Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Titanic
alt	The film poster shows a man and a woman hugging over a picture of the Titanic's bow. In the background is a partly cloudy sky and at the top are the names of the two lead actors. The middle has the film's name and tagline, and the bottom contains a list of the director's previous works, as well as the film's credits, rating, and release date.
director	James Cameron
producer
writer	James Cameron
starring
music	James Horner
cinematography	Russell Carpenter
editing
studio	|Paramount Pictures|Lightstorm Entertainment}}

| distributor = Paramount Pictures 20th Century Fox | released = | runtime = 194 minutes | country = | language = English | budget = $200 million

Upon its release on December 19, 1997, the film achieved critical and commercial success. It equaled records with fourteen Academy Award nominations and eleven Oscar wins, receiving the prizes for Best Picture and Best Director. With a worldwide gross of over $1.8 billion, it was the first film to reach the billion dollar mark, remaining the highest-grossing film of all time for twelve years, until Cameron's next directorial effort, ''Avatar'', surpassed it in 2010. ''Titanic'' is also ranked as the sixth best epic film of all time in AFI's 10 Top 10 by the American Film Institute. The film is due for theatrical re-release on April 6, 2012 after Cameron completes its conversion into 3-D.

Plot

In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett and his team explore the wreck of the RMS ''Titanic'', searching for a necklace called the Heart of the Ocean. They believe the necklace is in Caledon "Cal" Hockley's safe, which they recover. Instead of the diamond, they find a sketch of a nude woman wearing it, dated April 14, 1912, the night the ''Titanic'' hit the iceberg. Rose Dawson Calvert learns of the drawing, contacts Lovett, and tells him that she is the woman depicted. She and her granddaughter Elizabeth "Lizzy" Calvert visit Lovett and his team on his salvage ship. When asked if she knows the whereabouts of the necklace, Rose recalls her memories aboard the ''Titanic'', revealing that she is Rose DeWitt Bukater, a passenger believed to have died in the sinking.

In 1912, 17-year-old first class passenger Rose boards the ship in Southampton, England with her fiancé Cal, the son of a Pittsburgh steel tycoon, and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater. Ruth stresses the importance of Rose's engagement, because the marriage to Cal will solve the DeWitt Bukaters' hidden financial problems. Distraught by her engagement to Cal and the pressure her mother is putting on her, Rose considers suicide by jumping off the stern of the ship. Before she leaps, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson intervenes and persuades her not to jump. When discovered with Jack on the stern, Rose lies to Cal and says that she was looking over the edge of the ship in curiosity, tripped by accident, and that Jack saved her. At Rose's insistence, Cal invites Jack to dinner the following night to show his appreciation.

By the next day, Jack and Rose have developed a tentative friendship, though Cal and Ruth remain wary of the young third-class man. Following the first-class dinner that night, Rose secretly joins Jack at a third-class party.

Cal and Ruth forbid Rose to see Jack, and Rose attempts to comply by rebuffing Jack's continuing advances. She soon realizes that she prefers him to Cal, and meets him at the bow of the ship during what turns out to be the ''Titanic's'' final moments of daylight. They go to Rose's stateroom and she asks Jack to sketch her wearing nothing but the Heart of the Ocean, an engagement present from Cal. Afterward, the two flee Cal's bodyguard into the ship's cargo hold, where they make love. They then go to the ship's forward well deck, where they witness the ship's collision with an iceberg and overhear the ship's officers and designer discussing its seriousness. Rose tells Jack they should warn her mother and Cal.

Cal discovers Jack's drawing and a mocking note from Rose in his safe along with the necklace. Furious, he has his bodyguard slip the necklace into Jack's coat pocket, framing him for stealing it. Jack is arrested, taken down to the Master-at-arms's office and handcuffed to a pipe. Cal puts the necklace in his coat. Rose runs away from Cal and her mother (who has boarded a lifeboat) to find Jack, breaking him free with an axe.

Jack and Rose struggle back to the deck where Cal and Jack persuade her to board another lifeboat, Cal claiming that he has made an arrangement that will allow both men to get off safely. After she boards, Cal tells Jack that the arrangement is only for himself. As Rose's boat lowers, she realizes that she cannot leave Jack, and jumps back on board the ''Titanic'' to reunite with him. Infuriated, Cal takes a pistol and chases them into the flooding first-class dining saloon. After running out of ammunition, Cal realizes much to his chagrin that he gave his coat with the diamond to Rose. With the situation on board now dire, he returns to the boat deck and boards a lifeboat.

As Jack and Rose return to the top deck, the lifeboats have all departed and passengers are falling to their deaths as the stern rises out of the water. The ship breaks in half, and the stern side rises a full 90-degrees into the air. As it sinks slowly and completely, Jack and Rose ride the stern down into the ocean. Jack helps Rose onto a nearby wall panel that will only support one person’s weight. As he hangs onto the panel, he assures her that she will not die there and will instead die an old woman, warm in her bed. Meanwhile, Fifth Officer Harold Lowe has commandeered a lifeboat to return and search for survivors. When he arrives, he manages to save Rose, but Jack has died from hypothermia.

Rose and the other survivors are taken by the RMS ''Carpathia'' to New York, where Rose gives her name as Rose Dawson. She hides from Cal on ''Carpathia'''s deck as he searches for her, and she learns later that he committed suicide after losing his fortune in 1929.

Her story complete, Rose goes alone to the stern of Lovett's ship. There she takes out the Heart of the Ocean, which has in fact been in her possession all this time, and drops it into the ocean. While seemingly asleep in her bed, the photos on her dresser are a visual chronicle that she lived a free life inspired by Jack. The young Rose is then seen reuniting with Jack at the Grand Staircase of the ''Titanic'', cheered and congratulated by those who perished on the ship.

Cast

Fictional characters

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson: Cameron said he needed the cast to feel as though they were really on the ''Titanic'', relive its liveliness, and "to take that energy and give it to Jack, he's an artist who is able to have his heart soar". Within the film, Jack is portrayed as a penniless Wisconsin man who has toured various parts of the world, primarily Paris. He wins two tickets onto the RMS ''Titanic'' in a poker game and travels as a third-class passenger with his friend Fabrizio. He is attracted to Rose at first sight and meets her when she attempts to throw herself off the stern of the ship. This enables him to mix with the first-class passengers for a night. When casting the role, various established actors, including Matthew McConaughey, Chris O'Donnell, Billy Crudup and Stephen Dorff, were considered, but Cameron felt that a few of the actors were too old for the part of a 20-year-old. "Tom Cruise expressed an interest in [portraying] the character, though his superstar asking price was never taken seriously." DiCaprio, 22 years old at the time, was brought to Cameron's attention by casting director Mali Finn. Initially, he did not want to portray the character, and refused to read his first romantic scene on the set. Cameron said, "He read it once, then started goofing around, and I could never get him to focus on it again. But for one split second, a shaft of light came down from the heavens and lit up the forest." Cameron strongly believed in DiCaprio's acting ability, and told him, "Look, I'm not going to make this guy brooding and neurotic. I'm not going to give him a tic and a limp and all the things you want." Cameron rather envisioned the character as a James Stewart type. Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater/Dawson: Cameron said Winslet "had the thing that you look for" and that there was "a quality in her face, in her eyes," that he "just knew people would be ready to go the distance with her". Rose is a 17-year-old girl, originally from Philadelphia, who is forced into an engagement to 30-year-old Cal Hockley so she and her mother, Ruth, can maintain their high-class status after her father's death had left the family debt-ridden. Rose boards the RMS ''Titanic'' with Cal and Ruth, as a first-class passenger, and meets Jack. Winslet said of her character, "She has got a lot to give, and she's got a very open heart. And she wants to explore and adventure the world, but she [feels] that's not going to happen." Gwyneth Paltrow, Claire Danes, and Gabrielle Anwar had been considered for the role. When they turned it down, 22-year-old Winslet campaigned heavily for the role. She sent Cameron daily notes from England, which led Cameron to invite her to Hollywood for auditions. As with DiCaprio, casting director Mali Finn originally brought her to Cameron's attention. When looking for a Rose, Cameron described the character as "an Audrey Hepburn type" and was initially uncertain about casting Winslet even after her screen test impressed him. After she screen tested with DiCaprio, Winslet was so thoroughly impressed with him, that she whispered to Cameron, "He's great. Even if you don't pick me, pick him." Winslet sent Cameron a single rose with a card signed "From Your Rose" and lobbied him by phone. "You don't understand!" she pleaded one day when she reached him by mobile phone in his Humvee. "I am Rose! I don't know why you're even seeing anyone else!" Her persistence, as well as her talent, eventually convinced him to cast her in the role. Billy Zane as Caledon Nathan "Cal" Hockley: Cal is Rose's 30-year-old fiancé, and serves as the main antagonist of the film. He is arrogant and snobbish, and the heir to a steel fortune in Pittsburgh. He becomes increasingly embarrassed, jealous, and cruel about Rose's relationship with Jack. He later commits suicide after losing his fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The part was originally offered to Matthew McConaughey.

Frances Fisher as Ruth DeWitt Bukater: Rose's widowed mother, who arranges her daughter's engagement to Cal to maintain her family's high-society status. She loves her daughter but believes that social position is more important. She scorns Jack, even though he saved her daughter's life.

Gloria Stuart as Rose Dawson Calvert: Rose narrates the film in a modern-day framing device. Cameron stated, "In order to see the present and the past, I decided to create a fictional survivor who is [close to] 101 years, and she connects us in a way through history." The 100-year-old Rose gives Lovett information regarding the "Heart of the Ocean" after he discovers a nude drawing of her in the wreck. She tells the story of her time aboard the ship, mentioning Jack for the first time since the sinking. At 87, Stuart had to be made up to look older for the role. Of casting Stuart, Cameron stated, "My casting director found her. She was sent out on a mission to find retired actresses from the Golden Age of the thirties and forties." Cameron said that he did not know who Stuart was, and Fay Wray was also considered for the role. "But [Stuart] was just so into it, and so lucid, and had such a great spirit. And I saw the connection between her spirit and [Winslet's] spirit," stated Cameron. "I saw this joie de vivre in both of them, that I thought the audience would be able to make that cognitive leap that it's the same person." Winslet and Stuart stated their belief that the character dies at the end of the film, while Cameron states in his DVD commentary that he prefers to leave the viewer to form their own interpretation of the ending. Stuart died on September 26, 2010, at age 100, approximately the same age elder Rose was in the film.

Bill Paxton as Brock Lovett: A treasure hunter looking for the "Heart of the Ocean" in the wreck of the ''Titanic'' in the present. Time and funding for his expedition are running out. He later reflects at the film's conclusion that, despite thinking about ''Titanic'' for three years, he has never understood it until he hears Rose's story.

Lewis Abernathy as Lewis Bodine: Lovett's friend, who expresses doubt about whether the elderly Rose is telling the truth. He demonstrates to Rose, with little regard for sensitivity, how the ''Titanic'' sank with a computer simulation. When Rose finishes telling her story, he appears more sympathetic, solemnly informing her about the lack of records about Jack's existence.

Suzy Amis as Lizzy Calvert: Rose's granddaughter, who accompanies her when she visits Lovett on the ship.

Danny Nucci as Fabrizio De Rossi: Jack's Italian best friend, who boards the RMS ''Titanic'' with him after Jack wins two tickets in a poker game.

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 about the circumstances surrounding Jack's rescue of her.

Jason Barry as Thomas "Tommy" Ryan: An Irish third-class passenger who befriends Jack and Fabrizio.

Historical characters

Kathy Bates as Margaret "Molly" Brown: Brown is looked down on upon by other first-class women, including Ruth, as "vulgar" and "new money" due to her sudden wealth. She is friendly to Jack and lends him a dinner jacket (bought for her son) when he is invited to dinner in the first-class dining saloon. Although Brown was a real person, Cameron chose not to portray her real-life actions. Molly Brown was dubbed "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" by historians because she, with the support of other women, commandeered Lifeboat 6 from Quartermaster Hichens. Some aspects of this altercation are portrayed in Cameron's film.

Victor Garber as Thomas Andrews: The ship's builder, Andrews is portrayed as a very kind and pleasant man who is modest about his grand achievement. After the collision, he tries to convince the others, particularly Ismay, that it is a "mathematical certainty" that the ship will sink. He is depicted during the sinking of the ship as standing next to the clock in the first-class smoking room, lamenting his failure to build a strong and safe ship. It is unknown how the real Andrews died.

Bernard Hill as Captain Edward John Smith: Smith planned to make the ''Titanic'' his final voyage before retiring. He retreats into the bridge as the ship sinks, dying when water bursts through the windows whilst clinging to the ship's wheel. It is often disputed whether he died this way or later froze to death, as he was reported seen near the overturned Collapsible B.

Jonathan Hyde as Joseph Bruce Ismay: Ismay is portrayed as a rich, ignorant first-class man. In the film, he uses his position as White Star Line managing director to influence Captain Smith to go faster with the prospect of an earlier arrival in New York and favorable press attention. After the collision, he struggles to comprehend that his "unsinkable" ship is doomed, later sneaking on board a lifeboat to escape.

Eric Braeden as Colonel John Jacob Astor IV: A first-class passenger whom Rose calls the richest man on the ship. The film depicts Astor and his 18-year-old wife Madeleine as being introduced to Jack by Rose in the first-class dining saloon. During the introduction, Astor asks if Jack is connected to the 'Boston Dawsons', a question Jack neatly deflects by saying that he is instead affiliated with the Chippewa Falls Dawsons. Astor is last seen as the Grand Staircase glass dome implodes and water surges in. In reality, Astor died after being crushed when one of the ship's funnels collapsed. Madeleine Astor survived in one of the last boats to leave the ''Titanic'', but her survival is not shown.

