How Neil deGrasse Tyson Changed James Cameron's Titanic Forever

James Cameron's movie "Titanic" was released in December 1997. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it has grossed more than $2.2 billion, making it the third highest-grossing movie of all time. Not bad for a tragic love story set amidst one of the most famous maritime disasters in modern history.

The Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic was a British passenger ship operated by the White Star Line. In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, while on its maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City, it hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, killing approximately 1,500 souls. Jack Dawson (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (played by Kate Winslet) were not among the deceased, as both characters were fictional — created specifically for the movie. However, other characters like Captain Edward John Smith (Bernard Hill) and Joseph Bruce Ismay (Jonathan Hyde) were actual people.

In 1997, "Titanic" was nominated for 14 Oscars and won 11, including "Best Picture" and "Best Director." Known for being meticulous, Cameron typically doesn't allow for the slightest error in detail. However, Neil deGrasse Tyson — famous astrophysicist and pop culture nerd — loves to comment on the science found in movies, and indeed found something wrong in "Titanic."

While Cameron was preparing to release the 3D version of the film in 2012, he received what Cameron referred to as a "snarky Email" from Tyson about something he noticed in one of the film's scenes. Up to that point, Cameron had made the conscious decision not to make any changes to the film, despite vast improvements in special effects technology since the film's original release. But what Tyson had to say was enough to change his mind about one particular moment.

Tyson pointed to the scene where Rose was lying on a broken piece of a door — one that seemed big enough for Jack to actually fit on — staring up at the stars. It turns out that those stars wouldn't have been there, at least not in that particular alignment on that particular night. After all, Tyson is an astrophysicist, so if anyone knew about star alignments, it's him.

A small detail to be sure, and one the average movie-goer would probably never notice. But being the perfectionist he was, Cameron told Tyson to send the correct stars, and he put them into the 3D version of the movie as promised.