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Apple Gives Straight to Series Order to Drama Based on Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation' Novels

Thursday August 23, 2018 10:36 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple has followed through with plans to create a television series based on Isaac Asimov's famous Foundation novels and has recently given a straight to series order for the show, reports Deadline.

Apple first inked a deal for the TV series adaptation of Foundation back in April, but the show was still in development at that time.

The Foundation TV series is being developed by Skydance, with David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman serving as executive producers and showrunners. Goyer has previously worked on "The Dark Knight," "Batman Begins," Ghost Rider," and more, while Friedman is known for "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and "Emerald City."

Foundation is Isaac Asimov's most popular and well-known science fiction series, which includes titular novel Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation, along with additional books Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth.

The series follows psychohistory expert and mathematician Hari Seldon who is able to predict the future. Seldon creates a group called the Foundation to preserve humanity's collective knowledge ahead of the impending fall of the Galactic Empire. The novels span many years and cover the rise and fall of multiple empires, making it an ambitious television project.

In addition to the Foundation series, Apple has more than a dozen TV shows in development in total, and rumors have suggested we could see the first of these debut starting in March of 2019. For a full list of what Apple's working on, make sure to check out the original content section of our Apple TV roundup.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12
Tag: Apple's Hollywood ambitions
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Caution)
[ 63 comments ]


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yaxomoxay
13 weeks ago
Ok. NOW I am interested.
Just don’t butcher it please!
Rating: 18 Votes
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cpnotebook80
13 weeks ago
Finally - I hope they don't screw it up! like the first poster said. Nothing worse when great books get too much money thrown at it for sake or producing without the talent.
Rating: 8 Votes
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Googlyhead
13 weeks ago
Not sure about the chances of this being too faithful.
It seems to me that fundamentals would not align with Apple's "family friendly" requirements or current tendency to push politics.
Rating: 6 Votes
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iLilana
13 weeks ago
each book was a completely different time spanning thousands of years and the whole galaxy. (possibly multiple galaxies. its been 30+ years since I read them.) Characters like Hari Seldon and The Mule and concepts such as Psychohistory might be a bit dry for the avengers fans. Also the big reveal at the end was my first acknowledged experience of universe building. I can see this going down like Westworld. There is a huge potential if done right. Good luck apple. Don't flush it down the toilet or the nerds will assassinate you on social media.
Rating: 6 Votes
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ActionableMango
13 weeks ago
“Any fool can tell a crisis when it arrives. The real service to the state is to detect it in embryo.”
Rating: 5 Votes
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macpeach55
13 weeks ago
One of our all-time favourite series.
Very Excited (If done right!)
Rating: 4 Votes
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LordVic
13 weeks ago
this is the first original programming Apple has announced that actually interests me and doesn't sound like self gratification.

However, I'm very confused on the verbage used in the article... what's "Straight To"..
Rating: 3 Votes
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jontech
13 weeks ago
Finally some Asimov love. Please get it right!
Rating: 3 Votes
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FloatingBones
13 weeks ago
Hopefully, Apple will make a VR App for showing The Prime Radiant ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistory_(fictional)#The_Prime_Radiant') projected on a wall.

There's also an opportunity for a geeky product placement: Psychohistory: Computed and visualized by Wolfram Research (Mathematica) ('http://blog.wolfram.com/2017/10/04/notebooks-in-your-pocket-wolfram-player-for-ios-is-now-shipping/'). :)
Rating: 3 Votes
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CWallace
13 weeks ago

However, I'm very confused on the verbage used in the article... what's "Straight To"..


As deeddawg suggested, Apple is not commissioning just a pilot to see how it tests, but instead is commissioning an entire season of episodes to be produced.


Apple has not the right thinking for such a series.


Apple is just writing a check to the production committee to make the series happen and then agree to stream it on their service. They will likely have little to no input on the content.
Rating: 3 Votes

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