Bernard Fox as Colonel Archibald Gracie IV: The film depicts Gracie making a comment to Cal that "women and machinery don't mix", and congratulating Jack for saving Rose from falling off the ship, though he is unaware that it was a suicide attempt. While the film depicts Gracie with a British accent, he was in fact American. Archibald Gracie survived the sinking on the overturned Collapsible B. Fox also portrayed lookout Frederick Fleet in the 1958 film ''A Night to Remember.''

Michael Ensign as Benjamin Guggenheim: A mining magnate traveling in first-class. He shows off his French mistress Madame Aubert to his fellow passengers while his family waits for him at home. When Jack joins the other first-class passengers for dinner after his rescue of Rose, Guggenheim refers to him as a "bohemian".

Jonathan Evans-Jones as Wallace Hartley: The ship's bandmaster and violinist who plays uplifting music with his colleagues on the boat deck as the ship sinks. As the final plunge begins, he leads the band in a final performance of ''Nearer, My God, to Thee'' and dies in the sinking. It has been disputed for many years whether it was this or a waltz tune named "Autumn" which was played last.

Ewan Stewart as First Officer William Murdoch: The officer who is put in charge of the bridge on the night the ship struck the iceberg. During a rush for the lifeboats, Murdoch shoots Tommy Ryan as well as another passenger in a momentary panic, then commits suicide out of guilt; in reality, it is not clear how he died. When Murdoch's nephew Scott saw the film, he objected to his uncle's portrayal as damaging to Murdoch's heroic reputation. A few months later, Fox vice-president Scott Neeson went to Dalbeattie, Scotland, where Murdoch lived, to deliver a personal apology, and also presented a £5000 donation to Dalbeattie High School to boost the school's William Murdoch Memorial Prize. Cameron apologized on the DVD commentary, but noted that there were officers who fired gunshots to follow the "women and children first" policy.

Jonathan Phillips as Second Officer Charles Lightoller: The ship's most senior surviving officer. The film depicts Lightoller telling Captain Smith that it will be difficult to see icebergs with no breaking water. He is seen brandishing a gun and threatening to use it to keep order. He can be seen on top of Collapsible B when the first funnel collapses.

Mark Lindsay Chapman as Chief Officer Henry Wilde: The ship's chief officer, who lets Cal on board a lifeboat because he has a child in his arms. Before he dies, he tries to get the boats to return to the sinking site to rescue passengers by blowing his whistle. After he freezes to death, Rose uses his whistle to attract the attention of Fifth Officer Lowe, which leads to her rescue. It is unknown how the real Henry Wilde died.

Ioan Gruffudd as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe: The only ship's officer who led a lifeboat to retrieve survivors of the sinking on the icy waters. The film depicts Lowe rescuing Rose.

Edward Fletcher as Sixth Officer James Moody: The ship's only junior officer who died in the sinking. The film depicts Moody admitting Jack and Fabrizio onto the ship only moments before it departs from Southampton. Moody is later shown following Mr. Murdoch's orders to put the ship to full speed ahead, and informs First Officer Murdoch about the iceberg.

James Lancaster as Father Thomas Byles: Father Byles, a Catholic priest from England, is portrayed praying and consoling passengers during the ship's final moments.

Lew Palter and Elsa Raven as Isidor Straus and Ida Straus: Isidor is a former owner of R.H. Macy and Company, a former congressman from New York, and a member of the New York and New Jersey Bridge Commission. During the sinking, his wife Ida is offered a place in a lifeboat, but refuses, saying that she will honor her wedding pledge by staying with Isidor. They are last seen lying on their bed embracing each other as water fills their stateroom.

Martin Jarvis as Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon: A Scottish baronet who is rescued in Lifeboat 1. He and his wife were among only 12 people in Lifeboat #1, whose capacity was 40. He was accused of bribing the boat's crewmen not to row back and rescue those struggling in the water, but the British Board of Trade's Inquiry into the disaster cleared them of any wrongdoing and a letter written by the secretary further clears their name. Rosalind Ayres as Lady Duff-Gordon: A world-famous fashion designer and Sir Cosmo's wife. She is rescued in Lifeboat 1 with her husband. She and her husband never lived down rumors that they had forbidden the lifeboat's crew to return to the wreck site in case they would be swamped.

Rochelle Rose as Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes: The Countess is shown to be friendly with Cal and the DeWitt Bukaters. Despite being of a higher status in society than Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff-Gordon, she is kind, and helps row the boat and even looks after the steerage passengers.

Scott G. Anderson as Frederick Fleet: The lookout who saw the iceberg. Fleet escapes the sinking ship aboard Lifeboat 6.

Paul Brightwell as Quartermaster Robert Hichens: One of the ship's 6 quartermasters and was at the ship's wheel at the time of collision. He was in charge of Lifeboat 6. He refused to go back and pick up survivors after the sinking and eventually the boat was commandeered by Margaret "Molly" Brown.

Martin East as Reginald Lee: The other lookout in the crow's nest. He survives the sinking.

Simon Crane as Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall: The officer in charge of firing flares and manning Lifeboat 2 during the sinking. He is shown on the bridge wings helping the seamen firing the flares.

Gregory Cooke as Jack Phillips: Senior wireless operator on board the ''Titanic'' whom Captain Smith ordered to send the distress signal.

Liam Tuohy as Chief Baker Charles Joughin: The baker appears in the film on top of the railing with Jack and Rose as the ship sinks, drinking brandy from a flask. According to the real Joughin's testimony he rode the ship down and stepped into the water without getting his hair wet. He also admitted to hardly feeling the cold, most likely thanks to alcohol.

Terry Forrestal as Chief Engineer Joseph G. Bell: Bell and his men worked until the last minute to keep the lights and the power on in order for distress signals to get out. Bell and all of the engineers died in the bowels of the ''Titanic''.

Kevin De La Noy as Third Officer Herbert Pitman: In charge of Lifeboat 5.

Cameos

Several crew members of the ''Akademik Mstislav Keldysh'' appear in the film, including Anatoly Sagalevich, creator and pilot of the ''Mir'' Deep Submergence Vehicle. Anders Falk, who filmed a documentary about the film's sets for the ''Titanic'' Historical Society, cameoes in the film as a Swedish immigrant whom Jack Dawson meets when he enters his cabin. Ed and Karen Kamuda, then President and Vice President of the Society, were extras in the film. James Cameron and Barry Dennen also cameo as praying men. Greg Ellis and Oliver Page both play cameo parts as a Carpathia Steward and Steward Barnes respectively.

Pre-production

Writing and inspiration

James Cameron had a fascination with shipwrecks, and, for him, the RMS ''Titanic'' was "the Mount Everest of shipwrecks." He was almost past the point in his life when he felt he could consider an undersea expedition, but said he still had "a mental restlessness" to live the life he had turned away from when he switched from the sciences to the arts in college. So when an IMAX film was made from footage shot of the wreck itself, he decided to seek Hollywood funding to "pay for an expedition and do the same thing." It was "not because I particularly wanted to make the movie," Cameron said. "I wanted to dive to the shipwreck."

Cameron wrote a scriptment for a ''Titanic'' film, met with 20th Century Fox executives including Peter Chernin, and pitched it as "Romeo and Juliet on the ''Titanic''". There was a tense pause and Cameron said, "Also, fellas, it's a period piece, it's going to cost $150,000,000 and there's not going to be a sequel.... They were like, 'Oooooohkaaaaaay – a three-hour romantic epic? Sure, that's just what we want. Is there a little bit of ''Terminator'' in that? Any Harrier jets, shoot-outs, or car chases?' I said, 'No, no, no. It's not like that.'" The studio was dubious about the idea's commercial prospects, but, hoping for a long term relationship with Cameron, they gave him a greenlight.

Cameron convinced Fox to promote the film based on the publicity afforded by shooting the ''Titanic'' wreck itself, and organized several dives to the site over a period of two years. "My pitch on that had to be a little more detailed," said Cameron. "So I said, ‘Look, we’ve got to do this whole opening where they’re exploring the ''Titanic'' and they find the diamond, so we’re going to have all these shots of the ship." Cameron stated, "Now, we can either do them with elaborate models and motion control shots and CG and all that, which will cost X amount of money – or we can spend X plus 30 per cent and actually go shoot it at the real wreck." The crew shot at the real wreck in the Atlantic Ocean eleven times in 1995 and actually spent more time with the ship than its passengers. At that depth, with a water pressure of 6,000 pounds per square inch, "one small flaw in the vessel's superstructure would mean instant death for all on board." Not only were the dives high-risk, but adverse conditions prevented Cameron from getting the high quality footage that he wanted.

Descending to the actual site made both Cameron and crew want "to live up to that level of reality.... But there was another level of reaction coming away from the real wreck, which was that it wasn't just a story, it wasn't just a drama," he said. "It was an event that happened to real people who really died. Working around the wreck for so much time, you get such a strong sense of the profound sadness and injustice of it, and the message of it." Cameron stated, "You think, 'There probably aren't going to be many filmmakers who go to ''Titanic.'' There may never be another one – maybe a documentarian." Due to this, he felt "a great mantle of responsibility to convey the emotional message of it – to do that part of it right, too".

After filming the underwater shots, Cameron began writing the screenplay. He wanted to honor the people who died during the sinking, so he spent six months researching all of the ''Titanic''s crew and passengers. "I read everything I could. I created an extremely detailed timeline of the ship’s few days and a very detailed timeline of the last night of its life," he said. "And I worked within that to write the script, and I got some historical experts to analyze what I’d written and comment on it, and I adjusted it." He paid meticulous attention to detail, even including a scene depicting the ''Californian''s role in ''Titanic's'' demise, though this was later cut (see below). From the beginning of the shoot, they had "a very clear picture" of what happened on the ship that night. "I had a library that filled one whole wall of my writing office with "''Titanic'' stuff," because I wanted it to be right, especially if we were going to dive to the ship," he said. "That set the bar higher in a way – it elevated the movie in a sense. We wanted this to be a definitive visualization of this moment in history as if you’d gone back in a time machine and shot it."

Cameron felt the ''Titanic'' sinking was "like a great novel that really happened", yet the event had become a mere morality tale; the film would give audiences the experience of living the history. The treasure hunter Brock Lovett represented those who never connected with the human element of the tragedy, while the blossoming romance of Jack and Rose, he believed, would be the most engaging part of the story: when their love is finally destroyed, the audience would mourn the loss. "All my films are love stories," Cameron said, "but in ''Titanic'' I finally got the balance right. It's not a disaster film. It's a love story with a fastidious overlay of real history." Cameron then framed the romance with the elderly Rose to make the intervening years palpable and poignant. For him, the end of the film leaves open the question if the elderly Rose was in a conscious dream or had died in her sleep.

Scale modeling

Harland and Wolff, the RMS ''Titanic'''s builders, opened their private archives to the crew, sharing blueprints that were thought lost. For the ship's interiors, production designer Peter Lamont's team looked for artifacts from the era. However, the newness of the ship meant every prop had to be made from scratch. Fox acquired 40 acres of waterfront south of Playas de Rosarito in Mexico, and began building a new studio on May 31, 1996. A horizon tank of seventeen-million-gallons was built for the exterior of the reconstructed ship, providing 270 degrees of ocean view. The ship was built to full scale, but Lamont removed redundant sections on the superstructure and forward well deck for the ship to fit in the tank, with the remaining sections filled with digital models. The lifeboats and funnels were shrunk by ten percent. The boat deck and A-deck were working sets, but the rest of the ship was just steel plating. Within was a fifty-foot lifting platform for the ship to tilt during the sinking sequences. Towering above was a tall tower crane on of rail track, acting as a combined construction, lighting, and camera platform.

The sets representing the interior rooms of the ''Titanic'' were reproduced exactly as originally built, using photographs and plans from the ''Titanic's'' builders. "The liner's first class staircase, which figures prominently in the script was constructed out of real wood and actually destroyed in the filming of the sinking." The rooms, the carpeting, design and colors, individual pieces of furniture, decorations, chairs, wall paneling, cutlery and crockery with the White Star Line crest on each piece, completed ceilings, and costumes were among the designs true to the originals. Cameron additionally hired two ''Titanic'' historians, Don Lynch and Ken Marschall, to authenticate the historical detail in the film.

Production

The modern day scenes of the expedition were shot on the ''Akademik Mstislav Keldysh'' in July 1996. Principal photography for ''Titanic'' began in September 1996 at the newly-built Fox Baja Studios. The poop deck was built on a hinge which could rise from zero to ninety degrees in a few seconds as the ship's stern rose during the sinking. For the safety of the stuntmen, many props were made of foam rubber. By November 15, the boarding scenes were being shot. Cameron chose to build his RMS ''Titanic'' on the starboard side as a study of weather data showed prevailing north-to-south wind which blew the funnel smoke aft. This posed a problem for shooting the ship's departure from Southampton, as it was docked on its port side. Any writing on props and costumes had to be reversed, and if someone walked to their right in the script, they had to walk left during shooting. In post-production, the film was flipped to the correct direction.

A full time etiquette coach was hired to instruct the cast on the manners of the upper class gentility in 1912. Despite this, several critics picked up on anachronisms in the film, not least involving the two main stars.

Cameron sketched Jack's nude portrait of Rose for a scene which he feels has the backdrop of repression. "You know what it means for her, the freedom she must be feeling. It's kind of exhilarating for that reason," he said. The nude scene was DiCaprio and Winslet's first scene together. "It wasn't by any kind of design, although I couldn't have designed it better. There's a nervousness and an energy and a hesitance in them," Cameron stated. "They had rehearsed together, but they hadn't shot anything together. If I'd had a choice, I probably would have preferred to put it deeper into the body of the shoot." He said he and his crew "were just trying to find things to shoot" because the big set was not yet ready. "It wasn't ready for months, so we were scrambling around trying to fill in anything we could get to shoot." After seeing the scene on film, Cameron felt it worked out considerably well.

