The Notebook currently beats Titanic 65–35
The smaller love story outweighs the unsinkable ship.
The Verdict
Gosling building that house — painting it white, finishing the shutters, waiting — is The Notebook's version of Cameron's ship, except it costs nothing and means everything. Cassavetes understood that romance on film isn't about scale but about sustained belief in something irrational, and the house is that belief made physical. Cameron's lovers are magnificent but also passengers on a spectacle that would be gripping without them. Nobody watches The Notebook for the production design. They watch it because the present-day framing — Garner reading, Rowlands forgetting, the recognition flickering back — makes the past-timeline romance feel like something being lost in real time. The smaller film wins because loss is more legible at close range.
The Numbers
| Titanic | The Notebook | |
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-Head | 35% | 65% |
| Overall Win Rate | 43% | 51% |
| Championships | 18 | 9 |
| Avg Decision | 1.3s | 1.0s |
| Budget | $200M | $29M |
| Box Office | $2.3B | $116M |
Where This Matchup Sits
For genre context, The Notebook sits at #8 in Romance on BingeBracket.
When facing other films, both run into the same wall: Your Name. beats them both on BingeBracket, regardless of how they perform against each other.
Titanic has 18 tournament wins to The Notebook's 9, but that championship pedigree isn't translating to the head-to-head. Something about this specific pairing overrides the broader record.
Titanic outgrossed The Notebook ($2.3B to $116M), but The Notebook wins the head-to-head. What sells tickets and what wins a bracket are two different questions.
Think Titanic deserves better?
You're in the 35%.
Play the bracket these votes came from. Your pick shifts the result.
Where to Watch
Availability may vary by region.
Want to pit The Notebook against something else?
Build your own bracket with any films you want.