TITANIC: NEW MOVIE ON THE WAY FEATURES HOLLYWOOD STARS AND TO BEAT THE FORMER TITANIC FILM

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian mining tycoon, dinosaur park enthusiast and political force Clive Palmer Monday pegged out a new role for himself — a deckchair cameo in a movie he plans about the Titanic.

Palmer has made waves with his bid to build Titanic II — a replica of the doomed luxury liner which sank more than a century ago — which is scheduled to make its first Atlantic crossing in 2016.

“Due to worldwide interest in @titanic_ii I’ve registered ‘Palmer Pictures’. Will look at making a movie about its maiden voyage #titanic,” he tweeted.

“@titanic_ii The ship where dreams come true,” he added later.

Palmer, who has won a seat in the Australian parliament pending an ongoing recount after the success of his Palmer United Party in September elections, told the AAP news agency that the movie would be filmed aboard his liner.

“It will be a love story,” he said.

“We have a lot of actors from Hollywood, China and Europe who want to star in roles.”

Palmer said his version of the Titanic would be “a lot better” than James Cameron’s 1997 global hit starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

“I could be in a deckchair having a drink,” he added of his dream to make a cameo appearance.

Global interest in Titanic II has prompted Palmer’s latest film move, he said.

“My father George had Palmer Pictures originally back in the 1920s and he made two silent films in 

Australia,” he said in a statement, adding that there were also plans for a documentary on the ship’s maiden voyage.

“The script is still being worked on and of course we would be seeking major Hollywood stars and production people to be involved in the movie project,” he said.

Palmer’s Titanic II will feature modern modifications but try to remain as true as possible to the original, which went down after hitting an iceberg in 1912. He has said construction will begin next March in China.

The original Titanic, which was built in Belfast, sank on its first trip from Southampton in England to New York, killing more than 1,500 passengers and crew.

Palmer, a larger-than-life character who made a fortune in mining, is also a real estate developer and tourism resort operator who is planning to build “the world’s biggest” park of giant robotic dinosaurs at his Coolum Resort on Australia’s Sunshine Coast.

Culled from Vanguard