James Cameron is going to catch a lot of heat for this ... he just blamed the Titanic-bound submersible tragedy on the captain, callously comparing it to the famous shipwreck.
The "Titanic" director shared his hot take on the submersible's deadly implosion, which killed all 5 people onboard, with ABC ... and it's shocking to hear.
James says ... "I'm struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field."
In short, James is blaming the tragedy on OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush .. who piloted the Titan submersible on the ill-fated mission.
James is considered a bit of an expert in this field ... in addition to winning Oscars for "Titanic," he also made 33 dives to the bottom of the Atlantic to see the shipwreck up close.
Some folks are critical of OceanGate and Stockton for exploring 2.5 miles below the surface in a tiny submersible navigated with consumer product parts, and James seems to be in that camp.
Just a hunch, but James is probably going to face some serious blowback.