However, other times on the set were not as smooth. The shoot was an arduous experience that "cemented Cameron’s formidable reputation as 'the scariest man in Hollywood'. He became known as an uncompromising, hard-charging perfectionist" and a "300-decibel screamer, a modern-day Captain Bligh with a megaphone and walkie-talkie, swooping down into people’s faces on a 162ft crane". Winslet chipped a bone in her elbow during filming, and had been worried that she would drown in the 17m-gallon water tank the ship was to be sunk in. "There were times when I was genuinely frightened of him. Jim has a temper like you wouldn’t believe," she said. "'God damn it!' he would yell at some poor crew member, 'that’s exactly what I didn’t want!'" Her co-star, Bill Paxton, was familiar with Cameron's work ethic from his earlier experience with him. "There were a lot of people on the set. Jim is not one of those guys who has the time to win hearts and minds," he said. The crew felt that Cameron had an evil alter ego, and nicknamed him "Mij" (Jim spelt backwards). In response to the criticism, Cameron stated, "Film-making is war. A great battle between business and aesthetics."

During shooting on the ''Akademik Mstislav Keldysh'', an angry crew member put the hallucinogen PCP into the soup that Cameron and various others ate one night, which sent more than 50 people to the hospital. "There were people just rolling around, completely out of it. Some of them said they were seeing streaks and psychedelics," said actor Lewis Abernathy. Cameron managed to vomit before the drug took a full hold. Abernathy was shocked at the way he looked. "One eye was completely red, like the Terminator eye. A pupil, no iris, beet red. The other eye looked like he’d been sniffing glue since he was four." The person behind the poisoning was never caught.

The filming schedule was intended to last 138 days but grew to 160. Many cast members came down with colds, flu, or kidney infections after spending hours in cold water, including Winslet. In the end, she decided she would not work with Cameron again unless she earned "a lot of money". Several others left and three stuntmen broke their bones, but the Screen Actors Guild decided, following an investigation, that nothing was inherently unsafe about the set. Additionally, DiCaprio said there was no point when he felt he was in danger during filming. Cameron believed in a passionate work ethic and never apologized for the way he ran his sets, although he acknowledged:

I'm demanding, and I'm demanding on my crew. In terms of being kind of militaresque, I think there's an element of that in dealing with thousands of extras and big logistics and keeping people safe. I think you have to have a fairly strict methodology in dealing with a large number of people.

The costs of filming ''Titanic'' eventually began to mount, and finally reached $200 million. He encouraged them to shoot their long miniature of the ship as if "we're making a commercial for the White Star Line". Afterwards, digital water and smoke were added, as were extras captured on a motion capture stage. Visual effects supervisor Rob Legato scanned the faces of many actors, including himself and his children, for the digital extras and stuntmen. There was also a long model of the ship's stern that could break in two repeatedly, the only miniature to be used in water. For scenes set in the ship's engines, footage of the SS ''Jeremiah O'Brien''s engines were composited with miniature support frames and actors shot against a greenscreen. In order to save money, the first class lounge was a miniature set incorporated into a greenscreen backdrop.

An enclosed tank was used for sinking interiors, in which the entire set could be tilted into the water. In order to sink the Grand Staircase, of water were dumped into the set as it was lowered into the tank. Unexpectedly, the waterfall ripped the staircase from its steel-reinforced foundations, although no one was hurt. The long exterior of the RMS ''Titanic'' had its first half lowered into the tank, but being the heaviest part of the ship meant it acted as a shock absorber against the water; to get the set into the water, Cameron had much of the set emptied and even smashed some of the promenade windows himself. After submerging the dining saloon, three days were spent shooting Lovett's ROV traversing the wreck in the present. The post-sinking scenes in the freezing Atlantic were shot in a tank, where the frozen corpses were created by applying a powder on actors that crystallized when exposed to water, and wax was coated on hair and clothes.

The climactic scene, which features the breakup of the ship directly before it sinks, as well as its final plunge to the bottom of the Atlantic, involved a tilting full-sized set, 150 extras and 100 stunt performers. Cameron criticized previous ''Titanic'' films for depicting the final plunge of the liner as sliding gracefully underwater. He "wanted to depict it as the terrifyingly chaotic event that it really was". When carrying out the sequence, people needed to fall off the increasingly tilting deck, plunging hundreds of feet below and bouncing off of railings and propellers on the way down. A few attempts to film this sequence with stunt people resulted in some minor injuries and Cameron halted the more dangerous stunts. The risks were eventually minimized "by using computer generated people for the dangerous falls".

Editing

There was one "crucial historical fact" Cameron chose to omit from the film – the ship that was close to the ''Titanic'', but had turned off its radio for the night and did not hear their SOS calls. "Yes, the [SS] ''Californian.'' That wasn't a compromise to mainstream filmmaking. That was really more about emphasis, creating an emotional truth to the film," stated Cameron. He said there were aspects of retelling the sinking that seemed important in pre and post-production, but turned out to be less important as the film evolved. "The story of the ''Californian'' was in there; we even shot a scene of them switching off their Marconi radio set," said Cameron. "But I took it out. It was a clean cut, because it focuses you back onto that world. If ''Titanic'' is powerful as a metaphor, as a microcosm, for the end of the world in a sense, then that world must be self-contained."

During the first assembly cut, Cameron altered the planned ending, which had given resolution to Brock Lovett's story. In the original version of the ending, Brock and Lizzy see the elderly Rose at the stern of the boat, and fear she is going to commit suicide. Rose then reveals that she had the "Heart of the Ocean" diamond all along, but never sold it, in order to live on her own without Cal's money. She tells Brock that life is priceless and throws the diamond into the ocean, after allowing him to hold it. After accepting that treasure is worthless, Brock laughs at his stupidity. Rose then goes back to her cabin to sleep, whereupon the film ends in the same way as the final version. In the editing room, Cameron decided that by this point, the audience would no longer be interested in Brock Lovett and cut the resolution to his story, so that Rose is alone when she drops the diamond. He also did not want to disrupt the audience's melancholy after the ''Titanic'''s sinking.

The version used for the first test screening featured a fight between Jack and Lovejoy which takes place after Jack and Rose escape into the flooded dining saloon, but the test audiences disliked it. The scene was written to give the film more suspense, and featured Cal (falsely) offering to give Lovejoy, his valet, the "Heart of the Ocean" if he can get it from Jack and Rose. Lovejoy goes after the pair in the sinking first class dining room. Just as they are about to escape him, Lovejoy notices Rose's hand slap the water as it slips off the table behind which she is hiding. In revenge for framing him for the "theft" of the necklace, Jack attacks him and smashes his head against a glass window, which explains the gash on Lovejoy's head that can be seen when he dies in the completed version of the film. In their reactions to the scene, test audiences said it would be unrealistic to risk one's life for wealth, and Cameron cut it for this reason, as well as for timing and pacing reasons. Many other scenes were cut for similar reasons.

Music and soundtrack

The soundtrack album for ''Titanic'' was composed by James Horner. For the vocals heard throughout the film, subsequently described by Earle Hitchner of ''The Wall Street Journal'' as "evocative", Horner chose Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø, better known as "Sissel". Horner knew Sissel from her album ''Innerst I Sjelen'', and he particularly liked how she sang "''Eg veit i himmerik ei borg''" ("I Know in Heaven There Is a Castle"). He had tried twenty-five or thirty singers before he finally chose Sissel as the voice to create specific moods within the film.

Horner additionally wrote the song "My Heart Will Go On" in secret with Will Jennings because Cameron did not want any songs with singing in the film. Céline Dion agreed to record a demo with the persuasion of her husband René Angélil. Horner waited until Cameron was in an appropriate mood before presenting him with the song. After playing it several times, Cameron declared its approval, although worried that he would have been criticized for "going commercial at the end of the movie". Cameron also wanted to appease anxious studio executives and "saw that a hit song from his movie could only be a positive factor in guaranteeing its completion".

Release

Initial screening

Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox financed ''Titanic'', and expected Cameron to complete the film for a release on July 2, 1997. The film was to be released on this date "in order to exploit the lucrative summer season ticket sales when blockbuster films usually do better". In April, Cameron said the film's special effects were too complicated and that releasing the film for summer would not be possible. With production delays, Paramount pushed back the release date to December 19, 1997. "This fueled speculation that the film itself was a disaster." However, a preview screening in Minneapolis on July 14 "generated positive reviews" and "[c]hatter on the internet was responsible for more favorable word of mouth about the [film]". This eventually led to more positive media coverage.

The film premiered on November 1, 1997, at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where reaction was described as "tepid" by ''The New York Times''. However, positive reviews started to appear back in the United States; the official Hollywood premiere occurred on December 14, 1997, where "the big movie stars who attended the opening were enthusiastically gushing about the film to the world media".

Box office

General

The film received steady attendance after opening in North America on Friday, December 19, 1997. By the end of that same weekend, theaters were beginning to sell out. The film earned $8,658,814 on its opening day and $28,638,131 over the opening weekend from 2,674 theaters, averaging to about $10,710 per venue, and ranking number one at the box office, ahead of the eighteenth James Bond film, ''Tomorrow Never Dies''. By New Year's Day, ''Titanic'' had made over $120 million, had increased in popularity and theaters continued to sell out. Its biggest single day took place on Saturday, February 14 (Valentine's Day), 1998, making $13,048,711, more than six weeks after it debuted in North America. It stayed at number one for fifteen consecutive weeks in the United States and Canada, which remains a record for any film. By March 1998, it was the first film to earn more than $1 billion worldwide. The film stayed in theaters in North America for almost ten months, before finally closing on Thursday, October 1, 1998 with a final domestic gross of $600,788,188. Box Office Mojo estimates that after adjusting for ticket price inflation, ''Titanic'' would be the sixth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada. The film made double its domestic amount overseas, generating an international gross of $1,248,025,607 and accumulating a grand total of $1,843,201,268 worldwide. It became the highest-grossing film in history, and remained so for twelve years, until ''Avatar'', also written and directed by Cameron, surpassed it in 2010.

Commercial analysis

Before its release, various film critics predicted the film would be a significant disappointment at the box office, especially due to it being the most expensive film ever made at the time. When it was shown to the press in autumn of 1997, "it was with massive forebodings" since the "people in charge of the screenings believed they were on the verge of losing their jobs – because of this great albatross of a picture on which, finally, two studios had to combine to share the great load of its making". Cameron also thought he was "headed for disaster" at one point during filming. "We labored the last six months on ''Titanic'' in the absolute knowledge that the studio would lose $100m. It was a certainty," he stated. As the film neared release, "particular venom was spat at Cameron for what was seen as his hubris and monumental extravagance". A film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote that "Cameron’s overweening pride has come close to capsizing this project" and that the film was "a hackneyed, completely derivative copy of old Hollywood romances".

When the film became a success, with an unprecedented box office performance, it was credited as "the love story [that] stole the world's hearts". "The first batch of people to see it [were] gob smacked by the sheer scale and intimacy of the production. They emerged from the cinema, tear stained and emotionally flabbergasted." The film was playing on 3,200 screens a full ten weeks after it opened, and out of its fifteen straight weeks on top of the charts, jumped 43% in total sales in its ninth week of release. It earned over $20 million a week for ten weeks, and after fourteen weeks into its run, it was still bringing in more than $1m a week. Although teenage girls, as well as young women in general, who would see the film several times and subsequently caused "Leo-Mania", were often credited with having primarily propelled the film to its all-time box office record, other reports have simply attributed the film's success to "[p]ositive word of mouth and repeat viewership" due to the love story combined with the ground-breaking special effects.

The film's impact on men has also been especially credited. Now considered one of the films that "make men cry", MSNBC's Ian Hodder stated that men admire Jack's sense of adventure, stowing away on a steamship bound for America. "We cheer as he courts a girl who was out of his league. We admire how he suggests nude modeling as an excuse to get naked. So when [the tragic ending happens], an uncontrollable flood of tears sinks our composure," he said. ''Titanic's'' ability to make men cry was briefly parodied in the 2009 zombie film ''Zombieland'', where character Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), when recalling the death of his young son, states: "I haven't cried like that since ''Titanic''." Also addressing the sentimentality of the film, Benjamin Willcock of DVDActive.com said that, as a fourteen-year-old male, he had wanted to see ''Starship Troopers'' instead, but was overruled by an uncle and friends. "Little did I know that I would be seeing a film that would become the biggest, most successful motion picture event of all time," he stated. "I was also blissfully unaware that it would turn out to be so much more than 'some epic love story'".

In 2010, the BBC analyzed the stigma over men crying during ''Titanic'' and films in general. "Middle-aged men are not 'supposed' to cry during movies," stated Finlo Rohrer of the website, citing the ending of ''Titanic'' as having generated such tears, adding that "men, if they have felt weepy during [this film], have often tried to be surreptitious about it." Professor Mary Beth Oliver, of Penn State University, stated, "For many men, there is a great deal of pressure to avoid expression of 'female' emotions like sadness and fear. From a very young age, males are taught that it is inappropriate to cry, and these lessons are often accompanied by a great deal of ridicule when the lessons aren't followed." She said, "Indeed, some men who might sneer at the idea of crying during ''Titanic'' will readily admit to becoming choked up during ''Saving Private Ryan'' or ''Platoon.''" For men in general, the idea of sacrifice for a "brother" is a more suitable source of emotion.

''Titanic'''s catchphrase "I'm the king of the world!" became one of the film industry's more popular quotations. According to Richard Harris, a psychology professor at Kansas State University, who studied why people like to cite films in social situations, using film quotations in everyday conversation is similar to telling a joke and a way to form solidarity with others. "People are doing it to feel good about themselves, to make others laugh, to make themselves laugh", he said. He found that all of the participants in his study had used film quotations in conversation at one point or another. "They overwhelmingly cited comedies, followed distantly by dramas and action adventure flicks." As for horror films, musicals and children's films, they were hardly ever cited.

