Hard as it is to believe, there are some moments when films don’t matter above all else. You want a perfect example? Simply look at James Cameron‘s recent expedition to the Mariana Trench — a.k.a. the world’s deepest point — and then get reminded that a documentary is being constructed in the meantime. What bears a greater importance?

But the journey came to an end this past weekend and, thanks to this, we can get back to Cameron‘s little side project. He gave some big updates when speaking to The AP (via /Film), wherein our newfound intrepid explorer revealed that his developing project, Deepsea Challenge, could not only find itself on TV screens by the end of 2012, but also work its way into theaters as a 3D release some point after.

Content-wise, Challenge will present what’s summarized as “the whole expedition”; /Film takes that as the construction of Cameron‘s submersible craft, his practice run, and “a dramatized re-creation” of the original Marianas Trench dive, carried out by Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard in 1960. (Some additional shooting might be in the cards, if the urge should strike he and the team.)

Those of us who really want Cameron back in the narrative filmmaking game are probably more interested in that lattermost item — I am, admittedly, among that grouping — but I’m also quite partial to the work he did on a similar project, Ghosts of the Abyss. And what I said a few weeks back still holds true: If he can make something of that immersive caliber once more, Deepsea Challenge could prove to be a really special item.

Would you be willing to check out another underwater documentary from Cameron?