected to rake in <a href="https://boxofficetheory.com/6-week-box-office-tracking-wicked-for-good-and-zootopia-2-check-ins-plus-other-updates/">at least $110 million</a> in its opening frame.
He’s not alone in wishing for the best.
The box office isn’t the same as it once was, not even when “The Way of Water” helped theaters bounce back from the pandemic shutdowns three years ago. For every “A Minecraft Movie” or “Sinners,” there are many 2025 films that either flopped or dramatically underperformed in 2025.
“Christy.” “The Alto Knights.” “Good Fortune.” “Snow White.” “Elio.” “Tron: Ares.” Even some hits have been misses. “One Battle After Another” is approaching $70 million at the U.S. box office, but the film’s price tag (a reported $130 million) means it’ll lose plenty for Warner Bros.
One report suggests <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/one-battle-after-another-lose-100-million-dollars-theaters-1236552914/">that figure could be $100 million.</a>
Variety reports that this year is <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/october-box-office-record-low-ticket-sales-smashing-machine-tron-ares-flop-1236567987/">currently 2.9 percent ahead</a> of 2024, hardly a boastful account. Stateside revenues are still more than 22 percent behind 2019. That’s the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered movie houses and sent patrons scrambling to streaming services.
That, plus the continued rise of social media, video games, and streaming platforms, leaves cinema uniquely vulnerable as 2026 approaches.
<div id="attachment_1000763" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1000763" class="size-large wp-image-1000763" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-1024x424.jpg" alt="“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="1024" height="424" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-1024x424.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-300x124.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-768x318.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-1536x636.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS &#8211; Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
There’s something else about Cameron’s “Avatar” franchise that isn’t discussed enough. Do people actually care about the saga and its heroic figures? How many Halloween costumes have been inspired by the series? Does “Avatar” merchandise sales spike when a new film hits theaters?
Comic-Con Nation genuflects to “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” the MCU, and other geek-friendly IPs. Does “Avatar” hold sway over that demographic in a similar fashion? Are names like Neytiri, Jake Sully, and Miles Quaritch as recognizable as Han, Luke, and Leia? What about Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy?
Hardly.
Cameron has spent much of his career defying the odds, and his “Avatar” films do so in another remarkable way. The phrase, “get woke go broke” finally pierced the Hollywood bubble in recent years. The industry has dialed back on its progressive messaging, realizing audiences would rather be entertained than lectured.
Yet the “Avatar” saga is unabashedly pro-environment and, on more than a few occasions, anti-human. We’re meant to root for the Na’vi, not Colonel Quaritch and his human foot soldiers.
<div id="attachment_1000753" style="width: 792px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1000753" class="size-large wp-image-1000753" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-782x576.jpg" alt="“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, James Cameron. Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="782" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-782x576.jpg 782w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-300x221.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-768x566.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-1536x1131.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 782px) 100vw, 782px" />Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS &#8211; Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
The director’s green activism infects every frame of his “Avatar” films, and he makes no apologies about it. That hasn’t impacted the franchise’s box office receipts, though. Not yet, at least.
Cameron’s undeniable skills can take eco-lectures and dress them up in clear-eyed action sequences and relatable themes. The pro-family sentiment of “The Way of Water,” for example, was impossible to miss.
Look past the director’s progressive streak and you’ll find a populist lurking in plain sight.
And while most filmmakers have wisely left 3D technology behind, Cameron clings to the format while pushing cinema technology forward. Each new “Avatar” film represents a leap in what’s possible on the big screen.
Who knows what “Fire and Ash” will deliver come December.
Boy, could the industry use another Cameron miracle to christen the New Year’s box office dreams and, in theory, prove the “rising tide lifts all boats” axiom anew. It wouldn’t be the first time Cameron defied the odds, but they haven’t been stacked so tall in ages.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

“L’Art De James Cameron – The Art Of James Cameron” Exhibition At La Cinematheque

