Itâs one of the most iconic, and hotly-debated, props in cinematic history: The floating wood panel that spared Kate Winsletâs âTitanicâ character Rose DeWitt Bukater from icy North Atlantic waters after the titular ocean linerâs sinking â but not Leonardo DiCaprioâs Jack Dawson. And itâs now been sold at auction for more than US$700,000.
âOften mistakenly referred to as a door, the ornate structure was in reality part of the door frame just above the first-class lounge entrance,â Heritage Auctions wrote in the auction notes.
The propâs pivotal role in the âbig scene, big goodbyeâ moment, as the auction house had described it, features Rose floating on the floral-carved panel as Jack, having tried and failed to also rest atop, has succumbed to the cold. As a rescue boat arrives, Rose is forced to pry her hand from his frozen grip â while uttering the famous line âIâll never let go, I promise,â through chattering teeth â as she swims to her rescuers.
The ornate balsa wood panel had previously been displayed at a Planet Hollywood in Orlando, Fla., before being stored in their archives for some two decades, the auction house told CNN.
It was sold alongside a roster of other props at the âTreasures From Planet Hollywoodâ auction, which included memorabilia items once displayed at Planet Hollywood locations worldwide and from its archives. These included pieces such as the whip from âIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doomâ and the ax from âThe Shining.â
Across almost 1,600 lots in total, the five-day-long auction brought in $15.7 million, according .
But the âTitanicâ flotsam took the prize for the highest-priced piece, far exceeding its starting price of $40,000 and selling for a grand total of $718,750 following a high-energy bidding war.
Several other âTitanicâ props were also put up for sale, including the pastel chiffon evening gown Rose wears in the movie on the night of the sinking and the shipâs helm wheel, which sold for $118,750 and $200,000 respectively.
A 2012 episode of the Discovery show âMythBustersâ infamously found that two people could have survived long enough on the panel â which measures approximately eight feet (2.4 metres) long and just over three feet (one metre) wide â if they added a life jacket for extra buoyancy. Remarking on the results, however, âTitanicâ director James Cameron told the showâs hosts, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, that Jack needed to die regardless.
And in 2022, Cameron, alongside a hypothermia expert, tried to put an end to the debate once and for all with a simulated test to see if two people of the same body mass as Winslet and DiCaprio could have really stayed afloat on a piece of wood of the same size. Their final answer was no, it was not possible.
There was no additional testing of these theories on the prop itself prior to its sale, as the auction house chooses to âhandle all items with great care when in transit and in storage,â Heritage Auctions told CNN. But its new owner, who is choosing to remain anonymous, could well be planning a pool day, having been drawn in by the allure of the over two-decade-long mystery.
âWhat youâre seeing is this massive interest in the films of the 1980s and 1990s,â said Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, in a statement. âThere has been a generational shift to where these massive franchises of the 1980s and 1990s â the âHome Aloneâs, the âIndiana Jonesâ films, the âDie Hardâs â are now collectorsâ favorites⌠Collectors are finally rewarding these artifacts as what they are: cultural artifacts akin to the fine art of old.â