Netflix Causes Fan Outrage Over Timing Of 'Titanic' Film Being Added

Leading streaming company Netflix Inc NFLX has a vast library of original films and series, while some features are from other studios through content licensing deals. A film being added back to the Netflix library is causing outrage from fans.

What Happened: OceanGate Expeditions' submersible vessel Titan, which took five passengers deep into the ocean to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, had a catastrophic implosion. This disaster was one of the most talked about stories in June.

The missing sub and subsequent tragic news that everyone on board was presumed dead captured the attention of the world.

Several documentaries and specials have aired about the Titanic and the company behind the dive, including a re-airing of a CBS News special about OceanGate.

One of the most popular movies of all time centered on the original Titanic sinking, which happened in 1912.

Released in 1997, James Cameron-directed “Titanic" became the first movie to hit $1 billion in worldwide box office. "Titanic" became one of the highest-grossing movies in history and holds several box office and Academy Award records:

• “Titanic” ranks as the ninth highest-grossing movie domestically with $674.3 million at the box office.

• The movie ranks fourth all-time worldwide with a box office gross of $2.26 billion.

• The movie is tied for the most all-time Academy Award nominations at 14 and the most Academy Award wins at 11.

“Titanic” has seen several re-releases in theaters over the years and continues to be one of the most well-known Paramount Global PARAPARAA titles.

On July 1, the movie returns to the Netflix streaming platform in the U.S. and Canada, which has caused outrage amongst fans, as reported by Variety.

While people on social media are upset about the timing and think Netflix is capitalizing on the disaster, the licensing deal for the movie to air on Netflix was struck months in advance and is now a huge coincidence.

Related Link: MrBeast Says He Was Invited To The Titanic Submarine

Why It’s Important: While adding “Titanic” to Netflix is very bad timing, it could also be a big win for Netflix given the increased interest in the original voyage of the “unsinkable” ship in 1912.

It’s also important to note that several media outlets were capitalizing on the disaster with documentaries and interviewing the film’s director James Cameron.

“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 people died as a result,” Cameron said in an ABC News interview.

Netflix releases data on its top 10 streamed movies each week and users can regularly see which movies are the most popular on the platform. It will be interesting to see if the movie sees strong interest from subscribers given the outrage.

Interest in the film has surged with the 1997 movie ranking as the 25th most popular film on IMDb, a leading movie database.

Read Next: Did The Simpsons Predict The Titanic Sub Disaster? A 17-Year-Old Episode Goes Viral 

Photo: IMDb; Unsplash