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“Avatar” director James Cameron said he’s so unhappy with the Trump administration that he’s leaving the United States and becoming a citizen of New Zealand.
The 70-year-old Oscar winner made the remarks during an appearance on “The F#$%ing News” podcast that aired this week. While responding to a question about Trump retaking office, Cameron replied, “I think it’s horrific, I think it’s horrifying.”
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Cameron, who is Canadian, said he would not return to the United States and that his citizenship there is “imminent.” 
Cameron applied for American citizenship in 2004 but <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190913233059/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/10/26/man-of-extremes">withdrew his application</a> after George W. Bush won the presidential election. The director lived in the United States for some time and later purchased a farm in New Zealand after filming “Avatar” there.  
During the most recent interview, the director said, “I see a turn away from everything decent. America doesn’t stand for anything if it doesn’t stand for what it has historically stood for. It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they’re hollowing it out as fast as they can for their own benefit.”
Cameron said he doesn’t feel “safer” from news about the American president there because &#8220;we&#8217;re all in this together globally.&#8221;
“I certainly feel like I don’t have to read it on the front page every single day. And it’s just sickening,” Cameron said. “There’s something nice about the New Zealand outlets &#8212; at least they’ll put it on page three &#8230; I just don’t want to see that guy’s face anymore on the front page of the paper. It’s inescapable there, it’s like watching a car crash over and over and over.”
The “Titanic” director said becoming a New Zealand citizen “means a lot” and is “something I’ve worked toward, something I’ve had to sacrifice for.”
“If you’re going to uproot your family and you&#8217;re move somewhere, you have to invest, you have to be part of it, you have to earn standing,” the director said. “I just think you’ve got to earn your right to be in a place. &#8230; There’s kind of an innate respect and a demand for respect [here]. &#8230; Everybody has this kind of equal status in terms of personhood. And I love that – that’s what I wanted my kids to experience.”
Cameron was mocked on social media for his statements, with many pointing out that he wasn’t American anyway and mentioning how the director was happy to make a fortune at the United States box office and then trash the winner of a free and fair election.
“Don’t worry, though, he’ll still release his movies in America, because that’s where the brunt of his revenue for them comes from. Amazing filmmaker/blathering hypocrite,” one person <a href="https://x.com/arcticninjapaul/status/1895289483651883107">said</a>.

Canadian James Cameron Whines About Trump Being President, Says He’s Staying In New Zealand

Canadian James Cameron Whines About Trump Being President, Says He's Staying In New Zealand

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Academy Award-winning director James Cameron has joined the board of directors of the artificial intelligence company Stability AI after sounding the alarm about the technology last year.
“I just don’t personally believe that a disembodied mind that’s just regurgitating what other embodied minds have said — about the life that they’ve had, about love, about lying, about fear, about mortality — and just put it all together into a word salad and then regurgitate it,” Cameron said during an interview in 2023, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-warned-you-guys-in-1984-director-james-cameron-unleashes-on-the-rise-of-ai-in-film">reported</a>.
“You got to follow the money. Who’s building these things? They’re either building it to dominate marketing shares, so you’re teaching it greed, or you’re building it for defensive purposes, so you’re teaching it paranoia. I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger,” he said at the time, adding that he “warned” society with his film released 40 years ago, “The Terminator.”
“I warned you guys in 1984! And you didn’t listen,” Cameron said of his film about machines becoming self-aware and taking over the world.
Now Cameron is promoting the use of AI, at least the version that Stability AI is selling. 
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Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju celebrated the new member of the board, saying, “James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up.”
“Stability AI’s mission is to transform visual media for the next century by giving creators a full stack AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life,” he continued. “We have an unmatched advantage to achieve this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest levels of our company. This is not only a monumental statement for Stability AI, but the AI industry overall. The next frontier in visual media will be forged by a true fusion of artist and technology and Stability AI is leading the charge.”
Stability AI has raised $233 million in five rounds and has a valuation close to $1 billion, per <a href="https://deadline.com/2024/09/james-cameron-joins-stability-ai-board-of-directors-1236097835/">Deadline</a>.
The use of AI has been a hot topic of conversation over the past couple of years and was a major issue during the writers’ and actors’ strikes last year.

