The five Titanic tourists on the OceanGate submersible included a 19-year-old young man who was “terrified” and didn’t want to go on the voyage. The vessel disappeared on Father’s Day, and then three days later (on June 21), Netflix widely released their July listings of new original programming and additions to the streaming library.
At that time, no one yet knew (other than James Cameron and associates) that the submarine’s passengers and OceanGate CEO had perished in a catastrophic implosion. That news arrived on Friday, and now, people are taking notice of James Cameron’s Titanic returning to Netflix on July 1. The timing either couldn’t be worse or better, depending upon one’s perspective (Celine Dion’s movie theme song saw a boost amid the tragedy’s development), although Netflix has apparently stayed quiet on the matter.
This all appears to be sheer coincidence, and notably, the July listings also contain a July 19 release date for a deep-diving documentary called The Deepest Breath. Netflix also released a trailer (days after the OceanGate disappearance), which begins with this narration: “Free diving is one of the world’s deadliest extreme sports.”
As one can imagine (and as The Hollywood Reporter points out), not everyone is thrilled even though THR notes that one outlet had already been tipped about the Titanic return to Netflix. Let’s just say that feelings were mixed, and one user believes that “[t]he timing is so wrong” while others point out that Titanic is already streaming on Amazon Prime and Paramount+.
The timing is so wrong
— Jaden☀️ (@jadenspov) June 24, 2023
Definitely weird timing – doesn’t seem like a random move 😬
— Samantha J. Foster Composer (@sjfostersound) June 26, 2023
Netflix marketing director: “You know how we could really capitalize on the tragic deaths of those people? Put the Titanic on Netflix for some easy cash because $31.6 billion a year in revenue isn’t enough.”
How broken and sick does your brain have to be to think this way? And…
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) June 25, 2023
Its been on Paramount Plus & Pluto for months and no one said a word. Now Netflix wants to add it and its too soon?
— 🇺🇸Jackie S 🇺🇦🙏🏻4️⃣☮️ (@KaysGramma) June 26, 2023
It was odd to get a promo from Netflix on Titanic the same week of the sub disaster.
— Lex Jurgen (@Lex_Jurgen) June 26, 2023
Additionally, some Twitter users are falsely claiming that Netflix already began streaming a documentary geared specifically toward the OceanGate implosion, but that’s not a correct statement. One doc has surfaced already, yet it hailed from Channel 5 in the UK and began streaming Thursday, which is the day that the implosion confirmation surfaced and passengers were confirmed dead by the Coast Guard. Overall, it’s not the best timing on any of these fronts, but some of this programming was already planned and presumably ready to roll before the submersible went missing.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)