James Cameron Edits ‘Titanic 3D’ to Fix Inaccuracies in Night’s Sky

Director James Cameron has re-edited a scene for the upcoming theatrical release of Titanic 3D after an astrophysicist informed him that the star formation used during a sinking ship scene was inaccurate.

U.S. astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sent Cameron — known for his attention to detail — an email years ago pointing out the star map used during one scene was wrong. It has since been updated.

The scene from the original 1997 film involves character Rose (Kate Winslet) resting on a piece of driftwood at sea, with a shot of the night sky in the background.

Tyson said that the star field used to depict that time of night on April 15, 1912 was wrong. He also ran into the director several times over the years and repeatedly told him about the sky’s lack of verisimilitude.

Camerson ultimately asked to Tyson to send an accurate star map of what the sky would have looked like that night, and Cameron has since replaced the scene with Tyson’s version, according to The Telegraph

It is the only technical update made to the 3D version of the movie.

Tyson has long been vocal about how Hollywood doesn’t always get science right in movies. During a 2009 panel discussion at St. Petersburg College in Florida, Tyson detailed blunders in science in various films, including The Titanic.

“We know everything about where and when that ship sink,” Tyson said via the discussion posted on YouTube. “[Winset] is looking up and there is only one sky she should have been looking at. The left side of the sky was a mirror of the right side of the sky. It wasn’t only wrong, it was lazy.”

After talking to Cameron about it in person, the director joked: “The last I checked, Titanic worldwide has grossed $1.3 billion. Imagine how much more it would have grossed if I had gotten the sky correct,” Tyson said in the YouTube video from St. Petersburg College.

But two months later, someone from Titanic‘s post-production team gave Tyson a call and asked for an accurate map of the sky that could be used in a 10th-anniversary director’s cut version of the film. The same star map has since been edited into Titanic 3D.

“It is possible to influence these things,” Tyson said.

Titanic 3D debuts in theaters in the U.S. on Wednesday, April 4.