James Cameron Joins AI Company Board Of Directors After Warning Against The Technology

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Director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-cameron">James Cameron</a> reflected on one of his first films, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">The Terminator</a>,” and how elements of it have not stood the test of time.
The 70-year-old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">filmmaker</a> called the action movie “pretty cringeworthy” on the 40th anniversary of its big premiere.
“I don’t think of it as some Holy Grail, that’s for sure,” Cameron <a href="https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/james-cameron-revisits-the-terminator-exclusive/">told</a> Empire during a recent interview. “I look at it now and there are parts of it that are pretty cringeworthy, and parts of it that are like, ‘Yeah, we did pretty well for the resources we had available.&#8217;”
”Just the production value, you know? I don’t cringe on any of the dialogue, but I have a lower cringe factor than, apparently, a lot of people do around the dialogue that I write,” he continued. “You know what? Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films — then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness.”
“The Terminator” was a major hit when it debuted in 1984, grossing more than $78 million at the worldwide box office and cementing Arnold Schwarzenegger as a major movie star. The film also put Cameron on the map.
“I was just a punk starting out when I directed ‘The Terminator.’ I think I was 29 at the time, and it was my first directing gig,” the Academy Award-winning filmmaker told the outlet. “‘Terminator’ was my first film, and it’s near and dear for that reason.”
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There have been multiple “Terminator” spinoffs since then, and Cameron has alluded to the possibility of more in the future. But he said they won&#8217;t be the same.
“This is the moment when you jettison everything that is specific to the last 40 years of Terminator, but you live by those principles,” Cameron <a href="https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/james-cameron-terminator-future-films-one-major-difference/">told</a> Empire. “You get too inside it, and then you lose a new audience because the new audience care much less about that stuff than you think they do. That’s the danger, obviously, with ‘Avatar’ as well, but I think we’ve proven that we have something for new audiences.”
The filmmaker explained how that meant giving up on returning characters and starting fresh. 
“You’ve got powerless main characters, essentially, fighting for their lives, who get no support from existing power structures, and have to circumvent them but somehow maintain a moral compass. And then you throw AI into the mix,” he went on. 
“Those principles are sound principles for storytelling today, right? So I have no doubt that subsequent &#8216;Terminator&#8217; films will not only be possible, but they’ll kick a**. But this is the moment where you jettison all the specific iconography.”
This update comes after each subsequent “Terminator” franchise addition has done a little worse than the one before, with “Terminator: Dark Fate” grossing just $62 million in 2019. 
Cameron alluded to more “Terminator” in the future. “It’s more than a plan,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing. That’s all I’ll say for right now.”

James Cameron Says ‘Terminator’ Is ‘Cringe-Worthy’ Now But Future Sequels Will ‘Kick A**’

James Cameron Says 'Terminator' Films Are 'Cringeworthy' But Future Ones Will 'Kick A**'

