1997’s box office and Oscar behemoth Titanic is coming back to Netflix next month…Because what better way to acknowledge the death of five people than to watch Leonardo DiCaprio draw Kate Winslet like one of his French girls?
Titanic will return to Netflix on July 1st, less than two weeks after it was officially announced that Titan, a submersible that was visiting the wreck of the RMS Titanic, had imploded not long after departing.
But Titanic resurfacing on Netflix is just the most recent questionable moment surrounding the Titan tragedy. Last week, director James Cameron commented on the story. And while he does have genuine expertise in the field, he came off pompous to many, stating in part, “As a submersible designer myself, I designed and built us up to go to the deepest place in the ocean three times deeper than Titanic” and that he “spent more time on the [Titanic] than the captain did back in the day.” YouTube star MrBeast later claimed that he was invited on the journey but turned it down, although has been criticized for not providing ample evidence to support this.
To Netflix’s credit, Titanic was set to return to the streaming service well before the events surrounding Titan. So, no, this isn’t really a cheap, shameful cash-in, although the timing does lend itself to skepticism and has caused many to leap to conclusions. In a similar vein, Netflix will also be releasing the documentary The Deepest Breath, about freediver Alessia Zecchini. The below tweet from June 20th, as the search for the submersible was underway, was considered to be poorly timed as well.
Titanic will undoubtedly be a hit when it returns to Netflix later this week. To date, the film has stowed away over $2.2 billion worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing movies ever. It is one of just three films to win 11 Academy Awards; it was nominated for 14, another record it tied.
Do you think Netflix should delay bringing Titanic back to the streaming service? Or should subscribers recognize it’s just a coincidence and nothing more? Give us your take in the comments section below.