Cameron explained the film's success as having significantly benefited from the experience of sharing. "When people have an experience that's very powerful in the movie theatre, they want to go share it. They want to grab their friend and bring them, so that they can enjoy it," he said. "They want to be the person to bring them the news that this is something worth having in their life. That's how ''Titanic'' worked." Media Awareness Network stated, "The normal repeat viewing rate for a blockbuster theatrical film is about 5%. The repeat rate for ''Titanic'' was over 20%." The box office receipts "were even more impressive" when factoring in "the film's 3 hour and 14 minute length meant that it could only be shown three times a day compared to a normal movie's four showings". In response to this, "[m]any theatres started midnight showings and were rewarded with full houses until almost 3:30 am".

''Titanic'' held the record for box office gross for twelve years. Cameron's most recent film, ''Avatar'', was considered the first film with a genuine chance at surpassing its worldwide gross, and did so in 2010. Various explanations for why the film was able to successfully challenge ''Titanic'' were given. For one, "Two-thirds of ''Titanic's'' haul was earned overseas, and ''Avatar'' [tracked] similarly... ''Avatar'' opened in 106 markets globally and was no. 1 in all of them" and the markets "such as Russia, where ''Titanic'' saw modest receipts in 1997 and 1998, are white-hot today" with "more screens and moviegoers" than ever before. Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, said that while ''Avatar'' may beat ''Titanic's'' revenue record, the film is unlikely to surpass ''Titanic'' in attendance. "Ticket prices were about $3 cheaper in the late 1990s." In December 2009, Cameron had stated, "I don't think it's realistic to try to topple ''Titanic'' off its perch. Some pretty good movies have come out in the last few years. ''Titanic'' just struck some kind of chord." In a January 2010 interview, he gave a different take on the matter once ''Avatar's'' performance was easier to predict. "It's gonna happen. It's just a matter of time," he said.

Critical reception

The film garnered mostly positive reviews from film critics. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports the film as holding an overall 83% "Fresh" approval rating based on 97 reviews, with a rating average of 7.4 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that the film is "[a] mostly unqualified triumph for Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama". At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 0–100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 74 based on 34 reviews, classified as a generally favorably reviewed film.

With regard to the film's overall design, Roger Ebert stated, "It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted, and spellbinding... Movies like this are not merely difficult to make at all, but almost impossible to make well." He credited the "technical difficulties" with being "so daunting that it's a wonder when the filmmakers are also able to bring the drama and history into proportion" and "found [himself] convinced by both the story and the sad saga". It was named as his ninth best film of 1997. On the television program ''Siskel & Ebert'', the film received "two thumbs up" and was praised for its accuracy in recreating the ship's sinking; Ebert described the film as "a glorious Hollywood epic, well-crafted and well worth the wait" and Gene Siskel found Leonardo DiCaprio "captivating". James Berardinelli stated, "Meticulous in detail, yet vast in scope and intent, ''Titanic'' is the kind of epic motion picture event that has become a rarity. You don't just watch ''Titanic'', you experience it." It was named his second best film of 1997. Almar Haflidason of the BBC wrote that "[t]he sinking of the great ship is no secret, yet for many exceeded expectations in sheer scale and tragedy" and that "when you consider that it tops a bum-numbing three-hour running time, then you have a truly impressive feat of entertainment achieved by Cameron". Joseph McBride of ''Boxoffice Magazine'' concluded, "To describe ''Titanic'' as the greatest disaster movie ever made is to sell it short. James Cameron's recreation of the 1912 sinking of the 'unsinkable' liner is one of the most magnificent pieces of serious popular entertainment ever to emanate from Hollywood."

The romantic and emotionally-charged aspects of the film were equally praised. Andrew L. Urban of ''Urban Cinefile'' said, "You will walk out of ''Titanic'' not talking about budget or running time, but of its enormous emotive power, big as the engines of the ship itself, determined as its giant propellers to gouge into your heart, and as lasting as the love story that propels it." Owen Gleiberman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' described the film as, "A lush and terrifying spectacle of romantic doom. Writer-director James Cameron has restaged the defining catastrophe of the early 20th century on a human scale of such purified yearning and dread that he touches the deepest levels of popular moviemaking." Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' commented that "Cameron's magnificent ''Titanic'' is the first spectacle in decades that honestly invites comparison to ''Gone With the Wind''." Richard Corliss of ''Time'' magazine, on the other hand, wrote a mostly negative review, criticizing the lack of interesting emotional elements.

Some reviewers felt that the story and dialogue were weak, while the visuals were spectacular. Kenneth Turan's review in the ''Los Angeles Times'' was particularly scathing. Dismissing the emotive elements, he stated, "What really brings on the tears is Cameron's insistence that writing this kind of movie is within his abilities. Not only is it not, it is not even close.", and later claimed that the only reason that the film won Oscars was because of its box office total. Barbara Shulgasser of ''The San Francisco Examiner'' gave ''Titanic'' one star out of four, citing a friend as saying, "The number of times in this unbelievably badly-written script that the two [lead characters] refer to each other by name was an indication of just how dramatically the script lacked anything more interesting for the actors to say." Also, filmmaker Robert Altman called it "the most dreadful piece of work I've ever seen in my entire life".

''Titanic'' suffered backlash in addition to its success. In 2003, the film topped a poll of "Best Film Endings", and yet it also topped a poll by ''The Film programme'' as "the worst movie of all time". The British film magazine ''Empire'' reduced their rating of the film from the maximum five stars and an enthusiastic review, to four stars with a less positive review in a later edition, to accommodate its readers’ tastes, who wanted to disassociate themselves from the hype surrounding the film, and the reported activities of its fans, such as those attending multiple screenings. In addition to this, positive and negative parodies and other such spoofs of the film abounded and were circulated on the internet, often inspiring passionate responses from fans of various opinions of the film. Benjamin Willcock of DVDActive.com did not understand the backlash or the passionate hatred for the film. "What really irks me...," he said, "are those who make nasty stabs at those who do love it." Willcock stated, "I obviously don’t have anything against those who dislike ''Titanic'', but those few who make you feel small and pathetic for doing so (and they do exist, trust me) are way beyond my understanding and sympathy."

Cameron responded to the backlash, and Kenneth Turan's review in particular. "''Titanic'' is not a film that is sucking people in with flashy hype and spitting them out onto the street feeling let down and ripped off," he stated. "They are returning again and again to repeat an experience that is taking a 3-hour and 14-minute chunk out of their lives, and dragging others with them, so they can share the emotion." Cameron emphasized people from all ages (ranging from 8 to 80) and from all backgrounds were "celebrating their own essential humanity" by seeing it. He described the script as earnest and straightforward, and said it intentionally "incorporates universals of human experience and emotion that are timeless – and familiar because they reflect our basic emotional fabric" and that the film was able to succeed in this way by dealing with archetypes. He did not see it as pandering. "Turan mistakes archetype for cliche," he said. "I don't share his view that the best scripts are only the ones that explore the perimeter of human experience, or flashily pirouette their witty and cynical dialogue for our admiration."

''Empire'' eventually reinstated its original five star rating of the film, commenting, "It should be no surprise then that it became fashionable to bash James Cameron's ''Titanic'' at approximately the same time it became clear that this was the planet's favourite film. Ever. Them's the facts."

Accolades

''Titanic'' began its awards sweep starting with the Golden Globes, winning four, namely Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Director, Best Original Score, and Best Song. Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart were also nominees, but lost. It won the ACE "Eddie" Award, ASC Award, Art Directors Guild Award, Cinema Audio Society Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award (Best Supporting Actress for Gloria Stuart), The Directors Guild of America Award, and Broadcast Film Critics Association Award (Best Director for James Cameron), and The Producer Guild of America Award. It was also nominated for ten BAFTA awards, including Best Film and Best Director, however failed to win any.

The film garnered fourteen Academy Awards nominations, tying the record set in 1950 by Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ''All About Eve'' and won eleven, including the Best Picture and Best Director. It also picked up the awards for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song, and Best Art Direction. Kate Winslet, Gloria Stuart and the make-up artists were the three nominees that did not win. James Cameron's original screenplay and Leonardo DiCaprio were not nominees. It was the second film to win eleven Academy Awards, after ''Ben-Hur''. ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' would also match this record in 2004, with its eleven wins from eleven nominations.

''Titanic'' won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as three Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. The film's soundtrack became the best-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack of all time, and became a worldwide success, spending sixteen weeks at number-one in the United States, and was certified diamond for over eleven million copies sold in the United States alone. The soundtrack also became the best-selling album of 1998 in the U.S. "My Heart Will Go On" won the Grammy Awards for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television. The film also won Best Male Performance for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Movie at the MTV Movie Awards, Best Film at the People's Choice Awards, and Favorite Movie at the 1998 Kids' Choice Awards. It won various awards outside the United States, including the Awards of the Japanese Academy as the Best Foreign Film of the Year. ''Titanic'' eventually won nearly ninety awards and had an additional forty-seven nominations from various award-giving bodies around the world. Additionally, the book about the making of the film was at the top of ''The New York Times''' bestseller list for several weeks, "the first time that such a tie-in book had achieved this status".

Since its release, ''Titanic'' has appeared on the American Film Institute's award-winning 100 Years… series. So far, it has ranked on the following six lists:

AFI's 100 Years... 100	Rank	Source	Notes
AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills>Thrills	! 25	!	A list of the top 100 thrilling films in American cinema, compiled in 2001.
AFI's 100 Years…100 Passions>Passions	! 37	!	A list of the top 100 love stories in American cinema, compiled in 2002.
AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs>Songs	! 14	!	A list of the top 100 songs in American cinema, compiled in 2004. ''Titanic'' ranked 14th for Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On".
AFI's 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes>Movie quotes	! 100	!	A list of the top 100 film quotations in American cinema, compiled in 2005. ''Titanic'' ranked 100th for Jack Dawson's yell of "''I'm the king of the world!''"
AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)>Movies	! 83	!	A 2007 (10th anniversary) edition of 1997's list of the 100 best films of the past century. ''Titanic'' was not eligible when the original list was released.
! AFI's 10 Top 10	! 6	!	The 2008 poll consisted of the top ten films in ten different genres. ''Titanic'' ranked as the sixth best epic film.

Home media

''Titanic'' was released worldwide in widescreen and pan and scan formats on VHS and laserdisc on September 1, 1998. The VHS was also made available in a deluxe boxed gift set with a mounted filmstrip and six lithograph prints from the movie. A DVD version was released on July 31, 1999 in a widescreen-only (non-anamorphic) single-disc edition with no special features other than a theatrical trailer. Cameron stated at the time that he intended to release a special edition with extra features later. This release became the best-selling DVD of 1999 and early 2000, becoming the first DVD ever to sell one million copies. At the time, fewer than 5% of all U.S. homes had a DVD player. "When we released the original ''Titanic'' DVD, the industry was much smaller, and bonus features were not the standard they are now," said Meagan Burrows, Paramount's president of domestic home entertainment, which made the film's DVD performance even more impressive.

''Titanic'' was re-released to DVD on October 25, 2005 when a three-disc ''Special Collector's Edition'' was made available in the United States and Canada. This edition contained a newly restored transfer of the film, as well as various special features.

An international two and four-disc set followed on November 7, 2005. The two-disc edition was marketed as the ''Special Edition'', and featured the first two discs of the three-disc set, only PAL-enabled. A four-disc edition, marketed as the ''Deluxe Collector's Edition'', was also released on November 7, 2005.

Also, available only in the United Kingdom, a limited 5-disc set of the film, under the title ''Deluxe Limited Edition'', was released with only 10,000 copies manufactured. The fifth disc contains Cameron's documentary ''Ghosts of the Abyss'', which was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Unlike the individual release of ''Ghosts of the Abyss'', which contained two discs, only the first disc was included in the set.

As regards to television broadcasts, the film airs occasionally across the United States on networks such as TNT. To permit the scene where Jack draws the nude portrait of Rose to be shown on network and specialty cable channels, in addition to minor cuts, the sheer, see-through robe worn by Winslet was digitally painted black. Turner Classic Movies also began to show the film, specifically during the days leading up to the 82nd Academy Awards.

3-D conversion and 2012 re-release

During the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, Cameron announced that ''Titanic'' was in the process of being converted into 3-D for a theatrical re-release; he estimated that it would take six months to a year to do it right, and initially felt that it would be ready at some point in 2011. "We've tested it, seen a couple of minutes converted. It looks spectacular. But it really requires the filmmaker to be involved to make sure that the Stereo Space decisions are made correctly," he said. In March 2010, he set a spring 2012 release date, which was later confirmed through Paramount Pictures in May 2011; the studio said the film is set to be re-released on April 6, 2012, which is both the 100th anniversary year of the sailing of the ship and of Paramount Pictures.

Further reading

References

Sources

External links

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Celine Dion
background	solo_singer
birth name	Céline Marie Claudette Dion
birth date	March 30, 1968
origin	Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada
instrument	Vocals
genre	Pop, dance-pop, pop rock, soft rock, adult contemporary
occupation	Singer, songwriter-composer, actress
years active	1980–present
label	Sony Music Canada, Epic, 550, Columbia
networth	over US$250 million (Jan. 2007)
website
associated acts	Andrea Bocelli, R. Kelly, Peabo Bryson, Barbra Streisand, the Bee Gees, Luciano Pavarotti }}

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , (; born March 30, 1968), is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record. In 1990, she released the English-language album ''Unison'', establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.

Dion had first gained international recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Following a series of French albums in the early 1980s, she signed on to CBS Records Canada in 1986. During the 1990s, with the help of Angélil, she achieved worldwide fame after signing with Epic Records and releasing several English albums along with additional French albums, becoming one of the most successful artists in pop music history. However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a hiatus from entertainment in order to start a family and spend time with her husband, who had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed a three-year (later extended to almost five years) contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B; to gospel and classical. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals. Dion is the best-selling Canadian artist of all time, is the second best-selling female artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era, and is the only female artist to have two singles sell more than a million copies in the UK. In addition, her 1995 album ''D'eux'', is the best-selling French-language album of all time. In 2004, after surpassing 175 million in album sales worldwide, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for becoming the best-selling female artist of all time. According to Sony Music Entertainment, Dion has sold over 200 million albums worldwide.