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kate-winslet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Winslet</a> decided to kiss and tell when it comes to her “Titanic” costar Leonardo DiCaprio, admitting that as romantic as their onscreen kiss looked, it was “not all it’s cracked up to be.&#8221;
During an interview with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Z4caCa2yw">Vanity Fair</a>, the 48-year-old actress reflected on her time working on James Cameron’s monster 1997 hit and all that went into the actors&#8217; famous scene “flying” on the bow of the ship.
“My God, he’s quite the romancer, isn’t he? No wonder every young girl in the world wanted to be kissed by Leonardo DiCaprio,&#8221; Winslet said. &#8220;It was not all it’s cracked up to be.&#8221;
Winslet said DiCaprio wasn’t all to blame and said it was a “mess” trying to get the shot, because her dress was so tight she could barely breath, with “her boobs practically up to her chin.” She also recalled having to climb a ladder to make the scene work where she said hair and makeup couldn’t reach them, so she said she had to carry makeup in her clothing and do touchups between takes.
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&#8220;This was a nightmare shooting this,” Winslet told the outlet. &#8220;Leo couldn’t stop laughing, and we had to reshoot this about four times because [James Cameron] wanted a very specific light for this, obviously, and the sunsets kept changing where we were.&#8221;
&#8220;We kept doing this kiss, and I’ve got a lot of pale makeup on, and I would have to do our makeup checks — on both of us, between takes — and I would end up looking as though I’d been sucking a caramel chocolate bar after each take because his makeup would come off on me,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And he just looked like there was a bit missing from his face because there was this big pale bit from all my makeup getting onto him.&#8221;
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Despite the numerous takes it took to get the shot the way Cameron wanted it and all they had to endure, she’s “very proud of it.”
“Because I feel that it is that film that just keeps giving,&#8221; Winslet said. &#8220;Whole other generations of people are discovering the film or seeing it for the first time and there’s something extraordinary about that.&#8221;
In a recent interview, the superstar actress admitted all the fame she got after appearing in “Titanic” was “horrible.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Winslet</a> made the remarks during an <a href="https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-gb/porter/article-f46bd8ada94c36de/cover-stories/cover-stories/kate-winslet?cm_mmc=LinkshareUS-_-tv2R4u9rImY-_-Custom-_-LinkBuilder&amp;utm_source=rakuten&amp;utm_medium=affiliation&amp;utm_campaign=US_3157217&amp;utm_content=US_Skimlinks+%28Variable+Pricing%29&amp;utm_term=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;ranMID=24449&amp;ranEAID=tv2R4u9rImY&amp;ranSiteID=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;siteID=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;linkshare_siteID=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;linkshare_affiliate_mid=24449">interview</a> with Porter. “I felt like I had to look a certain way, or be a certain thing, and because media intrusion was so significant at that time, my life was quite unpleasant,” the actress told the outlet.
“Journalists would always say, ‘After Titanic, you could have done anything and yet you chose to do these small things’ … and I was like, ‘Yeah, you bet your life I did! Because, guess what, being famous was horrible,’” she added.
Amanda Harding contributed to this piece.

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Kate Winslet Kisses And Tells On ‘Titanic’ Costar Leonardo DiCaprio

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The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">prop door</a> from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-cameron">James Cameron</a> blockbuster film “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/titanic">Titanic</a>” just sold at auction for more than $700,000.
Ever since the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">movie</a> was released in 1997, viewers have argued over whether there was enough room for both Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) to fit onto the door, using it as a makeshift raft until they could be rescued from the frigid sea. Many movie fans claim that the door may not have been buoyant enough to support two adults, even if there was sufficient physical space.
In the film, Rose survived, and Jack died from hypothermia.
The prop piece of balsa wood, which the auction listing says came from part of the door frame above the ship’s first-class lounge entrance, was one of several movie props sold at the Heritage Auctions Treasures from Planet Hollywood event, per <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/26/titanic-floating-door-prop-sells-at-auction">The Guardian</a>. 
Other significant items included Winslet&#8217;s dress in “Titanic,” which fetched $125,000, and Indiana Jones’s bullwhip from “The Temple of Doom,” which went for more than half a million. The outlet also noted that Jack Nicholson’s axe from The Shining sold for $125,000.
Cameron and other “Titanic” stars have discussed the door controversy in the past, with the Canadian director admitting that the character of Jack was doomed to die because the story demanded it.
“We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie … We took two stunt people who were the same body mass of Kate and Leo and we put sensors all over them and inside them and we put them in ice water and we tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods and the answer was: there was no way they both could have survived. Only one could survive,” Cameron told The Toronto Sun in 2022, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kate-winslet-james-cameron-share-opinions-on-infamous-titanic-door-debate">reported</a>.
“[Jack] needed to die,” he added. “It’s like Romeo and Juliet. It’s a movie about love and sacrifice and mortality. The love is measured by the sacrifice.”
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Winslet also shared her opinions in 2022, the 25th anniversary of the film’s release. 
“I have to be honest: I actually don’t believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door,” the actress said. “I think he would have fit, but it would have tipped and it would not have been a sustainable idea.”
“So, you heard it here for the first time,” Winslet added. “Yes, he could have fit on that door, but it would not have stayed afloat. It wouldn’t.”

