Titanic and the Making of James Cameron - by Paula Parisi (Paperback)

About the Book

Complete with Academy Award results, this full-length book includes excerpts from James Cameron's journals on how the landmark film was made, plus notes by Parisi, who has covered the saga from the very beginning. Excerpted as a cover story in the February issue of "Wired" magazine. Photos throughout.

Book Synopsis

"A lively, true-life adventure saga...The incredible story of how James Cameron willed Titanic into existence."
--Newark Sunday Star Ledger

"Like the movie, this book's a winner [and] the final word on the Hollywood come-from-behind story of the decade."
--Parade

14 Academy Award nominations, 11 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, a $1 billion dollar worldwide box office, James Cameron's Titanic was, and remains, a monumental achievement in film. Titanic and the Making of James Cameron by former Hollywood Reporter journalist Paula Parisi recounts the making of this modern classic motion picture from conception to completion, offering a fascinating, detailed, behind-the-scenes look at its stars, including Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, its crew, and its genius director. Republished in time to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the catastrophic sinking of the gargantuan ocean liner, Titanic and the Making of James Cameron is a must-read for Titanic fans and for true movie buffs everywhere.

From the Back Cover

The only reporter James Cameron invited to chronicle the astonishing three-year odyssey that was the making of Titanic, Paula Parisi details the behind-the-scenes adventure so vividly you feel as if you are there. In this fast-paced narrative, we dive with Cameron twelve thousand feet to the wreckage of the Titanic. We're with him as he plans and budgets the film, scouts locations, and casts the actors; as he builds a state-of-the-art studio in Mexico, deals with studio executives, edits fourteen days' worth of film, and supervises more than five hundred special effects. Cameron also collaborates with composer James Horner and singer Celine Dion, and ultimately wins the gold: eleven Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture. Excerpts from Cameron's journals are cited throughout.

In addition, there's Cameron's own story: his childhood and family life; his first experience in film, working for Roger Corman; and fascinating stories about the founding of Lightstorm and the making of Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies, and, ultimately, Titanic.

Review Quotes

In the wake of James Cameron's Titanic (14 Academy nominations, 11 Oscars, a billion-dollar worldwide box office), Parisi traces the development of project "Big Boat" from inception to conclusion in a tribute to "the man who did more than any other to revolutionize the look of film as we enter the new millennium." Written in a breezy, reportorial style, the book details the execution of Cameron's vision of Titanic "as a kind of living history." Cameron's notorious perfectionism prompted the building of a 750-foot replica of the Titanic and the building of Cameron's own film studio in Mexico. Called the 100 Day Studio, it was the first built by one of the Hollywood majors since the 1930s. Taking responsibility for his excesses, Cameron (in an unprecedented move) reassigned his profit-sharing back to Twentieth Century-Fox. Surpassing Waterworld's gigantic budget, Titanic became the most expensive movie ever made. Staffers wore T-shirts proclaiming: "You Can't Scare Me I Work for James Cameron." But Mr. Action King pulled it off. At the cost of $1 million per minute, Titanic became the highest-grossing film ever in the U.S., exceeding Star Wars. There is an old-fashioned feel to the story of the making of Titanic, and Parisi's lively portrayal recalls the egomaniacal geniuses of yore, particularly D.W. Griffith, whose daring innovations founded the movies as an art form by 1912. Is Cameron the D.W. Griffith of the 21st century? Time, the greatest Titan of all, will tell. - Publishers Weekly