Life and career

Childhood and early beginnings

The youngest of 14 children born to Adhémar Dion and Thérèse Tanguay, both of French-Canadian descent, Celine Dion was raised a Roman Catholic in a poverty-stricken, but, by her own account, happy home in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada. Music had always been a part of the family (Dion was named after the song ''Céline'', recorded by French singer Hugues Aufray two years before her birth), as she grew up singing with her siblings in her parents' small piano bar called ''Le Vieux Baril''. From an early age Dion had dreamed of being a performer. In a 1994 interview with ''People'' magazine, she recalled, "I missed my family and my home, but I don't regret having lost my adolescence. I had one dream: I wanted to be a singer."

At age 12, Dion collaborated with her mother and her brother Jacques to compose her first song, "Ce n'était qu'un rêve" ("It Was Only a Dream"). Her brother Michel Dondalinger Dion sent the recording to music manager René Angélil, whose name he discovered on the back of a Ginette Reno album. Angélil was moved to tears by Dion's voice, and decided to make her a star. In 1981, he mortgaged his home to fund her first record, ''La voix du bon Dieu'' ("The Voice of the Good God"), which later became a local number-one hit and made Dion an instant star in Quebec. Her popularity spread to other parts of the world when she competed in the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, Japan, and won the musician's award for "Top Performer" as well as the gold medal for "Best Song" with "Tellement j'ai d'amour pour toi" ("I Have So Much Love for You").

By 1983, in addition to becoming the first Canadian artist to receive a gold record in France for the single "D'amour ou d'amitié" ("Of Love or of Friendship"), Dion had also won several Félix Awards, including "Best Female performer" and "Discovery of the Year". Further success in Europe, Asia, and Australia came when Dion represented Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest with the song ''Ne partez pas sans moi'' (''Don't Go Without Me'') and won the contest by a close margin in Dublin, Ireland. However, American success was yet to come, partly because she was exclusively a Francophone artist. At eighteen, after seeing a Michael Jackson performance, Dion told Angélil that she wanted to be a star like Jackson. Though confident in her talent, Angélil realized that her image needed to be changed in order for her to be marketed worldwide. Dion receded from the spotlight for a number of months, during which she underwent dental surgery to improve her appearance, and was sent to the École Berlitz in 1989 to polish her English.

In 1989, during a concert on ''Incognito Tour'', Dion injured her voice. She consulted the otorhinolaryngologist William Gould. He gave her an ultimatum: have surgery on her vocal cords, or not utilize them at all for three weeks. The album was largely influenced by 1980s soft rock music that quickly found a niche within the adult contemporary radio format. ''Unison'' also hit the right notes with critics: Jim Faber of ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote that Dion's vocals were "tastefully unadorned", and that she never attempted to "bring off styles that are beyond her". Stephen Erlewine of ''Allmusic'' declared it as, "a fine, sophisticated American debut." Singles from the album included "(If There Was) Any Other Way", "The Last to Know", "Unison", and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", a mid-tempo soft-rock ballad which made prominent use of the electric guitar. The latter became her first single to reach the top-ten on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number-four. The album established Dion as a rising singer in the United States, and across Continental Europe and Asia.

In 1991, Dion was also a soloist in ''Voices That Care'', a tribute to American troops fighting in Operation Desert Storm. Dion's real international breakthrough came when she duetted with Peabo Bryson on the title track to Disney's animated film ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991). The song captured a musical style that Dion would utilize in the future: sweeping, classically influenced ballads with soft instrumentation. Both a critical and commercial hit, the song became her second U.S. top-ten single, and won the Academy Award for Best Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. "Beauty and the Beast" was featured on Dion's 1992 self-titled album, which, like her debut, had a strong rock influence combined with elements of soul and classical music. Owing to the success of the lead-off single and her collaboration with Foster and Diane Warren, the album was as well received as ''Unison''. Other singles that achieved moderate success included "If You Asked Me To" (a cover of Patti LaBelle's song from the 1989 movie ''Licence to Kill'') which peaked at number-four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the gospel-tinged "Love Can Move Mountains", and "Nothing Broken But My Heart".

As with Dion's earlier releases, the album had an overtone of love. Also during this time, Dion released the Francophone album ''Dion chante Plamondon'' in 1991. The album consisted mostly of covers, but included 4 new songs, which included "Des mots qui sonnent", "Je danse dans ma tête", "Quelqu'un que j'aime, quelqu'un qui m'aime" and "L'amour existe encore". It was originally released in Canada and France during the 1991–1992 period, but then got an international release in 1994, the first French Celine Dion album to do so. "Un garçon pas comme les autres (Ziggy)" became a smash hit in France, reaching number-two and being certified gold. In Quebec, the album was certified Gold the day it was released.

By 1992 ''Unison'', ''Céline Dion'', and media appearances had propelled Dion to superstardom in North America. She had achieved one of her main objectives: wedging her way into the Anglophone market and achieving fame. However, while she was experiencing rising success in the U.S., her French fans in Canada criticized her for neglecting them. She would later regain her fan base at the Félix Award show, where, after winning "English Artist of the Year", she openly refused to accept the award. She asserted that she was—and would always be—a French, not an English, artist. Apart from her commercial success, there were also changes in Dion's personal life, as Angélil, who was twenty-six years her senior, transitioned from manager to lover. However, the relationship was kept a secret as they both feared that the public would find their relations inappropriate.

Popularity established: 1993–1995

In 1993, Dion announced her feelings for her manager by declaring him "the colour of [her] love" in the dedication section of her third English-language album ''The Colour of My Love''. However, instead of criticizing their relationship as Dion had feared, fans embraced the couple. Eventually, Angélil and Dion married in an extravagant wedding ceremony in December 1994, which was broadcast live on Canadian television.

As it was dedicated to her manager, the album's motif focused on love and romance. It became her most successful record up to that point, selling more than six million copies in the U.S., two million in Canada, and peaking at number-one in many countries. The album also spawned Dion's first U.S., Canadian, and Australian number-one single "The Power of Love" (a remake of Jennifer Rush's 1985 hit), which would become her signature hit until she reached new career heights in the late 1990s. The single "When I Fall in Love", a duet with Clive Griffin, achieved moderate success on the U.S. and Canadian charts, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning one. ''The Colour of My Love'' also became Dion's first major hit in Europe, and in particular the United Kingdom. Both the album and the single "Think Twice" simultaneously occupied the top of the British charts for five consecutive weeks. "Think Twice", which remained at number-one for seven weeks, eventually became the fourth single by a female artist to sell in excess of one million copies in the UK, while the album was eventually certified five-times platinum for two-million copies sold.

Dion kept to her French roots and continued to release many Francophone recordings between each English record. Generally, they achieved more credibility than her English-language works. She released ''À l'Olympia'', a live album that was recorded during one of Dion's concerts at the Paris Olympia in 1994. It had one promotional single, a live version of "Calling You", which peaked at seventy-five on the French Singles Chart. She also recorded a bilingual version of Petit Papa Noël with Alvin and the Chipmunks for the 1994 holiday album ''A Very Merry Chipmunk''. ''D'eux'' (also known as ''The French Album'' in the United States), was released in 1995, and it would go on to become the best-selling French-language album of all time. The album was mostly written and produced by Jean-Jacques Goldman, and amassed huge success with the singles "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" and "Je sais pas". "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" reached number 1 in France and stayed at the top position for twelve weeks. It was later certified Platinum in France. The single also reached the top ten in the UK and Ireland, a rare accomplishment for a French song. The second single off the album, "Je sais pas", reached number-one on the French Singles Chart as well and was certified Silver in France. These songs would later become "If That's What It Takes" and "I Don't Know" on Dion's next English album, ''Falling into You''.

During the mid-1990s, Dion's albums continued to be constructed on the basis of melodramatic ballads, but also with up-tempo pop and adult contemporary themed music. She collaborated with talented craftsman such as Jim Steinman and David Foster who helped her devise more adult contemporary songs. While critical reviews fluctuated, Dion's releases performed increasingly well on the international charts, and in 1996 she won the World Music Award for "World’s Best-selling Canadian Female Recording Artist of the Year" for the third time. By the mid-1990s, she had established herself as one of the best-selling artists in the world.

Worldwide commercial success: 1996–1999

''Falling into You'' (1996), Dion's fourth English-language album, presented the singer at the height of her popularity, and showed a further progression of her music. In an attempt to reach a wider audience, the album combined many elements, such as complex orchestral sounds, African chanting and elaborate musical effects. Additionally, instruments like the violin, Spanish guitar, trombone, the cavaquinho and saxophone created a new sound. The singles encompassed a variety of musical styles. The title track "Falling into You" and "River Deep, Mountain High" (a Tina Turner cover) made prominent use of percussion instruments; "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (a remake of Jim Steinman's song) and a remake of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" kept their soft-rock atmosphere, but were combined with the classical sound of the piano; and the number-one single "Because You Loved Me", which was written by Diane Warren, was a ballad that served as the theme to the 1996 film ''Up Close & Personal''.

''Falling into You'' garnered career-best reviews for Dion. While Dan Leroy wrote that it was not very different from her previous work, and Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' and Natalie Nichols of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote that the album was formulaic, other critics, such as Chuck Eddy of ''Entertainment Weekly'', Stephen Thomas Erlewine of ''AMG'' and Daniel Durchholz, lavished the album as "compelling", "passionate", "stylish", "elegant" and "remarkably well-crafted". ''Falling Into You'' became Dion's most critically and commercially successful album: it topped the charts in many countries and became one of the best-selling albums of all time. In the United States, the album reached number-one, and was later certified 11x Platinum for over 11 million copies shipped. In Canada, the album was certified diamond for over one million copies shipped. The IFPI certified ''Falling into You'' 9x Platinum, an accolade that has been given to only two other albums in history, with one of the two being Dion's own album, ''Let's Talk About Love''. The album also won Grammy Awards for Best Pop Album, and the academy's highest honor Album of the Year. Dion's status on the world stage was further solidified when she was asked to perform "The Power of the Dream" at the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. In March 1996, Dion launched the Falling into You Tour in support of her new album, giving concerts around the world for over a year.

Dion followed ''Falling into You'' with ''Let's Talk About Love'' (1997), which was publicized as its sequel. The recording process took place in London, New York City, and Los Angeles, and featured a host of special guests, such as Barbra Streisand on "Tell Him"; the Bee Gees on "Immortality"; and world-renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti on "I Hate You Then I Love You". Other musicians included Carole King, Sir George Martin, Bryan Adams and Jamaican singer Diana King, who added a reggae tinge to "Treat Her Like a Lady". As with ''Falling into You'', ''Let's Talk About Love'' was a major success for Dion, reaching number-one all over the world, attaining platinum status in twenty-four sales territories, and becoming Dion's fastest selling album of her career. In the United States, the album topped the chart in its seventh week of release, and was later certified 10x Platinum in the U.S. for over 10 million copies shipped. In Canada, the album sold 230,212 copies in its first week of release, which became, and still is, a record. It was eventually certified diamond in Canada for over 1 million copies shipped. The most successful single from the album became the classically influenced ballad "My Heart Will Go On", which was written and composed by James Horner and Will Jennings, and produced by Horner and Walter Afanasieff. Serving as the love theme for the 1997 blockbuster film ''Titanic'', the song topped the charts across the world, and became Dion's signature song; as well as winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. The song also gave Dion two Grammy Awards for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" and the most coveted "Record of the Year", (the song itself won four awards, but two were presented to the songwriters). "My Heart Will Go On" and "Think Twice" made her the only female artist in the UK to have two singles to sell more than a million copies. In support of her album, Dion embarked on the Let's Talk About Love Tour between 1998 and 1999.

Dion ended the 1990s with three more extremely successful albums—the Christmas album ''These Are Special Times'' (1998), the French-language album, ''S'il suffisait d'aimer'', and the compilation album ''All the Way... A Decade of Song'' (1999). On ''These Are Special Times'', Dion became more involved in the writing process. She co-wrote the song, ''Don't Save It All For Christmas Day'' along with Ric Wake and Peter Zizzo. The album was her most classically influenced yet, with orchestral arrangements found on virtually every track. "I'm Your Angel", a duet with R. Kelly, became Dion's fourth U.S. number one single, and another hit single across the world. ''All the Way... A Decade of Song'' drew together her most successful hits coupled with seven new songs, including the lead off single "That's the Way It Is", a cover of Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and "All the Way", a duet with Frank Sinatra. The album itself was also extremely successful worldwide, reaching number-one in the United States for three weeks. The album was later certified 7x Platinum in the U.S. for 7 million copies shipped. ''All the Way... A Decade of Song'' also topped the charts in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Her last French-language studio album of the 1990s, ''S'il suffisait d'aimer'', was very successful as well, topping the charts in every major French-speaking country, including France, Switzerland, Belgium Wallonia, and Canada. By the end of the 1990s, Celine Dion had sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, and had won a slew of industry awards. Her status as one of the music industry's biggest pop divas was further solidified when she was asked to perform on VH1's ''Divas Live'' special in 1998, with superstars Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain and Mariah Carey. That year she also received two of the highest honours from her home country: "Officer of the Order of Canada for Outstanding Contribution to the World of Contemporary Music" and "Officer of the National Order of Quebec". A year later she was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, and was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

During this time, the pop-rock genre that was more noticeable in her earlier releases, was replaced by a more adult contemporary feel. However, the theme of "love" remained in most of her releases, which led to some critics dismissing her music as banal. Other critics, like Elysa Gardner and Jose F. Promis, praised her vocals during this period, describing it as a "technical marvel". However, others, like Steve Dollar, who reviewed ''These Are Special Times'', stated that Dion is a "vocal Olympian for whom there ain't no mountain—or scale—high enough."