Titanic door

Controversial ‘Titanic’ Prop Door Sells For $700K At Auction

Controversial 'Titanic' Prop Door Sells For $700K At Auction

Academy Award-winning filmmaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-cameron">James Cameron</a> recently revealed some secrets from making his epic historical drama “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Titanic</a>,” including the reason he intentionally cast short extras.
The Canadian-born <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">director</a> explained his thought process during an <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-12-05/titanic-4k-james-cameron-25th-anniversary-adele-the-abyss">interview</a> with the Los Angeles Times for the film’s 4K remastering home video release.
“The scale of everything was beyond anything we could imagine in terms of our prior experience. At the time we thought, wow, there’s no way this movie could ever make its money back. It’s just impossible. Well, guess what?” Cameron told the outlet.
“Titanic” <a href="https://screenrant.com/titanic-movie-box-office-profit-explained/#:~:text=With%20a%20whopping%20budget%20of,million%20from%20its%20re%2Dreleases.">cost</a> a whopping $210 million to produce ($337 million adjusted for inflation), making it the most expensive film ever made at the time of its release in 1997. This causes a lot of concern in the industry, with many insiders calling the filmmaker crazy for spending so much. But even with the massive budget, Cameron said they did cut costs where they could. 
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“We only cast short extras so it made our set look bigger,” Cameron explained. “Anybody above five foot eight, we didn’t cast them. It’s like we got an extra million dollars of value out of casting.”
The “Titanic” gamble did pay off in a big way. Over its lifetime, the movie made $2.2 billion, making it the highest-earning film of all time until Cameron’s “Avatar” was released in 2009.
The director said he stands by putting in the funds to make the movie, which is what made it so successful. 
“If the studio had had their way, they would have cut the entire ship sinking,” Cameron told the LA Times. “The smartest thing we did was do the sinking last. It wasn’t because of strategy — it was simply because you sink the set last because otherwise it doesn’t look so good the next morning when you bring it back up.”
Cameron had previously weighed in on the infamous door controversy. Fans have been speculating for decades whether there was enough room on the floating door to save both Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet). He assured movie fans that while there may have been enough physical room, the door would not have stayed afloat with both adults on it. 
“We have done a scientific study to put this whole thing to rest and drive a stake through its heart once and for all,” Cameron <a href="https://torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/james-cameron-plans-to-prove-that-jack-couldnt-have-lived-in-titanic">told</a> The Toronto Sun in 2022.
“We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie,” he continued. “We took two stunt people who were the same body mass of Kate and Leo and we put sensors all over them and inside them and we put them in ice water. We tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods and the answer was, there was no way they both could have survived. Only one could survive.”

James Cameron Said He Intentionally Cast ‘Short Extras’ On ‘Titanic’ For One Reason

James Cameron Said He Intentionally Cast 'Short Extras' On 'Titanic' For One Reason

