Movies Watch James Cameron recreate Titanic floating door scene to see if Jack fit with Rose Cameron and a team of scientists re-staged one of Titanic's final scenes to test the theory that Jack could've survived on the door next to Rose in "dangerous levels of freezing water." By Joey Nolfi Joey Nolfi Entertainment Weekly's Oscars expert, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' beat reporter, host of 'Quick Drag' Twitter Spaces, and cohost of 'EW's BINGE' podcast. Almost all of the drag content on this site is my fault (you're welcome). EW's editorial guidelines Published on February 2, 2023 09:43AM EST In the words of (old) Rose, "it's been 84 years" since James Cameron could step out in public without someone asking him about the long-gestating theory that, near the end of his Best Picture-winning epic Titanic, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) could've survived the sinking of the titular ship if he'd just gotten on that floating door next to the love of his life, Rose (Kate Winslet). Ahead of the film's Feb. 10 theatrical re-release, the 68-year-old filmmaker puts the speculation to rest in the upcoming National Geographic special Titanic: 25 Years Later With James Cameron. In it, Cameron works with a team of scientists to recreate the scene and test four different scenarios in which Jack actually climbed aboard the wreckage, too. In the first round, "Jack and Rose are able to get on the raft, but now they're both submerged in dangerous levels of freezing water," Cameron observes in the clip above. Next, the team fits both actors on the raft in a position that lifts their upper bodies — and vital organs — out of the water, increasing their chances for survival. James Cameron recreated 'Titanic' floating door scene to see if Jack fit with Rose. Spencer Stoner/National Geographic "Out of the water, [his body's] violent shaking was helping him," Cameron continues. "Projecting it out, he could've made it pretty long. Like, hours." For the final test, the actors perform all of the physically strenuous actions Jack and Rose went through prior to finding the floating door — including the scene where another passenger tries to use Rose as a floatation device, only to be met with a heavy blow from Jack's fist. They also add an extra moment that didn't happen in the film, as the Rose in the experiment gives Jack a life jacket for added protection. "He's stabilized," Cameron observes. "He got into a place where if we projected that out, he just might've made it until the lifeboat got there. Jack might've lived, but there's a lot of variables. I think his thought process was, 'I'm not going to do one thing that jeopardized her,' and that's 100 percent in character." James Cameron and Leonardo Dicaprio on the set of 'Titanic'. Merie W. Wallace/20th Century Fox The topic has long been discussed by fans of Titanic, and Winslet weighed in during the promotional tour for her role in Cameron's latest wet-and-wild adventure, Avatar: The Way of Water. "I have to be honest: I actually don't believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door. I think he would have fit, but it would have tipped and it would not have been a sustainable idea," Winslet said in December on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "So, you heard it here for the first time. Yes, he could have fit on that door, but it would not have stayed afloat. It wouldn't." Titanic: 25 Years Later With James Cameron — celebrating 25 years since the film's Best Picture victory at the 1998 Oscars — premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on National Geographic, and streams the next day on Hulu. Watch Cameron test the floating door theory in the clip above. Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Related content: James Cameron has now directed 3 of the 5 highest-grossing movies of all time James Cameron conducted forensic analysis to prove Jack's Titanic death: 'He needed to die' Kate Winslet says working with James Cameron on Avatar was 'so far apart' from Titanic