Career break: 2000–2002

After releasing and promoting thirteen albums during the 1990s, Dion stated that she needed to settle down, and announced on her latest album ''All the Way... A Decade of Song'', that she needed to take a step back from the spotlight and enjoy life. Angélil's diagnosis with throat cancer also prompted her to hiatus. While on break, Dion was unable to escape the spotlight. In 2000, the ''National Enquirer'' published a false story about the singer. Brandishing a picture of Dion and her husband, the magazine misquoted Dion, printing the headline, "Celine — 'I'm Pregnant With Twins!'" Dion later sued the magazine for more than twenty million dollars. The editors of the ''Enquirer'' printed an apology and a full retraction to Dion in the next issue, and donated money to the American Cancer Society in honor of Dion and her husband. A year after the incident, after undergoing fertility treatments, Dion gave birth to a son, René-Charles Dion Angélil, on January 25, 2001, in Florida. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, Dion returned to the music scene, and in a televised performance sang "God Bless America" at the benefit concert America: A Tribute to Heroes. Chuck Taylor of ''Billboard'' wrote, "the performance... brings to mind what has made her one of the celebrated vocalists of our time: the ability to render emotion that shakes the soul. Affecting, meaningful, and filled with grace, this is a musical reflection to share with all of us still searching for ways to cope." In December 2001, Dion published her autobiography, ''My Story, My Dream'' which chronicled her rags to riches story.

Return to music: 2002–2003

Dion's aptly titled ''A New Day Has Come'', released in March 2002, ended her three-year break from the music industry. The album was Dion's most personal yet, and established a more mature side of Dion with the songs "A New Day Has Come", "I'm Alive", and "Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)", a change that resulted from her new-found maternal responsibilities, because, in her own words, "becoming a mother makes you a grown-up." She stated, "''A New Day Has Come'', for Rene, for me, is the baby. It has everything to do with the baby...That song "A New Day Has Come" represents very well the mood I'm feeling right now. It represents the whole album." ''A New Day Has Come'' debuted at number one in over 17 countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 527,000 copies; marking her first number one debut on the chart. It was eventually certified 3x Platinum in the United States, and 6x Platinum in Canada.

While the album was commercially successful, critical reviews suggested that it was "forgettable" and the lyrics were "lifeless". Both Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, and Ken Tucker of ''Entertainment Weekly'', stated that Dion's music had not matured during her break, and classed her music as trite and mediocre. Sal Cinquemani of ''Slant'' magazine called the album "a lengthy collection of drippy, gooey pop fluffer-nutter." The first single off the album, ''A New Day Has Come'' peaked at No.22 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, being an airplay-only release. On the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, however the song spent 21 consecutive weeks at number 1, breaking the record for the longest span at the top. The previous record holders were Phil Collins' ''You'll Be in My Heart'' and Dion's own ''Because You Loved Me,'' both of which lasted nineteen weeks at number 1. During 2002, she performed for many benefit concerts, the famous VH1 Divas Live, a concert to benefit the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, alongside Cher, Anastacia, Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Shakira and Stevie Nicks.

Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, Dion released ''One Heart'' (2003), an album that represented her appreciation for life. The album largely consisted of dance music—a deviation from the soaring, melodramatic ballads, for which she had once been given mixed reception. Although the album achieved moderate success, ''One Heart'' was met with mixed criticism, and words such as "predictable" and "banal" appeared even in the most lenient reviews. A cover of the 1989 Cyndi Lauper hit "I Drove All Night", released to launch her new advertising campaign with Chrysler, incorporated dance-pop and rock and roll. The advertising deal itself, however was met with mixed criticism, with some stating that Dion was trying to please her sponsors. However, people like Bonita Stewart, who was the director of Chrysler Group Marketing Communications stated that "Chrysler was taken by how her appeal crossed ethnic lines." She also added, "She brings sophistication, refinement, romance and passion to the brand."

After ''One Heart'', Dion released her next English Language studio album, ''Miracle'' (2004). ''Miracle'' was a multimedia project conceived by Dion and photographer Anne Geddes, and had a theme centering on babies and motherhood. The album was filled with lullabies and other songs of maternal love and inspiration, the two most popular being covers of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy". The reviews for ''Miracle'' were mixed. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic.com gave the album three of out five stars, stating, "The worst you can say about the record is that there are no surprises, but the audience for this record doesn't want surprises; they want comfort, whether it arrives in polished music or artsy photos of newborns, and Miracle provides both, which makes it appealing for those expectant or new mothers in Dion's audience. Chuck Taylor of ''Billboard'' magazine wrote that the single "Beautiful Boy" was "an unexpected gem" and called Dion "a timeless, enormously versatile artist", Chuck Arnold of ''People'' Magazine, however, labeled the album as excessively sentimental, while Nancy Miller of ''Entertainment Weekly'' opined that "the whole earth-mama act is just opportunism, reborn". ''Miracle'' debuted at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and number one in Canada , and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA.

The Francophone album ''1 fille & 4 types'' (''1 Girl & 4 Guys''), released in October 2003, fared better than her first two releases, and showed Dion trying to distance herself from the "diva" image. She recruited Jean-Jacques Goldman, Gildas Arzel, Eric Benzi, and Jacques Veneruso, with whom she had previously worked on two of her best-selling French albums ''S'il suffisait d'aimer'' and ''D'eux''. Labeled "the album of pleasure" by Dion herself, the album cover showed Dion in a simple and relaxed manner, contrary to the choreographed poses usually found on her album covers. The album achieved widespread commercial success in France, Canada, and Belgium where it reached number one. In France, the album debuted at number one and was later certified 2x platinum after selling over 700,000 copies. Critic, Stephen Erlewine of ''AllMusic'' wrote that Dion's vocals "are back at top of their game" and that she was "getting back to pop basics and performing at a level unheard in a while."

Though her albums were commercially successful, they did not achieve the sales or the reception of her previous works. Albums like ''The Collector's Series, Volume One'' (2000), and ''One Heart'' (2003) did not perform as well critically. Her songs received less airplay as radio became less embracing of balladeers like Dion, Carey, and Houston, and was focused on more up-tempo, Urban/Hip-hop songs. However, by 2004, Dion had accumulated sales of more than 175 million albums worldwide, and received the Chopard Diamond Award from the World Music Awards for her achievements. According to the official World Music Awards website, the award is rare; it's not even "presented every year" and an artist can only be presented with the award for selling "over 100 million albums during their career."

''A New Day... Live in Las Vegas'': 2003–2007

In early 2002 Dion had announced a three-year, 600-show contract to appear five nights a week in an entertainment extravaganza, ''A New Day...'', at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. This move was seen as "one of the smartest business decisions in years by any major recording artist". She conceived the idea for the show after seeing ''O'' by Franco Dragone early in her break from recording, and began on March 25, 2003, in a 4,000-seat arena designed for her show. Many stars attended opening night including Dick Clark, Alan Thicke, Kathy Griffin, and Justin Timberlake, who hosted the television special. The show, put together by Dragone, was a combination of dance, music, and visual effects. It included Dion performing her biggest hits against an array of dancers and special effects. Reviewer Mike Weatherford felt that, at first, Dion was not as relaxed as she should be, and at times, it was hard to find the singer among the excessive stage ornamentations and dancers. However, he noted that the show had become more enjoyable, due to Dion's improved stage-presence and simpler costumes.

The show was also well-received by audiences, despite the complaints of expensive tickets; the show routinely sold out until its end in late 2007. Ticket prices averaged $135.33. The show was choreographed by Mia Michaels, who is a world renowned choreographer. According to ''Pollstar'', Dion sold 322,000 tickets and grossed US$43.9 million in the first half of 2005, and by July 2005, she had sold out 315 out of 384 shows. By the end of 2005, Dion grossed more than US$76 million, placing sixth on ''Billboard's Money Makers list for 2005''. ''A New Day...'' was the 6th biggest selling tour in America in 2006. Because of the show's success, Dion's contract was extended into 2007 for an undisclosed sum. On January 5, 2007 it was announced that the show would end on December 15, 2007, with tickets for the period after October 2007 having gone on sale from March 1. During its entire run, the show accumulated a total gross of $400 million, while being seen by nearly 3 million fans. The ''Live in Las Vegas - A New Day...'' DVD was released on December 10, 2007 in Europe and the following day in North America.

Back to studio and world tour: 2007–2009

Dion's latest French language album, ''D'elles'' ''(About Them)'', released on May 21, 2007, debuted at the top of the Canadian album charts, selling 72,200 copies in its first week. It marked her tenth number-one album in the SoundScan era, and her eighth to debut at the top position. In Canada, the album has been certified 2× platinum, and within the first week had already shipped half a million units worldwide. ''D'Elles'' also reached No. 1 in France and Belgium. The first single "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" (meaning "And If There Was Only One Woman Left (I Would Be That One)") debuted at the top of the French singles chart a month earlier. She released her latest English album ''Taking Chances'' on November 12 in Europe, and on the November 13 in North America. Her first English studio album since 2003's ''One Heart'', it features pop, R&B;, and rock inspired music. Dion has collaborated with John Shanks and ex-Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody, as well as Kristian Lundin, Peer Astrom, Linda Perry, Japanese singer Yuna Ito, and R&B; singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. Dion stated, "I think this album represents a positive evolution in my career ... I'm feeling strong, maybe a little gutsier than in the past, and just as passionate about music and life as I ever was." She launched her year-long worldwide Taking Chances Tour on February 14, 2008 in South Africa, performing 132 dates in stadiums and arenas across five continents.

The Taking Chances Tour was a great success in the United States, reaching the Number 1 spot on the ''Billboard'' Boxscore and it sold out every concert in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, she appeared on Idol Gives Back for a second year in a row. Céline Dion was nominated for six Juno Awards in 2008, leading the group of Canadians to receive this honour,and adding to her 53 previous nominations. Her nominations included Artist of the Year, Pop Album of the Year (for ''Taking Chances''), Francophone Album of the Year (for ''D'elles'') and Album of the Year (for both ''Taking Chances'' and ''D'elles''). The following year, Dion was nominated for 3 Juno Awards including the Fan Choice Award, Song of the Year (for ''Taking Chances''), and Music DVD of the Year (for ''Live in Las Vegas — A New Day...'')

On August 22, 2008, Celine Dion presented a free show, exclusively francophone, outside on the Plains of Abraham, in Quebec City, Canada, for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. The celebration gathered approximately 490,000 people (total with TV broadcast). The concert, called ''Céline sur les Plaines'', was released on DVD on November 11, 2008 in Quebec and was released on May 20, 2009 in France. The end of October saw the worldwide release of her first ever comprehensive English greatest hits album called ''My Love: Essential Collection'', available in two different album formats.

In May 2009, Celine Dion was named the 20th best-selling artist of the decade in the United States and the second-best-selling female artist of the decade in the United States, selling an estimated 17.57 million albums. In June 2009, ''Forbes'' reported that Dion earned $100 million during 2008. In December 2009, Pollstar announced that Dion was the best-selling solo touring act of the decade and the second-best-selling touring act of the decade, only to the Dave Matthews Band. Dion grossed $522.2 million during the decade, a large sum of that coming from her five-year residence at Caesars Palace.

Concert film and video release: late 2009–2010

On February 17, 2010 Dion released into theatres a documentary film about her ''Taking Chances Tour'', titled, ''Celine: Through the Eyes of the World''. The documentary shows behind-the-scenes footage of Dion both onstage and offstage, along with footage of Dion with her family as they traveled with her. The distributor is the Sony Pictures subsidiary, Hot Ticket. The film was later released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 4, 2010, along with the CD/DVD, ''Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert'', which chronicled her world tour of the same name. At the 52nd Grammy Awards in February 2010, Dion joined Carrie Underwood, Usher, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson to perform the song "Earth Song" during the 3-D Michael Jackson tribute.

In January 2010, ''The Los Angeles Times'' presented its annual list of the top ten largest earners of the year, revealing that Dion took the top spot for the entire decade, with $US747.9 million in total revenue from 2000–2009. The largest haul came from ticket sales, totaling $522.2 million. Additionally, Dion was named "Artist of the Decade" in her native Canadian province of Quebec, announced by the Montreal-based newspaper, ''Le Journal de Quebec'' in 2009 December. A public online survey asked responders to vote for who they believe deserved the above-mentioned accolade.

Furthermore, in a May 2010 Harris Poll, Dion was named the most popular musician in the United States, ahead of U2, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles, while factoring in gender, political affiliations, geographic region of residence, and income. Specifically, Dion was the most popular musician in the female demographic, as well as among all Democrats, those who live in the eastern United States and southern United States, and those who have incomes between US$35k and US$74.9k.

In September 2010, she released the single "Voler", a duet with French singer Michel Sardou. The song was later included on Sardou's album. In addition, it was announced in October 2010 that Dion wrote and composed a new song for Canadian singer, Marc Dupré entitled "Entre deux mondes".

New Las Vegas show: 2011–present

In an interview with ''People Magazine'' published in February 2010, Dion announced that she will be returning to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for ''Celine'', a three-year residency for seventy shows a year, beginning March 15, 2011. She stated that the show will feature, "all the songs from my repertoire that people want to hear" and will contain a selection of music from classic Hollywood films. Dion has also announced that she is working on two new studio albums, in French and English.

In preparation for her return to Las Vegas, Dion, on February 21 made an appearance on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" during the show's final season, and spoke about her upcoming Caesars Palace shows, as well as her family. Additionally, for a record sixth time, Dion performed at the 83rd Academy Awards, where she sang the song "Smile," as part of the ceremony's "In Memoriam" segment.