Director James Cameron said in a <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/james-cameron-ai-nuclear-war-cant-write-good-scripts-1235673940/?cx_testId=48&amp;cx_testVariant=cx_1&amp;cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent interview</a> that certain aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) concern him far more than others — and pointed out the fact that he had warned everyone about the threat in his 1984 film &#8220;The Terminator.&#8221;
While both the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) cite concerns about the rise of AI in their reasons for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/egregious-and-disgusting-screen-actors-guild-pres-unloads-on-latest-offer-from-producers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">current strike</a> — the first such joint effort since the 1960s — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-not-in-talks-james-cameron-shreds-offensive-rumors-that-hed-direct-titan-disaster-movie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cameron</a> said that he wasn&#8217;t sure that writers had as much to worry about as some might think.
&#8220;I just don’t personally believe that a disembodied mind that’s just regurgitating what other embodied minds have said — about the life that they’ve had, about love, about lying, about fear, about mortality — and just put it all together into a word salad and then regurgitate it,&#8221; Cameron said, arguing that a bot could not truly tap into the human emotion necessary to write a compelling story.
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&#8220;I don’t believe that’s ever going to have something that’s going to move an audience. You have to be human to write that. I don’t know anyone that’s even thinking about having AI write a screenplay,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Let’s wait 20 years, and if an AI wins an Oscar for best screenplay, I think we’ve got to take them seriously.&#8221;
For Cameron, the greatest concern was the possibility that the race to build better AI would seep into other aspects of society — and he worried that the technology would someday be weaponized — if that wasn&#8217;t already in the process of happening.
&#8220;You got to follow the money. Who’s building these things? They’re either building it to dominate marketing shares, so you’re teaching it greed, or you’re building it for defensive purposes, so you’re teaching it paranoia. I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;I think that we will get into the equivalent of a nuclear arms race with AI, and if we don’t build it, the other guys are for sure going to build it, and so then it’ll escalate,&#8221; the &#8220;True Lies&#8221; director added. &#8220;You could imagine an AI in a combat theatre, the whole thing just being fought by the computers at a speed humans can no longer intercede, and you have no ability to de-escalate. I warned you guys in 1984! And you didn’t listen.&#8221;
&#8220;Terminator&#8221; star Arnold Schwarzenegger had previously suggested Cameron was ahead of his time when weighing the risks of AI in the futuristic film franchise.
&#8220;Today, everyone is frightened of it, of where this is gonna go. And in this movie, in &#8216;Terminator,&#8217; we talk about the machines becoming self-aware and they take over,&#8221; Schwarzenegger <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/arnold-schwarzenegger-ai-the-terminator-reality-1235659407/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality. So it’s not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of Jim Cameron.&#8221;

‘I Warned You Guys In 1984!’: Director James Cameron Unleashes On The Rise Of AI In Film

Director James Cameron Unleashes On The Rise Of AI In Film

Director James Cameron took to Twitter on Saturday to dispel the &#8220;offensive rumors&#8221; that he might be looking to direct a disaster movie based on the ill-fated mission of OceanGate&#8217;s Titan submersible.
Cameron noted that he didn&#8217;t normally find it necessary to address such rumors publicly, but that he felt this one was egregious enough to require immediate attention.
&#8220;I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now. I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be,&#8221; he tweeted.
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I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now. I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be.
&mdash; James Cameron (@JimCameron) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimCameron/status/1680192385051947009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Cameron, 68, who directed the Oscar-winning drama &#8220;Titanic,&#8221; has visited the wreckage that the doomed crew members of the Titan were traveling to see on a number of occasions — and has said he believed there were a number of comparisons to be made between the ill-fated ocean-liner and the OceanGate submersible.
&#8220;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,&#8221; Cameron said during a recent appearance o ABC News. &#8220;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, it’s a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded.&#8221;
A number of other experts have weighed in on what most believe was likely a preventable tragedy, saying that OceanGate chief Stockton Rush — who was piloting the vessel when it imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic — ignored numerous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-flags-surrounded-the-missing-titanic-sub-years-before-disappearance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">red flags</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/like-a-horror-movie-underwater-expert-says-titan-sub-passengers-probably-knew-what-was-happening" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Underwater expert</a> and engineer Jose Luis Martin said he believed the passengers aboard the doomed submersible likely had just enough time to realize what was happening before the craft imploded.
&#8220;The Titan changes position and falls like an arrow vertically because the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of passengers that were at the porthole unbalance the submersible. Everyone rushes and crowds on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear, and the agony,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It had to be like a horror movie. In that period of time, they are realizing everything, and what’s more, in complete darkness. It’s difficult to get an idea of what they experienced in those moments … After those 48 seconds, or one minute, the implosion and instantaneous sudden death occurs.&#8221;

‘I’m NOT In Talks’: James Cameron Shreds ‘Offensive Rumors’ That He’d Direct Titan Disaster Movie

'I'm NOT In Talks': James Cameron Shreds 'Offensive Rumors' That He'd Direct Titan Disaster Movie

