Rose’s Iconic Titanic Door Tops Hollywood Auction With Highest Bid

James Cameron’s Titanic participated in a recent Hollywood auction after one of the film’s most controversial props fetched the highest bid against other iconic memorabilia.
An auction of iconic Hollywood memorabilia just sold off coveted props from films like Indiana Jones, Spider-Man 3, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Film buffs might bet that the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade would be the top-seller or even the stone tablets Charlton Heston broke in the Ten Commandments. Deadline reports otherwise, though, confirming the prop door that saved Rose in James Cameron’s Titanic fetched the auction’s highest bid. The iconic prop was sold for $718,750, outperforming Indiana Jones’ bullwhip (from Temple of Doom), which sold for $525,000.

Heritage Auctions hosted “The Treasures of Planet Hollywood” which featured coveted movie memorabilia. All of the items put up for bids were actual costumes and props used in iconic films like The Silence of the Lambs, A Few Good Men, and Misery. The auction website still accepts bids for many items, such as the ax Jack Nicholson used to terrorize Shelley Duvall in The Shining. The auction offered a cross-section of popular film franchises, but many items were also from Titanic, such as the entrance doors to the ship’s dining room, dinnerware pieces, the ship’s helm wheel, and Rose’s chiffon dress. Notably absent was the prop used for Rose’s “Heart of the Ocean” necklace.

Jack’s Fate in Titanic is Hotly Debated

The Titanic door is a continuing subject of debate. Towards the film’s end, Jack and Rose manage to swim away from the sinking ship and struggle to climb aboard a door floating amidst debris. In one of the movie’s emotional scenes, Jack (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) sacrifices himself so Rose (Kate Winslet) can live. Fans have since argued Jack could have survived that scene since the door had extra space to accommodate him (Jack and Rose did board the debris for a brief moment). Many assumed Jack was allowed to perish for a more compelling (or cathartic) ending. This contention was such a hot topic that director James Cameron attempted to address the issue in a documentary.

Titanic set the bar higher for Hollywood blockbusters when it was released, earning $1.84 billion in its initial run at the worldwide box office. It was the first film to surpass the billion-dollar mark, and was the highest-grossing film until Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water overtook it. Titanic cemented DiCaprio and Winslet’s reputations as two of Hollywood’s most bankable actors.