AHC: Titanic (1997) not as huge

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
With the latest possible PoD (preferably nothing before 1996, or 1995 at the latest), how can the James Cameron film Titanic not go on to become the highest grossing film ever made? Can be a different reception, different film, or it just doesn't get made...
 

APreston

Have Cameron play for more of a documentary aspect as opposed to the romantic drama with a dash of historical accuracy. Faithful historical documentaries don't usually do well in the box office, in my experience. Also, have Robert Ballard/the crew of the Keldysh not work with him so that the epic shots of the wreck don't happen. If I remember correctly, most of the world had never seen good photos of the wreck of the Titanic at that point, so Cameron CGIing it is less likely.
 

Admiral Ackbar

One idea off the top of my head is have it released in the summer as it was originally supposed to, but was ultimately delayed because of post-production problems. With the stronger competition it wouldn't be able to earn as much. It also wouldn't have the awards season and yearly top 10 lists to help hype it.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
Admiral Ackbar said:
One idea off the top of my head is have it released in the summer as it was originally supposed to, but was ultimately delayed because of post-production problems. With the stronger competition it wouldn't be able to earn as much. It also wouldn't have the awards season and yearly top 10 lists to help hype it.
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That... actually seems to work. :eek:
 
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John Fredrick Parker

Donor
OK then, let's look to effects -- if Titanic does only 2/3 as well as OTL, that would mean that if The Phantom Menace performs the same, it would become the highest grossing film of all time. So that the first film to outsell Star Wars, after over 20 years, is... Star Wars. That would make for some interesting butterflies...
 

Hörnla

John Fredrick Parker said:
So that the first film to outsell Star Wars, after over 20 years, is... Star Wars. That would make for some interesting butterflies...
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You mean - people might actually convince themselves that Episode I did not suck? :eek:

Seriously, the way sci-fi-blockbusters and/or SFX-extravaganzas (which means Titanic, too) perform at the box-office, I do not see a potential for even more of them. And Titanic still earning more than a billion (instead of nearly 2) wouldn't discourage other "historical" pieces of that scale, so I assume Gladiator or Pirates of the Carribean would still be made.
 

thekingsguard

John Fredrick Parker said:
OK then, let's look to effects -- if Titanic does only 2/3 as well as OTL, that would mean that if The Phantom Menace performs the same, it would become the highest grossing film of all time. So that the first film to outsell Star Wars, after over 20 years, is... Star Wars. That would make for some interesting butterflies...
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Actually, it would be dethroned by Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2003, which seeing as a Titanic that flopped would likely ruin James Cameron and butterfly Avatar, will see LOTR hold that title for the forseeable future, as no Avatar means movies like Transformers Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter 8 won't break a billion dollars without the profit from 3D, which will likely also be a bust given that Avatar won't exist.

Not a bad world if I say so myself.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
thekingsguard said:
Actually, it would be dethroned by Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2003, which seeing as a Titanic that flopped would likely ruin James Cameron and butterfly Avatar, will see LOTR hold that title for the forseeable future, as no Avatar means movies like Transformers Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter 8 won't break a billion dollars without the profit from 3D, which will likely also be a bust given that Avatar won't exist.
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So Phantom Menace enjoys the title "biggest box office success" for no more than four years, when LOTR becomes the new super franchise? I like that :) Mind you, the OP doesn't require Titanic to bomb, just not do so over the top well... even half as good wouldn't ruin Cameron's career.
 

Hörnla

Right, I also figured this afternoon that Avatar might be butterflied - or done on a different scale. That is up to everyone's opinion, if a 66%-Titanic allows Cameron to create his visionary 3D-Smurf-movie.

So, if there is no Avatar, we might see some actually good James Cameron works during the 2000s.

However, the different question is whether a less financially successful Titanic still wins 11 Oscars. I would guess "yes".
 

Rubicon

Banned
John Fredrick Parker said:
OK then, let's look to effects -- if Titanic does only 2/3 as well as OTL, that would mean that if The Phantom Menace performs the same, it would become the highest grossing film of all time. So that the first film to outsell Star Wars, after over 20 years, is... Star Wars. That would make for some interesting butterflies...
Click to expand...

With adjustment for inflation, A New Hope is still the film with the highest box office score, even after Avatar.
 

thekingsguard

John Fredrick Parker said:
So Phantom Menace enjoys the title "biggest box office success" for no more than four years, when LOTR becomes the new super franchise? I like that :) Mind you, the OP doesn't require Titanic to bomb, just not do so over the top well... even half as good wouldn't ruin Cameron's career.
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To be fair, everone expected it to flop - including Cameron! Even if it doesn't, it will not win all of those Oscars. I've always been of the opinion that, aside from maybe Juno, Titanic is the most overrated film of my lifetime.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
Of the "how" ideas mentioned, I most like having post-production go as scheduled, allowing for a summer release. Any ideas for a 1996 to pin this down?
 

High Plains Drifter

John Fredrick Parker said:
With the latest possible PoD (preferably nothing before 1996, or 1995 at the latest), how can the James Cameron film Titanic not go on to become the highest grossing film ever made? Can be a different reception, different film, or it just doesn't get made...
Click to expand...

James Cameron gets a kooky idea based on all the Alternate History he reads from trolling the uunet boards and decides to film a Titanic with a twist which no one suspects, a Titanic where the ship doesn't sink.
 
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