We’re reasonably sure Titanic coming to Netflix isn’t a submersible joke

The internet will never let go of making wild assumptions about how licensing agreements work. Earlier today, Netflix announced that one of the most successful movies of all time, Titanic, will be docking back into Netflix on July 1. By the time this news hit Twitter, it was already too late. Streaming Titanic one week after that OceanGate’s deadly voyage is “too soon,” according to some Twitter users burned out on seven days of memes. People would’ve needed to watch the film before the trip to learn its lessons.

“The devil works hard, but Netflix works harder,” one user tweeted. Others saw Netflix hosting the most famous and popular movie of all time as “exploiting a tragedy.” While they’re certainly right when it comes to labor practices and spreading transphobia, it’s not the case here. It’s just a coincidence.

While many were quick to jump into the replies of Pop Crave and Pop Base’s tweets about the film, it’s worth reiterating that this isn’t how things work. Netflix CEO Ted Surrandos doesn’t hear that five billionaires were killed during a suicidal vacation and call up Paramount to license one of the most famous and expensive movies ever made. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Netflix announced that Titanic was coming to the platform a week before OceanGate’s submersible dove into the history books. If Netflix could’ve predicted “five billionaires die aboard a Logitech-controlled iron lung headed for the Titanic,” maybe they wouldn’t have greenlit Jupiter’s Legacy [swish]. These kinds of licensing deals aren’t done so quickly. As much as it probably pains Netflix, people must be paid, contracts must be signed, and Pop Crave must be informed.

Of course, Titanic director James Cameron hasn’t exactly been silent on the submersible’s fate. Cameron, who went on TV numerous times this week to brag about how many trips to the Titanic he’s taken (33), told ABC he was disturbed by the irony of the whole thing.

“Many people in the community were concerned about this sub and even wrote letters to the company saying that what they were doing was too experimental and what they were doing needed to be certified,” he said. “I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night, and many died as a result. It’s a very similar tragedy at the exact same site. It’s astonishing and really quite surreal.”

Pointing out the obvious parallels between the Titanic and OceanGate? Too soon, Mr. Cameron. Too soon.