Disasters

Submersible

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-cameron" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cameron</a>, the Oscar-winning director of “Titanic,” said on Thursday that the OceanGates&#8217; Titan submersible that imploded underwater did so because it was not constructed out of the proper materials.
Cameron, who is considered an expert at diving and submersibles, made the remarks during interviews with ABC News and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/science/james-cameron-titanic-submersible.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> after officials announced that they had located the debris of the vessel on the ocean floor and the five passengers on board had all died.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been down there many times. I know the [Titanic] wreck site very well,&#8221; Cameron said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve made 33 dives, and I actually calculated that I spent more time on the ship than the captain did back in the day.&#8221;
&#8220;As a submersible designer myself, I designed and built a sub to go to the deepest place in the ocean – three times deeper than Titanic,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So, I understand the engineering problems associated with building this type of vehicle and all the safety protocols that you have to go through.&#8221;
Cameron said that there have never been any fatalities in this type of underwater exploration in the past and that the Titan imploded because it was made out of carbon fiber, which is stronger and lighter than steel or aluminum but has &#8220;no strength in compression.&#8221;
Cameron said that the implosion, when an object collapses inward, would have been “an extremely violent event — like 10 cases of dynamite going off.”
Cameron said that deep submergence is a &#8220;mature art&#8221; and that all submersibles &#8220;except this one&#8221; undergo certification protocols to make sure the vessels are safe for passengers.
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&#8220;This is a mature art, and many people in the community were very concerned about this sub. And 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,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So, I&#8217;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.&#8221;
WATCH:
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‘Titanic’ director James Cameron on the ‘catastrophic implosion’ of Titan submersible: “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.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/vO8JkCXS5f">pic.twitter.com/vO8JkCXS5f</a>
&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1671965549381689533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

‘Titanic’ Director And Diving Expert James Cameron Explains Why The Titan Sub Imploded Underwater

Atlantic Ocean

The submersible that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-flags-surrounded-the-missing-titanic-sub-years-before-disappearance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went missing</a> on its voyage to the Titanic wreckage has an eerie connection to a famed couple who lost their lives on the “unsinkable” ship. 
Wendy Rush, the wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush — the man piloting the missing submersible — is the great-great-granddaughter of Titanic passengers Isidor and Ida Straus, according to archival records reviewed by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/us/wendy-stockton-rush-titanic-missing-submersible.html?smid=url-share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>. The Strauses were some of the wealthiest passengers aboard the Titanic when it sank in the icy waters of the North Atlantic in 1912, and their love story was even featured for a brief moment in James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film. 
Wendy Rush, born Wendy Weil, is descended from one of Isidor and Ida&#8217;s seven children, Minnie. Minnie’s grandson, Dr. Richard Weil III, is Rush’s father, according to Joan Adler, the executive director of the Straus Historical Society, the Times reported.
Isidor Straus was an American Jewish businessman who co-owned Macy’s department store with his brother and briefly served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Survivors of the Titanic sinking said they saw Isidor refuse to enter a lifeboat, making sure women and children took priority over him. Ida is said to have stayed by her husband’s side, refusing to leave him as the ship sank. The couple was reportedly last seen standing arm in arm as the Titanic went under the ocean’s surface. 
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In the “Titanic” film, a fictionalized version of Isidor and Ida&#8217;s story shows an older couple holding each other in bed as water pours into the ship and the orchestra plays “Nearer My God To Thee.” While the Strauses are not named in the film, the couple is mentioned in the credits, <a href="https://www.insider.com/meet-isidor-and-ida-straus-the-old-couple-in-titanic-2023-4#in-a-deleted-scene-the-woman-tells-her-husband-that-she-wont-get-on-a-lifeboat-without-him-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Insider. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Titanic - Nearer My God To Thee" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_RcVzevWX4U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
According to Coast Guard estimates, the OceanGate submersible will run out of oxygen Thursday morning as an international search continues for the vessel that went missing on June 19. 
A Canadian airplane picked up the “underwater noises” on Tuesday, resulting in the search team focusing their operation on the area where the sounds came from, according to U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick. There are five “surface assets” and two remotely operated vehicles searching for the submersible, the Titan. Five more assets are expected to join the search, Frederick said, according to the Times. Authorities are also using airplanes and sonar buoys to look for the missing sub.

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