Last Updated: March 29, 2024, 16:21 IST
Hollywood’s most debated prop finds a buyer. (Photo Credits: X)
Ever since the Titanic’s release, fans have asked if the panel was large enough to accommodate Rose’s love interest Jack and rescue him from freezing to death.
A number of the most renowned props in Hollywood history, including the axe from The Shining, Forrest Gump’s assortment of chocolates and Indiana Jones’ dependable whip, were up for auction last week. Among these treasures, one of the most debated props in cinema has been sold for more than Rs 5 crore ($718,750). It was none other than the floating piece of wood that kept Titanic’s Rose alive but was unable to prevent Jack Dawson from drowning.
A report by BBC suggests that the sale took place during a prop and costume auction held by the Planet Hollywood restaurant and resort group. According to auctioneers Heritage Auctions, the prop — which is sometimes confused for a door — was built from a whole piece of wreckage that was recovered from the 1912 catastrophe.
Since the film’s 1997 release, people have questioned if the panel could have fit her love interest Jack and prevented him from dying due to hypothermia. The prop “has caused much debate from fans” according to the listing.
Regarding the question of whether the panel could have fit both, the listing states: “The prop measures approx. 8’ long (2.4m) and 41” (1m) wide.”
In the movie, Leonardo Di Caprio’s character Jack claims the door frame panel was made just large enough for his love interest, Rose–Kate Winslet’s character. He subsequently succumbed in the icy Atlantic, and his corpse fell into the ocean’s depths.
The director of Titanic, James Cameron, disclosed in a 2012 episode of Mythbusters that he gets hundreds of letters every day labelling Rose as “selfish” and Jack as an “idiot” over the scene. But he ended the discussion by stating that Jack had to die in order for the script to be followed. “Maybe we screwed up and the board should have been a tiny bit smaller, but the dude’s going down,” he stated.
The bidding began at $60,000 (Rs 50,02,116) and ended at $575,000 (Over Rs 4 crore), approximately five minutes later. Approximately 1,600 pieces and over 5,500 buyers from across the world raked in over $15.6 million (More than Rs 130 crore) during the five-day ‘Treasures from Planet Hollywood’ sale.