Movie director and deep-sea diver James Cameron continued his whistle-stop tour around the world in Tokyo on Friday, appearing at a news conference to promote the release of "Titanic 3D". After resurfacing from a solo dive to the deepest point in the ocean, Cameron told journalists the anniversary of the luxury liner's sinking was the perfect time for the movie's makeover. 　　James Cameron: "I think the idea of releasing the film now around the time of the 100-year memorial of the actual Titanic sinking, is just a way to focus the interest of the world on the story of Titanic -- not just the movie but the actual story of Titanic itself." 　　Cameron earlier rebutted suggestions that rereleasing the film was a way of cashing in on the tragedy. HMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, claiming the lives of over 1,500 people. The 1997 original starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio earned more than 1.8 billion U.S. dollars at the global box office. That's second only to Cameron's 3D sci-fi adventure "Avatar" in the all-time ticket sale rankings. Cameron said reproducing a 2D film into 3D gave a new theatric life to a previously dormant film. 　　James Cameron: "It's a way to re-invent a movie or have that movie reborn and come back into the cinemas years later. This is something that's a great pleasure for filmmakers because we make our movies to be seen on the big screen and then they go to video, and they live in the underworld of video for the rest of eternity. 　　But we get to bring it back in 3D, back to theatre, back to big screen, and an epic movie like Titanic should be seen on the big screen."Titanic will resurface on theatre screens in 3D across Japan from April 7. (Joel Flynn/ Reuters)