James Cameron has denied rumours that he is working on a film about the implosion of the OceanGate Expeditions submersible that killed five people on board last month.
“I don’t respond to offensive rumours in the media usually, but I need to now,” the director wrote on Twitter over the weekend. “I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be.”
Cameron’s fervent response comes after The Sun published an anonymously-sourced story on Thursday claiming that the Oscar winner – who previously directed the 1997 hit film Titanic – was gearing up to helm a project about the fatal Titan voyage to view the Titanic’s wreckage.
The tabloid’s story said the information came from “insiders”.
One source was quoted as saying: “The Titan disaster is already being looked at as a major series for one of the world’s biggest streamers — and James is the first choice for director. It is a subject close to his heart.”
The source continued: “He told the story of the Titanic so compassionately it feels like a natural step for him to take this on. 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.”
The article also alleged that Cameron was preparing to tap several of Hollywood’s top stars, including Matt Damon, to join the series.
Cameron has made more than 30 dives to the wreckage of the Titanic and has become a deep-sea expert on the ill-fated vessel that collided with an iceberg on the night of 14 April, 1912.
The fact that the filmmaker appeared in an interview with ABC News to share his thoughts on OceanGate following the disaster further fuelled the rumours.
Cameron told ABC News last month: “Many people in the community were concerned about this sub and even wrote letters to the company saying that what they were doing was too experimental and what they were doing needed to be certified.”
Going on to compare the Titanic to the submersible, he added: “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 died as a result.
“It’s a very similar tragedy at the exact same site. It’s astonishing and really quite surreal.”
The people on OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible died when the vessel is believed to have imploded thousands of feet below the water while on a voyage to see the wreckage of the Titanic in the northern Atlantic.
The world was stunned after learning the sub had lost contact with the surface, kicking off widespread concern for the people aboard as the fate of the craft remained a mystery for days.
In a separate conversation with BBC News, Cameron admitted that he “felt in my bones” that a disaster was ahead for the Titan after it was announced that the vessel had vanished.
“For the sub’s electronics to fail, and its communication system to fail, and its tracking transponder to fail simultaneously — sub’s gone,” he said, adding that it “felt like a prolonged and nightmarish charade where people are running around talking about banging noises and talking about oxygen and all this other stuff”.
“I knew that sub was sitting exactly underneath its last known depth and position. That’s exactly where they found it,” he said.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced all five people’s deaths, including OceanGate Expeditions’ CEO, Stockton Rush, who was operating the sub, on 22 June after fragments of the submersible were discovered.
OceanGate has since announced it has suspended all explorations.