Personal life

Dion first met her husband and manager, Rene Angelil in 1980, when she was 12 and he was 38, after she and her mother sent him a demo tape of a song they had written. They began a relationship in 1987, and became engaged in 1991. They married on December 17, 1994, at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Quebec. On January 5, 2000, Dion and Angelil renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas.

In May 2000, Dion had two small operations at a fertility clinic in New York to improve her chances of conceiving, after deciding to use in-vitro fertilisation after years of failed attempts to conceive. Their first child, Rene-Charles Angelil, was born on January 25, 2001. In May 2010, Angelil announced that Dion was 14 weeks pregnant with twins after a sixth treatment of in-vitro fertilisation. On Saturday, October 23, 2010, at 11:11 and 11:12 am respectively, at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, Dion, by Caesarean section, gave birth to two healthy fraternal twins weighing 5 pounds 10 ounces and 5 pounds 4 ounces. The twins were named Eddy, after Dion's favorite Algerian songwriter Eddy Marnay, and Nelson, after former South African President Nelson Mandela. Dion appeared with her newborn sons on the cover of the December 9, 2010 issue of the Canadian edition of ''Hello!'' magazine.

On October 15, 2010, Céline Dion was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Artistry and image

Dion grew up listening to the music of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Anne Murray, Barbra Streisand, and the Bee Gees, all of whom she would eventually collaborate with. Dion has also stated she grew up listening to artists such as Janis Joplin, the Doobie Brothers, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, but never got the chance to sing their genre of music. She also was inspired by fellow vocalist Whitney Houston, whom Dion has often been compared to. Her music has been influenced by numerous genres, including pop, rock, gospel, R&B; and soul, and her lyrics focus on themes of poverty, world hunger, and spirituality, with an emphasis on love and romance. After the birth of her child, her work also began to emphasize maternal bond and brotherly love.

Dion has faced considerable criticism from critics, who state that her music often retreats behind pop and soul conventions, and is marked by excessive sentimentality. According to Keith Harris of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, "[Dion's] sentimentality is bombastic and defiant rather than demure and retiring....[she] stands at the end of the chain of drastic devolution that goes Aretha-Whitney-Mariah. Far from being an aberration, Dion actually stands as a symbol of a certain kind of pop sensibility—bigger is better, too much is never enough, and the riper the emotion the more true." Dion's francophone releases, by contrast, tend to be deeper and more varied than her English releases, and consequently have achieved more credibility.

Critics have stated that Dion's involvement in the production aspect of her music is fundamentally lacking, which results in her work being overproduced and impersonal. However, coming from a family in which all of her siblings were musicians, she learned to play instruments like piano and guitar, and practiced with a Fender Stratocaster during the recording sessions of her album, ''Falling into You''. Also, she helped to compose many of her earlier French songs, and had always tried to involve herself with the production and recording of her albums. On her first English album, which she recorded before she had a firm command of the English language, she expressed disapproval of the record, which could have been avoided if she had assumed more creative input. By the time she released her second English album ''Celine Dion'', she had assumed more control of the production and recording process, hoping to dispel earlier criticisms. She stated, "On the second album I said, 'Well, I have the choice to be afraid one more time and not be 100% happy, or not be afraid and be part of this album.' This is my album." She would continue to involve herself in the production of subsequent releases, helping to write a few of her songs on ''Let's Talk About Love'' (1997) and ''These Are Special Times'' (1998).

Dion is often the subject of media ridicule and parody, and is frequently impersonated on shows like ''MADtv'', ''Saturday Night Live'', ''South Park'', ''Royal Canadian Air Farce'' and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' for her strong accent and on-stage movements. However, Dion has stated that she is unaffected by the comments, and is flattered that people take the time to impersonate her. She even invited Ana Gasteyer, who parodied her on SNL, to appear on stage during one of her performances. While she is rarely politically outspoken, in 2005 following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Dion appeared on ''Larry King Live'' and tearfully criticized the U.S. government's slow response in aiding the victims of the hurricane: "There's people still there waiting to be rescued. To me that is not acceptable...How can it be so easy to send planes in another country to kill everybody in a second and destroy lives. We need to serve our country." After her interview, she stated, "When I do interviews with Larry King or the big TV shows like that, they put you on the spot, which is very difficult. I do have an opinion, but I'm a singer. I'm not a politician."

Voice

Dion is often regarded as one of pop music's most influential voices. She has been described as a reigning "Queen of Pop" for her influence over the record industry during the 1990s, alongside other female entertainers, including Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. In a countdown of the "22 Greatest Voices in Music" by ''Blender Magazine'' and MTV, she placed ninth (sixth for a female), and she was also placed fourth in ''Cove'' magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists." Dion is often compared to Mariah Carey for her vocal style and to her idol, Barbra Streisand, for her voice.

According to various sources, Dion possesses a five-octave vocal range. Regarding the power of Dion's voice, Regine Crespin states, "The volume as such is thin, but thanks to her perfect mastery of the nasal backing, her voice acquires an incisive and penetrating timbre, with a great harmonic richness." Dion states she is a mezzo-soprano, while Regine Crespin and André Tubeuf state she is probably a lyric soprano. However, attempts to adopt classical voice types to other forms of singing has been met with controversy. Without making a classification, maestro Kent Nagano remarked, "All you just sang was soprano," after Dion auditioned with two solos of ''Carmen,'' wanting to know if she could sing opera. Her timbre has been described as "fresh," as well as "thin, slightly nasal, nearly vibratoless," with a "raspy" lower register and "bell glass-like high notes." According to French soprano, Regine Crespin, Dion's voice is "comparable to oboe, because of its nasal and fruity timbre and it is mordant in high notes." Crespin is also circumspect about Dion's highest notes, stating, "She doesn't have a head voice," further remarking, "she uses falsetto," which is "disconnected to the normal voice body."

Dion is often praised for her technical virtuosity. Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times,'' writes, "Ms. Dion [...] is a belter with a high, thin, slightly nasal, nearly vibratoless soprano and a good-sized arsenal of technical skills. She can deliver tricky melismas, produce expressive vocal catches and sustain long notes without the tiniest wavering of pitch. And as her duets [...] have shown, she is a reliable harmony voice." In an interview with ''Libération'', Jean-Jacques Goldman states that she has "no problem of accuracy or tempo." According to Kent Nagano, maestro of the Munich Symphony Orchestra, Dion is "a musician who has a good ear, a refinement, and a degree of perfection that is envious." Mezzo-soprano, Cecilia Bartoli and soprano, Joan Sutherland have expressed that Dion has a very good legato, while Charles Alexander of ''TIME'' states, "[Her] voice glides effortlessly from deep whispers to dead-on high notes, a sweet siren that combines force with grace."

In her French repertoire, Dion adorns her vocals with more nuances and modulations, with the emotional intensity being "more tender and intimate." Additionally, Luc Plamondon, a French singer-songwriter who has written several works for Dion states that there are three chanteuse that Dion uses: the Québécois, the French, and the American. Her latest fragrance, ''Pure Brilliance'' is scheduled to be released in September 2010. Since its inception, ''Celine Dion Parfums'' has grossed over $850 million in retail sales. In October 2004, Air Canada hired Dion as part of their promotional campaign to unveil new service products and an updated livery. "You and I", the theme song sung by Dion, was written by advertising executives working for Air Canada.

Dion has actively supported many charity organizations, worldwide. She has promoted the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) since 1982, and became the foundation's National Celebrity Patron in 1993. She has an emotional attachment to the foundation; her niece Karine succumbed to the disease at the age of sixteen. In 2003, Dion joined a number of other celebrities, athletes, and politicians, including Josh Groban and Yolanda Adams to support "World Children's Day", a global fundraising effort sponsored by McDonald's. The effort raised money from more than 100 nations and benefited orphanages and children's health organizations. In addition, Dion has been a major supporter of the T.J. Martell Foundation, the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, and many health and educational campaigns. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Dion donated $1 million to the victims of the storm, and held a fund-raising event for the victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, which subsequently raised more than $1 million. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Dion donated $100,000 to China Children & Teenagers' Fund and sent a letter showing her consolation and support.

In 1999, Dion received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and also a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2004. She dedicated her star to her father, who died the month prior. In 2007, Celine Dion was ranked by ''Forbes'' as the 5th richest woman in entertainment with an estimated net worth of US$250 million. She also received France's highest award, the Légion d'honneur, in May 2008. In August 2008, she received an honorary doctorate in music from the Université Laval in Quebec City. In October 2010, Dion was named a Goodwill Ambassador, a program created by the UN in 1999. She shared this accolade with Oscar-winner, Susan Sarandon.

Discography

1981: ''La voix du bon Dieu''

1981: ''Céline Dion chante Noël''

1982: ''Tellement j'ai d'amour...''

1983: ''Les chemins de ma maison''

1983: ''Chants et contes de Noël''

1984: ''Mélanie''

1985: ''C'est pour toi''

1987: ''Incognito''

1990: ''Unison''

1991: ''Dion chante Plamondon''

1992: ''Celine Dion''

1993: ''The Colour of My Love''

1995: ''D'eux''

1996: ''Falling into You''

1997: ''Let's Talk About Love''

1998: ''S'il suffisait d'aimer''

1998: ''These Are Special Times''

2002: ''A New Day Has Come''

2003: ''One Heart''

2003: ''1 fille & 4 types''

2004: ''Miracle''

2007: ''D'elles''

2007: ''Taking Chances''

Tours

!Year	!Title	!Releases
1983–1984	Les chemins de ma maison tournée	None
1985	C'est pour toi tournée	Vinyl ''Céline Dion en concert''
1988	Incognito tournée	None
1990–1991	Unison Tour
1992–1993	Celine Dion in Concert	None
1994–1995	The Colour of My Love Tour	VHS/DVD ''The Colour of My Love Concert''; CD ''À l'Olympia''
1995	D'eux Tour
1996–1997	Falling into You Tour	VHS ''Live in Memphis''
1998–1999	Let's Talk About Love World Tour
2003–2007	''A New Day...''	DVD/BD ''Live in Las Vegas - A New Day...''; CD ''A New Day... Live in Las Vegas''
2008–2009	Taking Chances Tour	DVD ''Céline sur les Plaines''; DVD/BD ''Celine: Through the Eyes of the World''; DVD/CD ''Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert''
2011–2014

Filmography

''Touched by an Angel''

''The Nanny''

''All My Children''

''La fureur de Céline''

''Des fleurs sur la neige''

''Céline sur les Plaines''

''Celine: Through the Eyes of the World''

See also

List of awards received by Celine Dion

Celine Dion videography

List of best-selling music artists

Notes

References

}}

''Céline Dion''. Artist direct. Retrieved on December 18, 2005.

"Celine Dion." ''Contemporary Musicians, Volume 25''. Gale Group, 1999.

"Celine Dion." ''Newsmakers 1995'', Issue 4. Gale Research, 1995.

''Céline Dion'' Rock on the Net. Retrieved November 20, 2005.

Céline Dion ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Retrieved July 2, 2006

''Céline Dion'' provided by VH1.com Retrieved August 16, 2005.

''Dion extends long Las Vegas stint'' bbc news. com. Retrieved November 5, 2005.

Durchholz, Daniel. ''Review: One Heart''. ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch''. St. Louis, Mo.: April 24, 2003. p. F.3

''The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalist'' covemagazine.com Retrieved November 1, 2005.

''Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Nineties'' (ISBN 0-89820-137-3)

''The Journey so far'' celinedion.com. Retrieved August 16, 2005.

World Music Awards ''Diamond Award'' Retrieved November 1, 2005, (Search by year required)

Céline Dion's biography ''Biography'' Retrieved April 7, 2006.

Céline DTV Series ''TV Series'' Retrieved April 15, 2006.

Further reading

}}

External links

CelineDion.com – Official website operated by Sony Music Canada (English, French).

Celine Dion YouTube Channel

Celine Dion at WN

[ Celine Dion] at Allmusic

Celine Dion at Billboard.com

FAO Goodwill Ambassador website

Johnny Loganwith "Hold Me Now"}} Rivawith "Rock Me"}}

Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats Category:1968 births Category:Ballad musicians Category:Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian child singers Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian philanthropists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian people of French descent Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian sopranos Category:Canadian voice actors Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:English-language singers Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1988 Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:French-language singers Category:French Quebecers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Montreal Category:Officers of the National Order of Quebec Category:Swiss Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:World Music Awards winners Category:People from Martin County, Florida Category:People from Henderson, Nevada Category:People from Las Vegas, Nevada Category:People from Toronto Category:Miscarriage victims

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	James Horner
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	James Roy Horner
birth date	August 14, 1953
origin	Los Angeles, U.S.
genre	Film score
occupation	Composer
years active	1979–present
associated acts	Will Jennings, Celine Dion, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Ian Underwood, Randy Kerber, Faith Hill, Josh Groban, Linda Ronstadt, Charlotte Church, Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Leona Lewis}}

James Roy Horner (born August 14, 1953) is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements. His score to the 1997 film ''Titanic'' remains the best selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time.

In addition, Horner has scored over 100 films, frequently collaborating with acclaimed directors such as Mel Gibson, James Cameron and Ron Howard. Other scores he worked on include those of ''Braveheart'', ''Willow'', ''Apollo 13'', ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', ''Aliens'', ''Glory'', ''The Mask of Zorro'', ''Field of Dreams'', ''Enemy at the Gates'', ''The Missing'', ''Sneakers'', ''Casper'', ''Troy'', ''An American Tail'', ''The Land Before Time'', ''The Rocketeer'', ''A Beautiful Mind'', ''Mighty Joe Young'', ''The Perfect Storm'', ''Avatar'', and most recently, ''The Karate Kid.''

His body of work is notable for including the scores to the two highest-grossing films of all time; ''Titanic'' and ''Avatar'', both of which were directed by James Cameron.

Horner is a two-time Academy Award-winner, and has received a total of 10 Oscar nominations. He has won numerous other awards, including the Golden Globe Award and the Grammy Award.

