Apple will finance an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series

In mid-2017 Skydance Television bought the rights to adapt the famous fantasty series "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov and is planning to shoot a full-length television series. The project is supported by Apple, which will finance the series. It seems that the IT giant is entering a television race in which Netflix, HBO, and Amazon already participate.

So far, little is known about the project. The script was written by David S. Goyer, known for his work in several Batman films, and Josh Friedman, who wrote the script for “War of the Worlds” by Steven Spielberg. Goyer won the Saturn Award for his screenplay for “Batman: The Beginning”, but “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” received four Golden Raspberries, including for the script.

The work of screenwriters for the adaptation of "Foundation" will not be easy. Many plot solutions have already been used in "Star Wars" and "Star Trek". In addition, the full series consists of 7 novels and several dozen stories that describe 20,000 years of human history. Isaac Asimov wrote the main trilogy of "Foundation" from 1942 to 1953. In the 1980's and early 1990's, the prehistory and the continuation of the saga emerged. After Asimov's death, the series was supplemented by the novels of several other authors.

Skydance Television is not the first to attempt to film "Foundation". In 1973 BBC released a radio series of eight episodes based on the "Foundation" trilogy. HBO announced its intention to air the series in 2014. Jonathan Nolan was chosen as writer and producer. But the project was never implemented. This is perhaps due to Nolan's work on “Westworld."

Elon Musk is a big fan of Isaac Asimov. On February 6th, the Falcon Heavy cargo shuttle launched an electric Tesla vehicle into space, as well as a copy of "Foundation". The series is recorded on a special device by The Arch Mission project as a reminder of humanity's achievements.