Titanic is a 1997 disaster film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It features Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ill-fated 1912 maiden voyage of the ship. The main characters and the central love story are fictional, but some supporting characters (such as members of the ship's crew) are based on real historical figures. Gloria Stuart plays the elderly Rose, who narrates the film in a modern day framing device.

Production of the film began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the real wreck of the RMS Titanic. He envisioned the love story as a means to engage the audience with the real-life tragedy. Shooting took place at the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh for the modern scenes, and a reconstruction of the ship was built at Playas de Rosarito, Baja California. Cameron also used scale models and computer-generated imagery to recreate the sinking of the ship. Titanic became at the time the most expensive film ever made, costing approximately US$200 million with funding from Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox.

Originally slated to be released on July 2, 1997, post-production delays pushed back the film's release date to December 19, 1997. After word broke out that Titanic's release date was pushed back, the press believed that Titanic would fail and cause the downfall of Fox and Paramount. Despite low expectations, the film was both a major critical and commercial success, winning eleven Academy Awards including Best Picture and becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, with a total worldwide gross of approximately $1.8 billion (it is the sixth-highest grossing in North America once adjusted for inflation).

Cast
* Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson: A penniless artist who travels the world, Jack wins tickets to the RMS Titanic in a card game. He is attracted to Rose's beauty and convinces her out of an attempted suicide. This heroic act enables him to mix with the first-class passengers for a night. He in turn shows her a carefree way of life which she had dreamed of but never had the courage to experience firsthand. Billy Crudup and Stephen Dorff were considered for the role of Jack.
* Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater: A first-class socialite, seventeen-year-old Rose is forced to become engaged to Caledon Hockley so she and her mother can maintain their high status after the death of her father. Feeling trapped, Rose becomes suicidal, but she soon discovers a completely new lease on life when she meets Jack Dawson.
* Billy Zane as Caledon "Cal" Nathan Hockley: The heir to an enormous steel fortune and the quintessential arrogant and snobbish first-class man. Rose's fiancé Cal becomes increasingly embarrassed, jealous, and cruel over Rose's relationship with Jack. He gives Rose the famous "Heart of the Ocean" diamond as a reminder of his feelings for her, and then asks her to "open her heart to him."
* Frances Fisher as Ruth DeWitt Bukater: Rose's widowed mother, who is marrying her off to ensure their high-class status. She loves her daughter but believes marriage to Cal is the right thing to do.
* Danny Nucci as Fabrizio De Rossi: Jack's Italian best friend who comes aboard the RMS Titanic after winning a poker game. Fabrizio is killed during the sinking when one of the ship's funnels collapses and crushes him while he tries to swim away.
* Jason Barry as Tommy Ryan: An Irish third-class passenger who befriends Jack and Fabrizio. He also makes a comment to Jack about his unlikely chance to get next to Rose. Tommy is shot dead by First Officer Murdoch after being pushed and mistaken for attempting to rush into a lifeboat.
* David Warner as Spicer Lovejoy: An ex-Pinkerton constable, Lovejoy is Cal's English valet and bodyguard, who keeps an eye on Rose and is suspicious of the circumstances of Jack's rescue of her.
* Bill Paxton as Brock Lovett: A treasure hunter looking for the "Heart of the Ocean" in the wreck of the RMS Titanic in the present.
* Gloria Stuart plays the 101-year-old Rose Calvert: She comes to give Lovett information regarding the "Heart of the Ocean", after he discovers a nude drawing of her in the wreck of the RMS Titanic. She narrates the story of her time aboard the ship, mentioning Jack for the first time since.
* Suzy Amis as Lizzy Calvert: Rose's granddaughter, who takes care of her, and accompanies her to the ship on her visit to Lovett.
* Lewis Abernathy as Lewis Bodine: Lovett's friend, who expresses doubt at first whether the elderly Rose is telling the truth.