Director James Cameron has landed himself in hot water (or should we say ice-cold water) over claims that he ‘stole’ a man’s life story for the lead character of Jack Dawson in his monster hit Titanic.
While a number of characters in Cameron’s blockbuster were based on real-life historical figures connected with the infamous incident where the R.M.S. Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912, the lead characters, lovers Rose DeWitt Bukater (played by Kate Winslet) and Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), were supposedly fictional.
Stephen Cummings, a man from Florida who used to work in the yacht industry, is claiming he's the inspiration for Jack Dawson. According to documents, Cameron learned about Cummings through word of mouth about events that took place in Brevard County in 1988 and '89.
Moreover, the former yacht master claims that Cameron’s depiction of the Titanic sinking is not based on historical accounts but rather on stories he told friends about two of his relatives who were aboard the real doomed ship – the wife survived while the husband did not.
Cummings wants $300 million plus 1 percent of royalties.