James Cameron producing documentary series on history of science fiction

The man behind some of the finest sci-fi films of all time is going to delve into the history of the genre itself.

According to Deadline, AMC announced on Saturday at the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter presentation that the network has given the green light to a documentary series from James Cameron chronicling the history of science fiction.

Titled James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction, the six-hour series (comprised of six hour-long episodes) will explore the evolution of the genre from its earliest works through the movie and TV blockbusters of today.

Each episode will center around a “big question” that humanity has faced throughout history and will explore how the genre has dealt with those questions through films, TV, books, video games and other forms of entertainment, providing a history of the genre at the same time. Cameron and other notables will also debate and discuss the impact of the sci-fi books and movies that influenced them.

With The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Abyss and Avatar on his filmography, Cameron certainly knows a thing or two about sci-fi. He said at the AMC event:

“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.

“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.”

There’s no premiere date for the series yet, but I have to tell you, this sounds tremendously exciting to me -- especially if the show delves into the literary roots and key writers of the genre in addition to the much better-known films and TV shows that are so prevalent in the culture today.

SyFyWire