{"id":980577,"date":"2025-10-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denofgeek.com\/?p=980577"},"modified":"2025-10-15T09:29:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:29:01","slug":"hollywood-doubted-titanic-kurt-russell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.denofgeek.com\/movies\/hollywood-doubted-titanic-kurt-russell\/","title":{"rendered":"When Hollywood Doubted Titanic, Kurt Russell Made Everyone Believe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The late Jon Landau’s memoir is set to be published next month, and excerpts from the book are already providing us with gems from the legendary producer’s life and career, including several fascinating recollections about making the blockbuster Titanic<\/em> with its director, James Cameron<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The success of the film upon its release in 1997 and beyond might make it seem like it was always a safe bet, but behind the scenes, studio executives and press rumors painted a grim picture, with many expecting Titanic<\/em> to flop. Landau (via THR<\/em><\/a>) writes that, especially when the movie was in postproduction, “the press continued to hound,” noting that “reporters would infiltrate and ingratiate in search of scoops. Rumors spiraled. Articles reported we\u2019d spent $200 million. Others speculated we\u2019d spent even more. They compared Titanic<\/em>, still months away from release, to Ishtar<\/em>, Waterworld<\/em>, and Cleopatra<\/em>, the most notorious flops in Hollywood history.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internally, Paramount executives were also worried that audiences wouldn\u2019t embrace a sweeping historical romance mixed with disaster elements. It was in this pressure cooker environment that Titanic<\/em>\u2019s promotional strategy became a sticking point with the studio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than go with a conventional teaser, Cameron and Landau wanted to push out a riskier promo, one that would show audiences the epic nature of what they could expect from Titanic<\/a><\/em>. This involved creating a trailer that was over four minutes long and prioritized characters and conflicts over fast-cut action beats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conflict, the studio cobbled together its own teaser for the movie, which Landau and co. called “the John Woo trailer”, adding, “It was all flash cuts and pounding music, gunshots, and screams. It made the movie look like an action flick that happened to take place on the Titanic.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landau recalls (via Variety<\/em><\/a>) that at first they tried reasoning with Paramount over the trailer disagreement, then “screaming” at them, until the studio’s CEO, Sherry Lansing, nixed the decision from her distribution department and allowed Titanic<\/em>\u2019s longer trailer to be shown at ShoWest that year. Landau remembers sitting at the Paramount table with “some of their top executives and biggest names”, which included none other than Kurt Russell, who was the star of the studio’s forthcoming action thriller, Breakdown<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\r\n\n\t\t