1. The studio wanted Tom Cruise to play the role of Jack Dawson.
20th Century Fox wanted both Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise for the lead, but James Cameron insisted on Leo DiCaprio.
2. If all of the present day scenes were deleted, leaving only the scenes that take place in 1912, the film would run 2 hours and 40 minutes, the exact time it took for the Titanic to sink.
3. Jack and Rose's spitting scene was almost entirely ad-libbed, as was the moment when Kate Winslet spat in Billy Zane’s face.
4. After writing the fictitious character of Jack Dawson, James Cameron learned that there was a real J. Dawson who died on the Titanic.
5. This is the second film that features the sinking of the Titanic to win the Best Picture Oscar.
6. The elderly couple who lie in bed as water floods the room is a tribute to Ida and Isidor Strauss, the owners of the Macy’s department store, who died on the Titanic.
7. Kate Winslet was one of the only people who didn't wear a wetsuit while filming.
8. It’s actually James Cameron’s hands that are seen sketching Rose, not Leo Dicaprio’s.
9. It cost more money to make the movie Titanic than it did to actually construct the original ship.
10. The final dress Kate Winslet wears in the movie is made to look as good wet as it did when dry.
Also, costume designed Deborah Lynn Scott made 24 identical versions of the dress.
11. The line “I’m the king of the world!" was ad-libbed.
12. Composer James Horner said that the first cut he saw of the film was 36 hours long.
13. During the final scene of the movie, when Rose meets Jack at the Grand Staircase, the clock reads 2:20 a.m., which is the exact time the Titanic sank.
14. Barbra Streisand and Reba McEntire were both in talks to play Molly Brown.
But the unsinkable character was ultimately played by Kathy Bates.
15. Madonna was considered for the role of Rose.
16. Titanic was the 10th film that James Cameron directed, but it is only the first that didn’t include the use or mention of nuclear weapons.
17. Most of the movie’s extras were given a three hour lecture on proper 1912 mannerisms and behavior, so as to give the film a more authentic look.
18. Gloria Stuart was the only person who worked on the production of the film who was actually alive during the Titanic’s maiden voyage in 1912.
20. Most of the ocean that the actors jump into is just a giant, 3-feet-deep pool.
21. To make the bodies in the water appear frozen, a powder was applied to the actors’ faces, which then crystallized when exposed to water.
22. James Cameron provided more than 150 extras with names and backstories of real Titanic passengers.
23. The entire film contains over 100 speaking parts, with more than 1,000 extras.
24. Titanic was the first non-musical Best Picture winner to also win the Oscar for Best Original Song.
25. The film was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, the most Oscar nods for any film, ever.
Correction: Number one on this list has been updated, as Tom Cruise did not audition for the role of Jack Dawson. Instead, the studio merely wanted him to play the part.