Moment star almost died on the set of Titanic

The producer of Titanic film has let slip about the terrifying moment one of the stars nearly died while filming.

The moment a star almost died on the set of Titanic has been revealed. Picture: Supplied

Titanic producer Jon Landau has let slip that director James Cameron nearly came to a watery end while filming the 1997 epic.

It came during a moment the star director chose to be the camera person for a pivotal scene that needed to be captured in one take.

“One of the last scenes we shot was Captain Smith on the bridge where the water implodes and we had to put a cameraman in there,” said Landau during an interview with new.com.au. “It was probably the most dangerous stunt we did, because the water was rushing in; if you get knocked, your mask could snap off, all those things.

“Jim [James Cameron] decides to be that cameraman. Jim went in – it is one take, we only get one shot at this, and we shoot it, the windows implode and now you’re waiting for the water to clear to see if everybody’s OK. Is the stuntman OK? Is Jim okay? And waiting for that signal that they were all OK was terrifying. Then, phew.”

James Cameron on the set of Titanic. Picture: Supplied

Actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in a scene from the film. Picture: Supplied

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio during one of the water scenes. Picture: Supplied

Thankfully, Cameron lived to tell the tale and Titanic went one to win 11 Academy Awards, and he an Landau have gone on to direct and produce a succession of blockbusters.

Landau was talking during the promotion of a new video game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, based on the popular Avatar films, also directed by Cameron and produced by Landau.

Their success is also worthy of a Hollywood film script.

When Titanic was being made, everyone in Hollywood assumed it was going to fail. A Hollywood trade had a countdown to the “inevitable disaster”. So, legend has it that when Titanic won the Academy Award, Landau then brought the statue to every meeting and meal he had the next day, plonking it on the middle of the table.

When asked what knowledge Landau gained from that experience, the advice was solid.

“What I learnt from the trials and tribulations of a tremendous success like Titanic is that you need to believe. You can never lose belief. Jim said everybody was betting against us and we had to work hard to prove them wrong, and I think that is what I learnt,” said Landau.

“When we went into Avatar, it was like OK, now everybody is betting on us, we have to work even harder to prove them right. But it’s about believing and it starts from the script. If you don’t have a script you believe in from the bottom of your heart, you have no business going into production.”

A scene from the 2009 film Avatar, produced by Jon Landau and directed by James Cameron.

In fact, Landau believes in Avatar so much, he and Cameron think that the planned five movies might not be enough.

“That’s like asking how big things can get for Earth. Pandora is a big moon and Avatar has a lot of stories to tell, and a lot of characters that people will want to follow,” said Landau.

But, for Landau the challenge is to make sure the team delivers quality as well as quantity.

“I think we have a lot of stories to tell and it’s really unlimited, but we’ve got to deliver quality. If we go out there, it’s not about being ubiquitous. It’s about having the right things,” he said.

At the moment the plan is the five movies, the massive new game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and then continuing to grow the universe in those mediums, potentially even crossing over into other games like Fortnite.

“Right now we’re committed to five films, but Jim and I have talked about other ones we think are ripe for the development. I think that [video game companies] Ubisoft and Massive are perfectly set up to continue to roll out expansions of Pandora,” said Landau.

“I can easily see us doing a mobile game. I can see us piggybacking on some of the other great IPs that are out there in the gaming world that take in other elements and doing that. We will never have a shortage of stories to tell.”

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a video game based on the Avatar movies. Picture: Supplied

However, those who thought the wait between the first Avatar movie and the second (13 years) was a bit long can rest assured that it’ll be a faster turnaround for movies three to five, but perhaps a longer wait for six and beyond.

Cameron and Landau waited for the scripts of movies two to five to be completed before starting to shoot the third movie, and this game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, took eight years to develop.

“We don’t do things overnight. It takes a long time to get the quality of this video game. It takes a long time to get the quality of the Avatar films. We’re in no rush,” he said.

Part of the reason why Lightstorm Entertainment, the company that makes the films, projects take so long is because of the attention to detail and use of physical props, rather than an over-reliance on CGI to do all the work.

A scene from 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water. Picture: 20th Century Studios

The attention to detail and research for one project never just stays on that project, either.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, production designer Dylan Cole revealed the Easter eggs from other projects that ended up in Avatar. For example, the mouth of the thanator character looks surprisingly like the one of the alien from Aliens.

“In the script in the first movie, the thanator was a badass hybrid like the Alien Queen meets a panther. It is a James Cameron film, and he has certain tastes. There was certainly no directive, but the man likes what the man likes,” said Cole.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a video game that’s out December 7. Picture: Supplied

The other imagery Cameron likes to return to is perhaps a little more obvious.

“I mean, look, the end of Avatar 2 is like a water disaster movie – a capsizing ship, nearly drowning in air pockets – it might remind you of some other movies James has made,” said Cole.

“Besides obviously Titanic of course, there’s The Abyss. I would say there is some DNA from some of the creatures from the Abyss in the film as well, like what we did with some of the underwater creatures in The Way Of Water.

“And Jim will admit that. He isn’t embarrassed by it. He says ‘I’ve got 10 things guys, we are just remixing them and doing them in a way that works well’. He knows how to do it in a way that feels fresh every time.”

Unfortunately, both Cole and Landau were coy about which Easter eggs from previous films had made it into the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game, merely saying that fans will have to play it to find out.

Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is in stores December 7.

Alice Clarke travelled to LA as a guest of Ubisoft.