‘Passengers’ Trailer: How Upset Is James Cameron For Not Thinking of ‘Space Titanic’?

Somewhere, James Cameron is shaking his head and chuckling to himself, wondering why the heck he didn’t think of setting Titanic in space because it seems so obvious now — especially with this new trailer for Passengers, the Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence sci-fi romance that looks like it was made with an algorithm. Take the two most beloved actors on the planet, put them in a shiny, futuristic sci-fi movie and smoosh their faces together while making kissy noises. Cha-ching.

It’s hard to make a judgment call about Passengers based on the trailers, which weirdly hide a basic element of the plot that was revealed back when Pratt and Lawrence joined the cast. (For the spoiler-allergic among you, I’ll refrain from mentioning it here, but feel free to Google away if you’re curious.) Heavy-handed music and editing choices aside, there’s some interesting stuff in the trailers, which hint at a big reveal beyond the aforementioned plot point. Plus, robo-bartender Michael Sheen seems delightful, no?

On a routine journey through space to a new home, two passengers, sleeping in suspended animation, are awakened 90 years too early when their ship malfunctions. As Jim and Aurora face living the rest of their lives on board, with every luxury they could ever ask for, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction until they discover the ship is in grave danger. With the lives of 5,000 sleeping passengers at stake, only Jim and Aurora can save them all.

Passengers also stars Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia and Aurora Perrineau, and hits theaters on December 21.