James Cameron started developing the idea for "Titanic" in 1987.

James Cameron and his staff began diving expeditions to the RMS Titanic in September 1992.

To ensure secrecy, the working title for the movie was "Planet Ice" and, during the dive expeditions, the site of the RMS Titanic's remains was called the "prime site."

To film the wreckage, Jim Cameron used a special underwater camera designed by his brother, Mike Cameron.

Cameron was able to film only 12 minutes of the wreck footage.

The budget was originally approved for $120,000 but grew to $200,000, not including the Rosarito studio which cost $20,000 - $30,000.

Cast auditions began in March 1996.

Actors who auditioned for "Jack" - Chris O'Donnell, Matthew McConaughey, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff. The role was only offered to DiCaprio.

Actresses who auditioned for "Rose" - Gwyneth Paltrow, Claire Danes, Gabrielle Anwar. The role was only offered to Winslet. Actors who auditioned for "Cal" - Nicholas Lea (The X-files) . The role was first offered to Matthew McConaughey, who declined.

Actresses who auditioned for "Molly" - Reba McEntire. The role was first offered to Linda Hamilton, who declined. Cameron offered to pay part of Kathy Bates' requested salary when the studio refused her demand.

A total of seven model ships, from small to full-size, were constructed for filming.

The sinking shots featured a 1/20 scale full ship, a 1/6 scale forecastle and a 1/8 scale stern section (this model was predominately used for the sinking and splitting of the back half).

A 1/4 scale miniature was used for the the ship's final moments.

For long shots of the ship, model makers constructed a 45 foot copy of the Titanic. Construction began in May 1996 and took five months to complete.

The Rosarito set, intended to be temporary, included the world's largest open air tank and four indoor soundstages. Fox decided to make it a permanent set - the first built by a major studio since the 1930's. Now called Fox Studios-Baja, it sits on 40 acres and includes:
3 indoor soundstages
1 32,000 foot indoor wet stage with a 5 million-gallon tank 1
six-acre, 17 million gallon outdoor tank
production offices
construction shops
dressing rooms

August 10, 1996 was the groundbreaking ceremony for the Rosarito set. Attendees included Arnold Schwartzenager and Tom Arnold, both friends and former co-workers of Cameron.

The full-sized ship model used for filming was built 90% to scale (775 feet) and was constructed from the original RMS Titanic plans.

The carpets and the lifeboat davits for the full-sized model were made by the same companies, from the same plans, that made the RMS Titanic originals.

Cast rehearsals were held for one week in Los Angeles and one week in Rosarito prior to filming, which began 9/18/96.