It’s believed that the Titanic, before it tragically hit an iceberg and sank in 1912, housed a large quantity of a rare and valuable mineral. Several Americans want to retrieve that mineral cache, as it can be used to fuel a powerful anti-nuke defense system. However, the Soviet Union is also on the trail of this mineral, asserting that it was originally stolen from them decades earlier. The Titanic is too far deep for divers to reach, and so it’s decided that the only way forward is to raise the Titanic and bring it to where it was supposed to arrive: New York City. But this proves to be easier said than done, forcing the salvage team to great lengths to give America the edge over Russia.
Den of Geek doesn’t shy away from the details of how badly “Raise the Titanic,” well, sank with audiences and critics when it was first released in 1980. Based on Clive Cussler’s bestselling novel, it was widely believed that the film would be a surefire hit. However, it only made $7 million, a paltry amount compared to its budget, reported to be between $30 million and $40 million. One of the film’s producers, Lord Grade, stated that “it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic.” The film’s failure was so bad that it almost forced its production company, ITC Entertainment, to shut down forever, a move that was prevented when Grade made a deal with Universal Pictures.