Filmmaker James Cameron is to explore the evolution of sci-fi from a cult genre to a global pop-cultural phenomenon in a new six-part series commissioned by US cable broadcaster AMC.
Airing in 2018, James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction will see the Abyss and Terminator director explore one of the “Big Questions” humankind has contemplated throughout the ages by reaching into sci-fi’s past to understand how films, TV shows, books, and video games were born, and where the genre – and our species – might be going in the future.
Cameron and his contemporaries, who have helped to fuel sci-fi’s spectacular growth over the last several decades, debate the merits, meanings, and impacts of the films and novels that influenced them.
“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,” said Cameron.
“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,” he Cameron.
Announcing the show, Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV, said: “James Cameron is one of the great filmmakers of our time, and his films have literally defined the genre of science fiction for this generation, and generations to come.”
The series will air next year on AMC in the US, international distribution hasn’t been confirmed.