James Cameron calls rumour about Titan submersible movie 'offensive'

The Titanic director set the record straight Saturday on Twitter, less than a month after five people died aboard an OceanGate Expeditions submersible that imploded during its descent to the wreckage of the Titanic.

"I don't respond to offensive rumours in the media usually, but I need to now," Cameron tweeted. "I'm NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be."

This isn't the first time Cameron has been moved to comment since the tourist sub Titan went missing in June. The Avatar filmmaker previously told ABC that people in the diving community were "very concerned about this sub" before the expedition launched.

"For us, it's a very similar tragedy (to the Titanic) where warnings went unheeded," Cameron said at the time.

"To take place at the same exact site with all the diving that's going on all around the world, I think it's just astonishing. It's really quite surreal."

The co-founder of OceanGate, Guillermo Sohnlein, later pushed back on Cameron's remarks by defending the submersible's construction and "rigorous test programme".