‘Beyond distasteful’: Netflix SLAMMED for plans to bring back Titanic after OceanGate tragedy … but insiders say streamer had worked out deal months ago
Netflix has been ripped by a number of fans amid news that it will be streaming the 1997 James Cameron blockbuster Titanic on its platform beginning July 1.
People questioned the timing of the film’s arrival, as it comes in the wake of the recent tragedy in which five people died in the OceanGate Titan submersible on a mission to explore the remains of the ill-fated ship in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
‘Netflix is overstepping the boundaries of decency on this timing,’ one fan wrote. ‘People died in a tragic accident [at] the Titanic site and now to capitalize on the moment to garner viewers is beyond distasteful.’
Others had similar takes on the situation, saying that it’s ‘CRAZY shameless’ to promote the film as ‘the timing is so wrong;’ and that the streamer ‘saw the opportunity and wasted no time.’
Said one fan: ‘Nah this is insane they really tryna make a bag off 5 people dying,’ while another summed it up: ‘This is business.’
The latest: Netflix has been ripped by a number of fans amid news that it will be streaming the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, on its platform beginning July 1, following the OceanGate Titan tragedy
‘Netflix is overstepping the boundaries of decency on this timing,’ one fan wrote of the service, while another said, ‘This is business’
Killed in the implosion were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The news comes as Cameron – the director of the Kate Winslet-Leonardo DiCaprio film – has been prominently featured in media as an ocean exploration expert who has been critical of the structure of the submersible vessel, and how authorities relayed the news to the public.
Insiders told Variety Monday that the return of the film to the service following the OceanGate tragedy is completely coincidental.
Sources told the outlet that licensing arrangements are worked out months ahead of time, and that the film had been scheduled to hit the platform long before the Titan submersible began making headlines.
The latest news circulating around the streamer comes as an international group of agencies investigate the fate of the Titan submersible, with U.S. maritime officials saying they’ll issue a report aimed at improving the safety of submersibles worldwide.
Investigators from the U.S., Canada, France and the United Kingdom are working closely together on the probe of the June 18 accident, which happened in an ‘unforgiving and difficult-to-access region’ of the North Atlantic, said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, of the Coast Guard First District.
Salvage operations from the sea floor are ongoing, and the accident site has been mapped, Coast Guard chief investigator Capt. Jason Neubauer said Sunday. He did not give a timeline for the investigation.
Neubauer said the final report will be issued to the International Maritime Organization.
People questioned the timing of the film’s arrival, as it comes in the wake of the recent tragedy in which five people died in the OceanGate Titan submersible on a mission to explore the remains of the ill-fated ship in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean
This image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company’s Titan submersible. The wrecks of the Titanic and the Titan sit on the ocean floor, separated by 1,600 feet and 111 years of history
The film’s director James Cameron has been prominently featured in media as an ocean exploration expert who has been critical of the structure of the submersible vessel, and how authorities relayed the news to the public
‘My primary goal is to prevent a similar occurrence by making the necessary recommendations to advance the safety of the maritime domain worldwide,’ Neubauer said.
Evidence is being collected in the port of St. John´s, Newfoundland, in coordination with Canadian authorities.
All five people on board the Titan were killed. Debris from the vessel was located about 12,500 feet underwater and roughly 1,600 feet from the Titanic on the ocean floor, the Coast Guard said last week.
One of the experts whom the Coast Guard has been consulting said Monday that he doesn´t believe there is any more evidence to find.
‘It is my professional opinion that all the debris is located in a very small area and that all debris has been found,’ said Carl Hartsfield, a retired Navy captain and submarine officer who now directs a lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that designs and operates autonomous underwater vehicles.
The search is taking place in a complex ocean environment where the Gulf Stream meets the Labrador Current, an area where challenging and hard-to-predict ocean currents can make controlling an underwater vehicle more difficult, said Donald Murphy, an oceanographer who served as chief scientist of the Coast Guard´s International Ice Patrol.
Hartsfield, however, said based on the data he’s reviewed and the performance of the remote vehicles so far, he doesn’t expect currents to be a problem. Also working in the searchers’ favor, he said, is that the debris is located in a compact area and the ocean bottom where they are searching is smooth and not near any of the Titanic debris.
Components of a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, or FADOSS, rest on the deck of a vessel in this photo provided by the U.S. Navy Office of Information
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District (R), speaks to members of the media as Capt. Jason Neubauer, chief investigator, U.S. Coast, looks on during a news conference Sunday at Coast Guard Base Boston
Authorities are still trying to sort out what agency or agencies are responsible for determining the cause of the tragedy, which happened in international waters.
OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the Titan, is based in the U.S. but the submersible was registered in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, the Titan´s mother ship, the Polar Prince, was from Canada, and those killed were from England, Pakistan, France, and the U.S.
A key part of any investigation is likely to be the Titan itself . The vessel was not registered either with the U.S. or with international agencies that regulate safety. And it wasn’t classified by a maritime industry group that sets standards on matters such as hull construction.
The investigation is also complicated by the fact that the world of deep-sea exploration is not well-regulated. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was piloting the Titan when it imploded, had complained that regulations can stifle progress.
Will Kohnen, chairman of the manned undersea vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society, said Monday that he is hopeful the investigation will spur reforms.
He noted that many Coast Guards, including in the U.S., have regulations for tourist submersibles but none cover the depths the Titan was aiming to reach. The International Maritime Organization, the U.N.’s maritime agency, has similar rules for tourist submersibles in international waters. The Marine Technology Society is an international group of ocean engineers, technologists, policy makers, and educators.
‘It´s just a matter of sitting everyone at the table and hashing it out,’ Kohnen said of amending rules to require submersibles to be certified and inspected, provide emergency and plans, and carry life support systems.
If it chooses to do so, the Coast Guard can make recommendations to prosecutors to pursue civil or criminal sanctions in the Titan explosion. Questions about the submersible’s safety were raised both by a former company employee and former passengers. Others have asked why the Polar Prince waited several hours after the vessel lost communications to contact rescue officials.
The Titan launched at 8 a.m. June 18 and was reported overdue that afternoon about 435 miles south of St. John’s. Rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to the area. Any sliver of hope that remained for finding the crew alive was wiped away early Thursday, when the Coast Guard announced debris had been found near the Titanic.
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