James Cameron Teams With AMC For Documentary Series About Science Fiction

Science fiction cinema wouldn't be what it is today without James Cameron. Not only has the director's work on movies like The Terminator and Aliens influenced countless filmmakers today, but his advancements in visual effects and technology behind the scenes have made once seemingly impossible dreams come to life on the big screen. And now, he'll chronicle the evolution of the genre he helped influence in a new documentary series.

At their Television Critics Association winter tour panel, AMC announced that they were teaming with James Cameron for a new documentary series that will chronicle the origins of science fiction, from being a cult genre to a pop culture phenomenon.

Find out more about the James Cameron sci-fi documentary series after the jump.

The Hollywood Reporter was on hand for AMC's announcement of the series that is tentatively called James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction, which could probably use a better title. According to the trade, the series "introduce one of the 'big questions' that humankind has contemplated throughout the ages and reach back into sci-fi's past to better understand how our favorite films, TV shows, books and video games were born and where the genre — and our species — might be going in the future."

So much of sci-fi has influenced real life technology, from cell phones to computers (which are essentially the same thing now) to space travel and much more. Examining the history of the genre and how its various forms have impacted society should prove to be fascinating for all the sci-fi fans out there, especially with the perspective of James Cameron and some of his fellow writers and filmmakers bring on the table.

Here's what Cameron had to say about the project:

"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 [George] Lucas, [Steven] 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."

Sounds like something that will be worth watching on AMC. However, we'll be waiting a little while before we get to see it because it's not slated to arrive until sometime in 2018. But at least we know that it's likely to arrive before Avatar 2.