Will the real Jack Dawson please stand up?
It’s been 20 years since Titanic broke box office records with the James Cameron take on the sinking of the Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio portrayed the role of Jack Dawson, the third-class charmer who won the heart of the first-class Rose and later died in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean after the mighty ship sunk. But remember, the movie is a fictional tale inspired by true events, but that isn’t stopping one man from filing a lawsuit against Cameron and claiming to be the true Jack.
Florida resident Stephen Cummings has filed a $300 million lawsuit against Cameron and claims Cameron used his personal history to create the character of Jack Dawson. Cummings also claims the story of Jack and Rose was inspired by a story Cummings would share about two of his own relatives, where the wife survived and the husband died. On top of the $300 million, Cummings is seeking one percent of the film’s royalties. As the lawsuit’s claim goes, Cummings claims Cameron learned about him through word of mouth between 1988 and 1989 and used his stories to create DiCaprio’s character.
The problem for Cummings, of course, is being able to prove Cameron lifted the story and likeness of Jack as claimed. For starters, over 1,500 people perished in the sinking of the Titanic, so the story about a wife surviving and a husband dying may not be totally unique, if in fact, it is legitimately a family story of Cummings’ in the first place. And the story of a low-class riffraff capturing the heart of a high-class woman is not exactly unique in its own light either. That story has been told in Hollywood and other tales for a long time. For example, remember Aladdin?
This isn’t the first time Titanic has served as the focus of a lawsuit. In 2014, actor Vi Jay sued Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, and others, including Walt Disney Pictures, for back pay he claimed he was due after working as an extra and being promoted to a principal performer. Jay was not a member of the Screen Actors Guild and SAG was never informed of his role change with Titanic. Because of that, he was not made eligible to receive royalty payments from the film’s income.
[TMZ]
