In the 25 years since Titanic landed in theaters, one of the most pedantic debates about the film that still haunts director James Cameron comes from fans claiming Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack could have survived the film if Kate Winslet’s Rose had attempted to share the floating piece of debris in the freezing Atlantic waters, with Cameron now conceding that there’s at least one scenario where Jack potentially could have survived. In the new specialย Titanic: 25 Years Later With James Cameron, Cameron explores a variety of scenarios that weren’t featured in the film, and the director confirmed that had Rose given Jack her lifejacket to help insulate him, he possibly could have survived, but there are “a lot of variables.”ย Titanic: 25 Years Later With James Cameron airs on National Geographic on February 4th.
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Fans initially claimed that the piece of debris Rose floated on had room for Jack to also fit on it, though the special confirms that, thanks to testing with the help of stunt performers, the piece of wood might have been big enough but wouldn’t have enough buoyancy to support the both of them to keep them out of the freezing water.ย
A second test saw the stunt people being able to keep just their upper halves out of the water, which would have kept their vital organs warmer, and while they could have survived for hours, it’s unknown if that could have taken them to rescue. However, taking into account the physically exhausting journey the pair experienced to get to that point, it seems unlikely they would have the physical endurance to maintain their strength long enough.
The final test saw Rose give Jack her lifejacket, and with her having on a heavier outfit, it’s possible that the pair might have both survived the situation.
“He’s stabilized,” Cameron shared in a clip from the upcoming special. “He got into a place where if we projected that out, he just might’ve made it until the lifeboat got there. Jack might’ve lived, but there’s a lot of variables. I think his thought process was, ‘I’m not going to do one thing that jeopardized her,’ and that’s 100 percent in character.”
Titanic: 25 Years Later With James Cameronย airs on National Geographic on February 4th.
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