Filmmaker James Cameron reveals his fascination with deep sea exploration in Dunedin exhibition

He's one of Hollywood's biggest names, known for creating and directing blockbusters like Avatar and Titanic.

But James Cameron's movies are only part of his impressive resume, with the Canadian also a highly acclaimed deep sea explorer.

Now all of his work will soon be available for the public to view, with Otago Museum the first place in New Zealand to hold his 'Challenging the Deep' exhibition.

The filmmaker turned explorer made the first solo journey to the ocean's deepest point, 11 kilometres below the Pacific in the Mariana Trench in the Western Pacific Ocean.

James Cameron's fascination with the ocean floor started when he ventured to the bottom of the Atlantic while filming Titanic.

The blockbuster is still the third highest grossing film ever and props, costumes and even the movie script will be shown at the exhibition.

"The scale model Titanic is pretty awesome to see in real life. It's one-20th size of the Titanic how it is on the sea floor," says exhibition designer, Shanaya Allen.

The Australian National Maritime Museum developed the exhibition.

Otago Museum becomes just the second place in the world to host it, with the public able to visit from next weekend.

"It's really going to please James Cameron fans. But also if you know nothing about what he does, then you'll come in and be pretty inspired I think," Ms Allen says.