Since 1997, fans have had a thing or two to say when it comes to the door that ultimately caused Jack in “Titanic” to die.
The film’s director, James Cameron, is addressing the controversial theory that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jack, could have survived by climbing onto Rose’s door in the middle of the freezing waters.
In the upcoming National Geographic documentary, “Titanic: 25 Years Later,” Cameron said that Jack and Rose (played by Kate Winslet) were not holding onto a door in the first place.
“A new investigation we’ve just done will settle this fan-based question about Jack and Rose and a piece of floating debris, which everyone calls a door,” Cameron revealed during a Television Critics Association panel on Friday, according to USA Today.
“It’s, technically, not a door,” he explained, before adding, “it’s a piece of wood paneling from the first-class cabin.”
The director said he will give the highly discussed fan-theory “a forensic investigation” in the upcoming documentary, which releases on Feb. 5.
The show will scientifically recreate exactly what Jack and Rose endured when the Titanic sank in the cold, Atlantic waters. Stunt doubles were chosen based on the similarities in body types to DiCaprio and Winslet.
According to a teaser for the documentary shared on Twitter, the stunt doubles were in 56-degree water instead of 28 degrees, so they “doubled the time for every stage” of the recreation, per Cameron.
“That actually plots out quite accurately, according to the algorithms,” Cameron said of testing the theory with this approach. “We weren’t trying to prove or disprove anything, we’re just trying to say, ‘If you do this, does it make it better?’”
He added, without revealing the results: “Across four tests, we came to some pretty hard and fast conclusions.”
“Titanic” will return to theaters for a remastered, re-release from Cameron in time for Valentine’s Day.
In December, Winslet discussed the door debacle and revealed if she believed Jack could have survived.
“I don’t f—ing know,” Winslet joked during her appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “That’s the answer, is I don’t f—ing know.”
Winslet was shown a clip of an interview “Titanic” co-star DiCaprio had done earlier while also on the podcast wherein he was asked the same question.
“I have no comment,” DiCaprio joked as actress Margot Robbie seconded the notion that the door debacle is, in fact, “the biggest controversy.”
“I actually don’t believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door,” Winslet said after giving the answer some thought. “I think that he could have fit, but it would have tipped, and it would not have been a sustainable idea.”
