Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance disaster film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Incorporating both historical and fictional aspects, it is based on accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Cameron’s inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks; he felt that a love story interspersed with human loss would be essential to convey the emotional impact of the catastrophe. Production began in 1995, when Cameron filmed footage of the actual wreck of the Titanic. Modern-day scenes on the research vessel were shot aboard the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which Cameron had used as a base when filming the shipwreck. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built at Baja Studios were used to recreate the sinking. The film was co-financed by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox; the former handled North American distribution, while the latter released the film internationally. It was the most expensive film ever made at the time, with a production budget of $200 million.