James Cameron transported viewers to alternate worlds in Avatar and Aliens, but it’s his real-life expedition to Earth’s ocean floor that offers a blockbuster view of a truly alien world. James Cameron: Voyage to the Bottom of the Earth premieres Sunday, 13 May at 21:00 on National Geographic Channel, DStv channel 260.

Last month, the visionary film-maker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence descended 10.94 km to the spot known as the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench. The record-breaking trip that made headlines around the world was part of DEEPSEA CHALLENGE, a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, National Geographic and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research and exploration. Cameron is the only individual ever to complete the dive in a solo vehicle and the first person since 1960 to reach the very bottom of the world in a manned submersible.

James Cameron: Voyage to the Bottom of the Earth features Cameron’s most personal interview to date on the remarkable journey. Culled from more than two hours of his firsthand accounts of the project, it details everything from more than seven years of development to the actual moment he touched the bottom of the Earth. The project is also his first expedition as a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

“I couldn’t think of a better partner. National Geographic as an organisation has always stood for the spirit of exploration. It’s what the magazine and the channel has been famous for, coming back from the boundary of human exploration. It’s a legacy of promoting exploration and keeping people excited about something new,” said Cameron.

In the special, Cameron recalls the highs and lows of the more than seven-year design phase of the spherical sub (called DEEPSEA CHALLENGER) that was specially built to endure the elements, and even shrinks about 9 cm because of the pressure during the descent.

CGI animation also illustrates the colossal scale of the trip to reach the bottom, which took over two hours. Slowly diving past the lowest level a nuclear submarine can reach, beyond the last traces of sunlight at 1 005 metres, continuing to the depth of Titanic’s final resting place at about 3 810 metres and diving deeper than the height of Mt. Everest at 8 839 metres until finally reaching his ultimate goal — the ocean floor. Cameron describes in detail what he saw when he touched bottom: “It was like someone rolled latex paint on Masonite. We’re talking pretty much the bleakest place I’d seen in the ocean.”

The historic dive was a huge triumph that succeeded not only in filming the ocean’s deepest point for scientists and lovers of the ocean everywhere but also highlighting the need for oceanic research. The oceans are the last frontier, with a territory the size of Australia largely unexplored.

As the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition enters its next phase, Cameron says, “More money gets put into space exploration, but the ocean is our life support here on spaceship Earth. And we’re destroying it faster than we're exploring it. I think it draws attention to the ocean and the lack of funding for ocean exploration.”

The DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition was chronicled for a 3D feature film on the intensive technological and scientific efforts behind this historic dive. The event was also documented for National Geographic magazine. Cameron will also collaborate with National Geographic to create broad-based educational outreach materials.

James Cameron: Voyage to the Bottom of the Earth is produced by National Geographic Television for the National Geographic Channel. For NGT, executive producer is Ted Duvall and president is Maryanne Culpepper. For NGC, executive producer is Jack Smith, vice president, production and development is Kim Woodard and executive vice president of programming is Michael Cascio.