Love it or hate it, Titanic has gone down in Hollywood history. The film is one of the highest-grossing of all time, was one of the costliest to make, and still has people talking more than 25 years later. It turned out to be an especially good financial decision for James Cameron, who majorly added to his net worth after making the movie.
As well as making the news for its cinematic brilliance and emotional storytelling, Titanic also created headlines for some of the things that took place behind the scenes. Kate Winslet flashed Leonardo DiCaprio on the first day of shooting and James Cameron had a secret cameo. But there was another incident that had people talking.
Before filming wrapped, 50 crew members, including James Cameron, were rushed to hospital after one fateful night. Read on to find out what happened.
The Filming Of ‘Titanic’
Titanic is one of the most popular and highest-grossing movies in cinematic history. The 1997 James Cameron flick has grossed more than $2.18 billion at the box office and through VHS and DVD sales.
The film also had one of the highest budgets in movie history and didn’t hold back on anything (though some would argue that filming in Mexico to secure lower labor costs was skimping a little).
The model of the ship alone cost $7.5 million to build, which is the equivalent of around $150 million in 1997 currency. Altogether, the movie cost around $200 million to produce, which is more than what it cost to build the actual Titanic.
With such a big budget, the film was already making headlines before it was released. In August 1997, when the film was shooting in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, an incident occurred that made waves around the world.
The Incident On August 9, 1996
On August 9, while Titanic was in production, 50 crew members, including director James Cameron, took a break in filming to enjoy a midnight buffet of shellfish and other seafood. Not long after, they were all rushed to the nearest hospital.
At the time, it was suspected that they were all suffering from food poisoning. But analysis from the doctors at the hospital pointed to a different culprit.
What Really Happened To The Crew Members?
Upon looking closely at the patients admitted, it was confirmed that the Titanic crew members weren’t suffering from food poisoning. They had been drugged. The lobster chowder that was served had been laced with phencyclidine, more commonly known as angel dust or PCP.
“I didn’t have any experience with drugs,” one crew member, Marilyn McAvoy, revealed. “But [others] were saying it was like the beginning of an acid trip.”
Bill Paxton Was Hospitalized Too
Actor Bill Paxton, who played the role of Brock Lovett, was also hospitalized after being drugged. According to Entertainment Weekly, the late actor had originally planned to dine on Italian food in his trailer. But at the last minute, he decided to eat lobster chowder with Cameron.
“One minute I felt okay,” he recalled (via Entertainment Weekly) “the next minute I felt so god**** anxious I wanted to breathe in a paper bag. Cameron was feeling the same way.” Paxton described the scene as chaotic, revealing that people were laughing, crying, and throwing up within 15 minutes of eating the chowder.
No One Knows Who Laced The Chowder
To this day, no one knows for sure who laced the chowder and sent 50 crew members to the hospital. Although the Halifax Police Department investigated the case thoroughly, a confirmed culprit was never found.
Vanity Fair reports that James Cameron has never officially named a suspect, but he believes that he knows who was responsible for the spiking of the chowder: a disgruntled former crew member.
“We had fired a crew member the day before because they were creating trouble with the caterers,” Cameron explained. “So we believe the poisoning was this idiot’s plan to get back at the caterers, whom of course we promptly fired the next day. So it worked.”
Kate Winslet Wasn’t Drugged, But She Did Get Pneumonia
Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, the stars of the film, did not participate in the buffet, but Winslet did experience some health issues of her own while on set.
Cameron did use freezing cold water in some scenes, so he offered the actors the chance to wear wetsuits under their period clothes to make them more comfortable. It’s been reported that all the actors agreed to wear a wetsuit except Winslet.
In the scene where Rose searches for Jack in the submerged lower decks, her gasp when she gets into the cold water is genuine. After filming those scenes, Winslet came down with pneumonia.
