The documentary “James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D” will drop anchor in theaters nationwide Aug. 8, distributor DisruptiveLA announced Tuesday.

Directed by John Bruno, Andrew Wight and Ray Quint, the movie follows James Cameron, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker and undersea enthusiast, as he embarks on a scientific expedition in a manned submersible to the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in Earth’s seabed.

During a series of 13 dives in 2012 in the Mariana Trench, 200 miles southwest of Guam, the single-pilot Deepsea Challenger collected samples and identified 68 new species; on one dive, Cameron piloted the craft to a depth of nearly seven miles below surface.

DisruptiveLA is releasing the film with National Geographic, which helped to execute the dives.


Though Cameron is best known as the director of blockbusters such as “Titanic,” “Terminator 2" and “Avatar,” he is a veteran deep-sea explorer and has created a number of documentaries on the subject, including “Aliens of the Deep” and “Ghosts of the Abyss.”

Back on dry land, Cameron is preparing for production on his three sequels to “Avatar,” which he intends to shoot concurrently.