Hollywood has been trying to adaptIsaac Asimov’s seminal sci-fi trilogyFoundationfor years, but it finally looks like one is coming to fruition.Deadlinereports that Apple has landed the rights to a TV series adaptation of the books, and has put the Skydance Television production into development with a straight-to-series order.David S. Goyer, who co-wroteThe Dark Knighttrilogy and created and ran the Starz seriesDa Vinci’s Demons, will serve as showrunner alongsideAvatar 2writer andThe Sarah Connor ChroniclesalumJosh Friedman.
The book trilogy, originally published as a short story in 1942, takes place at a time when humans are scattered on planets all over the universe, living under the rule of the Galactic Empire. When a psycho-historian who has the power to see the future foretells that the empire will come under collapse very soon, he sets out to ensure that the knowledge of mankind isn’t wiped out. If that sounds familiar, it’s becauseFoundationwas a direct influence on a lot of the seminal sci-fi films made in the 70s and 80s, most notablyStar Wars.
The Day After TomorrowfilmmakerRoland Emmerichtried to get a feature adaptation ofFoundationoff the ground at Sony back in 2011, but when the rights lapsed in 2014 HBO picked them up. The pay cable network then setInterstellarco-writerJonathan Nolanto adaptFoundationinto an HBO drama series. That obviously never came to fruition as Nolan focused his energy instead onWestworld, and that’s when Skydance picked up the rights and started shopping them to networks.
Apple is making huge strides in the talent department even if we still don’t know how they’re going to be releasing all this new original TV content. Goyer is a veteran of the industry with experience in both film and TV, most recently helping create Syfy’sKrypton. Friedman, meanwhile, most recently spearheaded theSnowpiercerseries at TNT, butdeparted the showrunner positionover creative differences after making the pilot.
This new venture is ambitious to say the least, and joins a stellar slate of new Apple series that also includes aJennifer Aniston/Reese Witherspooncomedy, aDamien Chazellemusical series, andSteven Spielberg’sAmazing Storiesanthology. WillFoundationbe ready in time for Apple’s launch? We’ll find out sooner or later, but for now this is pretty exciting.
