Based on the award-winning novels by Isaac Asimov, “Foundation” chronicles a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire. The new series premiers exclusively on Apple TV+ on September 24th.
Sid Shuman for Sony’s PlayStation Blog:
I caught up with showrunner, writer, and executive producer David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) to learn more about how the accomplished writer/director planned to tackle this monumental new series.
The book series Foundation is legendarily difficult to adapt due to its epic scope… its plot spans many thousands of years. What appealed to you about tackling something so huge and complex?
DG: Hubris! [laughs] I was weaned on Foundation. My father introduced it to me when I was 13 years old, he said it was the greatest science-fiction work ever written. I first read it in my 20s… I didn’t completely get it. I read it again [once] I was a father, and I understood more how important and revolutionary it was. Also, twice before in my career I was given the opportunity to adapt it as a feature [film], and I turned it down because I didn’t think it was possible to condense everything down into two or three hours.
It was only in the past six or seven years…when some of these giant streaming shows started happening, like Game of Thrones and others. You saw these big novelistic adaptations, and I thought that maybe the audience and the medium had matured to a place where Foundation might be possible. For the first time, we weren’t talking about having to condense everything – in success, we were talking about the possibility of being able to expand.
So the idea of telling this story across 70 episodes, or 80 episodes, that was really appealing to me.
MacDailyNews Take: This is the one we’ve been waiting for – for many years — and it’s great that Apple is the company that will deliver it, finally, to us!
We also look forward to those unfamiliar with Foundation or Asimov claiming on Twitter that “Apple is copying Star Wars.” 🤣 The record will be set straight soon enough.
Also, “Foundation” is coming three hours early!
From @Foundation_’s epic debut to @TedLasso’s Emmy-winning antics, watch the latest episodes from Apple TV+ three hours earlier this week. Streaming begins Thursday at 9pm EST/6pm PST. pic.twitter.com/vxkkAEUuOe
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) September 23, 2021
In the old days, that’s about 3 years. These days, it could take a decade. But based on what I’ve heard, they’re doing “time jumps” (moving forward and back in timeline), so it may feel like several interconnected shows, with different casts, instead of one long-running show. Looking forward to midnight… 🙄
So many great science fiction and fantasy novels worthy of long form treatment. This is why I would rather develop something like this for streaming TV instead one one big budget feature. Anymore to me theatrical exhibition is about abridged versions of things.
Love to start with Edgar Rice Burroughs (who EVERYBODY stole from) John Carter of Mars books from the beginning (A Princess of Mars) and not one movie with 3 of the books covered at once. That was madness. Do it RIGHT.
Not even going to watch the first show, looks like left wing Crap as all things Apple TV+
Who cares? Especially about an opinion based on no information
Then you will be denying yourself the opportunity to view an adaptation of a story written by a brilliant mind.
Foundation is “real” science fiction not just a story set in the future.
It asks the question of what impact certain scientific and technological changes would mean for society and civilisation and like many of those changes, they are both negative and positive, progressive and conservative. But just because you disagree with the premise or the conjecture, it doesn’t mean it isn’t fascinating and insightful.
Can’t wait to see what they do with the rumoured adaptations of Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Science is a libtard conspiracy.
That’s right Dave. Asimov was one of them liberals, actually he was born a Ruskie!
M’God, have you ever seen a picture of the man on ‘The You Tube’? If you haven’t go ask your neighbor if you can borrow his Google Machine.
I’m telling ‘ya he had huge sideburns (think they call ’em “sideboards” now?), long hair, and he was OLD! Probably some sort of liberal College professor type. Good for you for boycotting that left wing Crap. We are all proud of you!
I understand your frustration. I hope they don’t ruin this one.
“Left wing crap?” Don’t watch, and don’t comment, either. You have nothing to offer anyone obviously, nothing that makes sense, nothing at all useful or enlightening. Over your head, and we know where That is.
This series is a major reason I bought the box in the first place
‘Copying Starwars’ I guess that is a out as big an insult as it comes, as big as trying bring the series to the screen at all. Foundation however is anything but a Disney like view of Science Fiction that Star Wars has been from the beginning … which accounts for it eventually becoming part of the franchise.
Wow, there is a lot to like about the 1st episode.
They have brought it up to date by linking it to current issues without preaching, and I think they’ve successfully threaded the needle of appealing both to the original Asimov fans and to those who have not encountered him before.
I really liked the way they dropped clues about certain characters that will be completely missed by newbies but picked up by previous readers of the Foundation series.
Also liked the way they embraced the wider Asimov universe as part of the story telling which implies they may well tell the story from the point of view of where the series ended up rather than from where it started. I won’t spoil it by being any more obvious to those who haven’t read all or most of his works.