Early life

Horner was born in Los Angeles, the son of Austrian immigrants Joan (née Fraenkel) and Harry Horner, who was a production designer, set designer and occasional film director.

Horner started playing piano at the age of five. His early years were spent in London, where he attended the Royal College of Music. He subsequently attended Verde Valley High School in Sedona, Arizona. He received his bachelor's degree in music from the University of Southern California, and eventually earned a master's and started working on his doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied with Paul Chihara, among others. After several scoring assignments with the American Film Institute in the 1970s, he finished his teaching of music theory at UCLA and turned to film scoring.

Film and television scoring

Horner's first major film score was for the 1979 film, ''The Lady in Red''. He began his film scoring career by working for B film director and producer Roger Corman, with his first composer credit for Corman's big-budget ''Battle Beyond the Stars''. His works steadily gained notice in Hollywood, which led him to take on larger projects. Horner made a breakthrough in 1982, when he had the chance to score for ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', establishing himself as a mainstream composer.

Horner continued composing music for high-profile releases during the 1980s, including ''48 Hrs.'' (1982), ''Krull'' (1983), ''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (1984), ''Commando'' (1985), ''Cocoon'' (1985), ''Aliens'' (1986), ''Willow'' (1988), ''Glory'' and ''Field of Dreams'' (both 1989).

''Aliens'' earned Horner his first Academy Award nomination. He has been nominated an additional nine times since. Horner's scores have been sampled in film trailers for other films. The climax of the track ''Bishop's Countdown'' from his score for ''Aliens'' ranks fifth in the most commonly-used soundtrack cues for film trailers. Also, an unused fragment from ''Aliens'' was featured in a scene from ''Die Hard''. Several films whose scores were composed by Michael Kamen have had trailers featuring Horner's music; most notably, the music from ''Willow'' is substituted for the theme Kamen wrote for the 1993 remake of ''The Three Musketeers''. Horner also added his nominated Braveheart "For the Love of a Princess" single for Robert Zemeckis's Theatrical Trailer of ''Cast Away''.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Horner also wrote orchestral scores for children's films (particularly those produced by Amblin Entertainment), with credits for ''An American Tail'' (1986), ''The Land Before Time'' (1988), ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991), ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'' (1993), and ''Casper'', ''Jumanji'', and ''Balto'' (all from 1995).

1995 saw Horner produce no fewer than six scores, including his commercially successful and critically acclaimed works for ''Braveheart'' and ''Apollo 13'', both of which earned him Academy Award nominations. Horner's greatest financial and critical success would come in 1997, with the score to the motion picture, ''Titanic''. The album became the best-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack in history, selling over 27 million copies worldwide.

At the 70th Academy Awards, Horner won Oscars for Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song for "My Heart Will Go On" (which he co-wrote with Will Jennings). In addition, Horner and Jennings won three Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for the soundtrack and ''My Heart Will Go On''. ''Titanic'' also marked the first time in ten years that Horner worked with director James Cameron (following the highly stressful scoring sessions for ''Aliens'', Horner declared that he would never work with Cameron again and described the experience of scoring the film ''Aliens'' as "a nightmare").

Since ''Titanic'', Horner has continued to score for major productions (including ''The Perfect Storm'', ''A Beautiful Mind'', ''Enemy At The Gates'', ''The Mask of Zorro'', ''The Legend of Zorro'', ''House of Sand and Fog'' and ''Bicentennial Man'').

Aside from scoring major productions, Horner periodically works on smaller projects such as ''Iris'', ''Radio'' and ''Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius''. He received his eighth and ninth Academy Award nominations for ''A Beautiful Mind'' (2001) and ''House of Sand and Fog'' (2003), but lost on both occasions to Howard Shore. He frequently collaborates with film director Ron Howard, a partnership that began with ''Cocoon'' in 1985. Coincidentally, Horner's end title music from ''Glory'' can be heard in the trailer for Howard's ''Backdraft''.

Horner composed the current theme music for the ''CBS Evening News''. The theme was introduced as part of the debut of Katie Couric as anchor on September 5, 2006. It has since been adopted by most other CBS News programs as well.

Horner recollaborated with James Cameron on the 2009 film ''Avatar'', which was released in December 2009 and has since become the highest grossing film of all time, surpassing ''Titanic'' (also directed by Cameron and scored by Horner).

Horner spent over two years working on the score for ''Avatar'', and did not take on any other projects during that time. Horner's work on ''Avatar'' earned him numerous award nominations, including his tenth Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe nomination, a BAFTA nomination, and a Grammy Award nomination, all of which he lost to Michael Giacchino for ''Up''.

Regarding the experience of scoring ''Avatar'', Horner said, "Avatar has been the most difficult film I have worked on and the biggest job I have undertaken... I work from four in the morning to about ten at night and that’s been my way of life since March. That's the world I'm in now and it makes you feel estranged from everything. I'll have to recover from that and get my head out of Avatar." It is currently unknown whether or not Horner will return as composer for the sequel(s) to ''Avatar''.

Horner recently composed the score for the film ''The Karate Kid'' replacing Atli Örvarsson. This is the first film Horner has worked on since ''Avatar''. The film was released in 2010.

Horner's next project will be the score to ''The Song of Names'', which is due for release in 2011.

Critical debate

Horner has been criticised for transposing hooks, orchestral motifs, or larger passages from other scores of his own or of other composers. These contentions are points of fierce debates between supporters of Horner and his detractors.

List of scores

Film

1970s

1978 ''The Drought'' (for the American Film Institute)

1978 ''Fantasies'' (for the American Film Institute)

1978 ''Gist and Evans'' (for the American Film Institute)

1978 ''Landscapes'' (for the American Film Institute)

1978 ''Just for a Laugh'' (for the American Film Institute)

1978 ''The Watcher'' (for the American Film Institute)

1979 ''The Lady in Red''

1979 ''Up from the Depths''

1980s

1980 ''Humanoids from the Deep''

1980 ''Battle Beyond the Stars'' (score reused in later Roger Corman productions)

1981 ''Deadly Blessing''

1981 ''The Hand''

1981 ''Wolfen''

1981 ''The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper''

1982 ''48 Hrs.''

1982 ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''

1983 ''The Dresser''

1983 ''Gorky Park''

1983 ''Testament''

1983 ''Uncommon Valor''

1983 ''Brainstorm''

1983 ''Krull''

1983 ''Something Wicked This Way Comes''

1984 ''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''

1984 ''The Stone Boy''

1985 ''The Journey of Natty Gann''

1985 ''Volunteers''

1985 ''Commando''

1985 ''Cocoon''

1985 ''Heaven Help Us''

1986 ''The Name of the Rose''

1986 ''Off Beat''

1986 ''Where the River Runs Black''

1986 ''An American Tail (Oscar Nominee)''

1986 ''Aliens (Golden Globe & Oscar Nominee)''

1987 ''P.K. and the Kid''

1987 ''Project X''

1987 ''*batteries not included''

1988 ''The Land Before Time''

1988 ''Vibes''

1988 ''Cocoon: The Return''

1988 ''Red Heat''

1988 ''Willow''

1989 ''Dad''

1989 ''Field of Dreams (Oscar Nominee)''

1989 ''Glory (Golden Globe Nominee)''

1989 ''In Country''

1989 ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids''

1990s

1990 ''I Love You to Death''

1990 ''Another 48 Hours''

1991 ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (Golden Globe Nominee)''

1991 ''Once Around''

1991 ''The Rocketeer''

1991 ''Class Action''

1992 ''Thunderheart''

1992 ''Sneakers''

1992 ''Unlawful Entry''

1992 ''Patriot Games''

1993 ''Bopha!''

1993 ''House of Cards''

1993 ''Jack the Bear''

1993 ''The Man Without a Face''

1993 ''Once Upon a Forest''

1993 ''Hocus Pocus'' (Sarah's Theme)

1993 ''Searching for Bobby Fischer''

1993 ''Swing Kids''

1993 ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''

1993 ''The Pelican Brief''

1993 ''A Far Off Place''

1994 ''Legends of the Fall (Golden Globe Nominee)''

1994 ''The Pagemaster''

1994 ''Clear and Present Danger''

1995 ''Jade''

1995 ''Balto''

1995 ''Jumanji''

1995 ''Apollo 13 (Oscar nominee)''

1995 ''Casper''

1995 ''Braveheart (Golden Globe, BAFTA & Oscar Nominee)''

1996 ''Ransom''

1996 ''To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday''

1996 ''Courage Under Fire''

1996 ''The Spitfire Grill''

1997 ''Titanic (Golden Globe, Grammy & Oscar Winner, BAFTA nominee)''

1997 ''The Devil's Own''

1998 ''Mighty Joe Young''

1998 ''The Mask of Zorro''

1998 ''Deep Impact''

1999 ''Bicentennial Man''

2000s

2000 ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas''

2000 ''The Perfect Storm''

2001 ''Iris''

2001 ''A Beautiful Mind (Golden Globe & Oscar Nominee)''

2001 ''Enemy at the Gates''

2002 ''The Four Feathers''

2002 ''Windtalkers''

2003 ''House of Sand and Fog (Oscar Nominee)''

2003 ''The Missing''

2003 ''Beyond Borders''

2003 ''Radio''

2004 ''The Forgotten''

2004 ''Troy''

2004 ''Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius''

2005 ''The Chumscrubber''

2005 ''Flightplan''

2005 ''The Legend of Zorro''

2005 ''The New World''

2006 ''Apocalypto''

2006 ''All the King's Men''

2007 ''The Life Before Her Eyes''

2008 ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas''

2008 ''The Spiderwick Chronicles''

2009 ''Avatar (Golden Globe, BAFTA & Oscar Nominee)''

2010s

2010 ''The Karate Kid''

2011 ''Black Gold'' 2011 ''Cristiada'' 2011 ''The Song of Names''

Television

1981 ''A Few Days in Weasel Creek''

1982 ''A Piano for Mrs. Cimino''

1983 ''Between Friends''

1985 ''Amazing Stories'' (Episode: "Alamo Jobe")

1985 ''Faerie Tale Theatre'' (Episode: "The Pied Piper of Hamelin")

1985 ''Surviving''

1990 ''Tales from the Crypt'' (Episode: "Cutting Cards")

1990 ''Extreme Close-Up''

1992 ''Crossroads'' (theme)

1992 ''Fish Police'' (theme and pilot episode)

2000 ''Freedom Song''

2006 ''CBS Evening News''

Short films

1985 ''Let's Go''

1986 ''Captain EO'' (Epcot Center)

1989 ''Tummy Trouble''

1991 ''Norman and the Killer''

Concert works

1976: "Conversations"

1977: "Spectral Shimmers"

1998: "Titanic Suite"

2000: "A Forest Passage"

Miscellaneous works

Logo music for Universal Pictures (1990–1997), Lionsgate, Icon Productions and CBS Films.

THX trailer "Cimarron"

Music for the P-51 aerobatic flight team "The Horsemen"

Awards and nominations

Horner has received 10 Academy Award nominations, 8 for Best Original Music Score, and twice for Best Original Song. Out of these nominations, Horner has won two Oscars, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Titanic.

Horner has also received five Golden Globe nominations, all in the category of Best Original Score, winning one, for Titanic, as well as seven Grammy Award nominations, winning for Glory (Best Score), An American Tail, and Titanic, the latter two being in the category of Best Song. He has also received three BAFTA nominations, but has not yet won.

{| style="width:100%;" |- valign="top" | style="width:50%;"|

; Academy Award

1987: ''Aliens'' (best original score)

1987: "Somewhere Out There" (from: ''An American Tail'', best original song)

1990: ''Field of Dreams'' (best original score)

1996: ''Apollo 13'' (best original drama score)

1996: ''Braveheart'' (best original drama score)

1998: "My Heart Will Go On" (from: ''Titanic'', best original song, Winner)

1998: ''Titanic'' (best original drama score, Winner)

2002: ''A Beautiful Mind'' (best original score)

2004: ''House Of Sand And Fog'' (best original score)

2010: ''Avatar'' (best original score)

| style="width:50%;"|

; Golden Globe

1987: "Somewhere Out There" (from: ''An American Tail'', best original song)

1990: ''Glory'' (best original score)

1992: "Dreams To Dream" (from: ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', best original song)

1995: ''Legends of the Fall'' (best original score)

1996: ''Braveheart'' (best original score)

1998: "My Heart Will Go On" (from: ''Titanic'', best original song, Winner)

1998: ''Titanic'' (best original score, Winner)

2002: ''A Beautiful Mind'' (best original score)

2009: ''Avatar'' (best original score)

|}

{| style="width:100%;" |- valign="top" | style="width:50%;"|

; Grammy

1988: ''An American Tail''

1988: "Somewhere Out There" (from: ''An American Tail'', Winner)

1990: ''Field of Dreams''

1991: ''Glory'' (Winner)

1996: "Whatever You Imagine" (from: ''The Pagemaster'')

1999: "My Heart Will Go On" (from: ''Titanic'', Winner)

2003: ''A Beautiful Mind''

| style="width:50%;"|

; Satellite Awards

1998: "My Heart Will Go On" (from: ''Titanic'', Winner)

1998: ''Titanic'' (Winner)

2002: "All Love Can Be" (from: ''A Beautiful Mind'', Winner)

2002: ''A Beautiful Mind''

2004: ''The Missing''

|}

; BAFTA Awards

1995: ''Braveheart''

1997: ''Titanic''

2009: ''Avatar'' (Award for Best Sound Engineer assisted by Rumen Lishkov)

AFI

Horner's scores for the following films were nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores:

''Apollo 13'' (1995)

''Braveheart'' (1995)

''Field of Dreams'' (1989)

''Glory'' (1989)

''Titanic'' (1997)

References

External links

James Horner interview (1983) from CinemaScore magazine

Category:1953 births Category:American composers Category:American film score composers Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:University of Southern California alumni

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