A movie about the Titan submersible tragedy is in the works

Since 1912, the world has been horrified yet fascinated by the sinking of the RMS Titanic, a British ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage. Out of the 2,224 passengers aboard, 1,500 died in the sinking, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters to ever occur during peacetime. 

Numerous expeditions tried and failed to locate the wreck of the Titanic until it was finally found in 1985. Sitting upright on the ocean floor, with its iconic bow still recognizable, the Titanic wreck site has been an ongoing source of interest and has been visited by many research and tourist expeditions - including one by the Titan submersible, which imploded near the wreck in June. 

The Titan submersible disaster was a tragedy that captured the world’s attention much like that of Titanic itself. Titan, operated by OceanGate, was on its first dive to the Titanic wreck site when it lost contact with the surface, prompting a massive international search and rescue operation and constant news coverage of the incident. 

The search came to a tragic end when it was revealed that Titan had suffered a “catastrophic implosion”, instantly killing all five of its passengers. Debris from the Titan implosion was located near the bow of the Titanic. 

Where there are disasters, there are disaster films 

In 1997, James Cameron released the film Titanic, a fictionalized portrayal of the deadly sinking. The film was wildly successful with critics and audiences, and to this day remains one of the highest-grossing films of all time. 

It took 85 years for Titanic to get a feature film…but Titan might not have to wait so long. 

A film about the Titan incident is already in the works. It is currently titled ‘Salvaged’ and is set to be produced by E. Brian Dobbins and MindRiot Entertainment - a company also making a docuseries about Kyle Bingham, the former mission director of OceanGate. 

MindRiot’s Justin MacGregor and Jonathan Keasey will co-write the film. 

“The Titan tragedy is reminiscent of the space shuttle Challenger disaster of 1986: it’s a tragedy I’ll never forget,” said MacGregor.

According to Deadline, the film will cover periods before, during, and after the five-day tragedy.

“The Titan tragedy is yet another example of a misinformed and quick-to-pounce system, in this case, our nonstop, 24-7 media cycle that convicts and ruins the lives of so many people without any due process,” said Keasey.

“Our film will not only honor all those involved in the submersible tragedy, and their families, but the feature will serve as a vessel that also addresses a more macro concern about the nature of media today.” 

“Truth is all that matters,” Keasey added. “And the world has a right to know the truth, always, not the salacious bait crammed down our throats by those seeking their five minutes of fame. Life is not black and white. It’s complicated. There’s nuance. Always nuance.”

I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now. I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be.

— James Cameron (@JimCameron) July 15, 2023

It was initially rumored that James Cameron would direct a film about the Titan incident, but he quickly them down, tweeting that the reports were “offensive” and that he would never be involved.