James Cameron, legendary director of Aliens, Avatar and The Terminator, is making a series of six one hour long TV specials set around the history of the science fiction genre. The series will air in 2018 on U.S. cable channel AMC and has the working title of James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction.
The series will explore the evolution of sci-fi from its origins as a small genre with a cult following to the blockbuster pop-cultural phenomenon that we see it as today.
In an official release, Cameron said:
“When I was a kid, I basically read any book with a spaceship on the cover and I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey many, many times.”
“The movie inspired me to become a filmmaker. I liked the special effects, but I really loved the ideas and the questions behind them: How will the world end? Will technology destroy us? What does it mean to be human?”
“These are subjects sci-fi has never been afraid to tackle,” said Cameron. “With this series, we are going back to the origins of sci-fi, following the DNA of these ideas back to the source. Without Jules Verne and H.G. Wells there wouldn’t have been Ray Bradbury or Robert A. Heinlein, and without them, there wouldn’t be Lucas, Spielberg, Ridley Scott or me. As a filmmaker who specializes in science fiction, I’m interested in exploring the struggles and the triumphs that brought these incredible stories to life and seeing how art imitates life, as well as how science fiction imitates and sometimes informs science.”
No word on where it will air on TV, but we’re excited to see Cameron’s take on the journey of sci-fi on the screen.
AMC announced the new at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press Tour.
More as we get it.
