Apple Takes on Isaac Asimov’s Giant Foundation Trilogy for New Series

After an insane bidding war between platforms, Apple has made a bold move in acquiring the streaming rights for Skydance’s Foundation trilogy television series adaptation. David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman will take a stab at the trilogy, which practically inspired the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek and many other sci-fi favorites. They will serve as showrunners, as well as executive producers with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross.

Many studios have failed at film attempts to bring Asimov’s trilogy to life, including Fox, Warner Bros. and Sony, according to Deadline, so television may indeed be the best route to take. However, even HBO tried to develop a series from Westworld creator Jonathan Nolan, though it was never officially ordered.

The book trilogy creates a very complex universe, with humans living scattered throughout the galaxy but all under one supreme ruling government, the Galactic Empire—sound familiar, Star Wars fans? Here’s where things differ slightly: The protagonist “is a psycho-historian who has an ability to read the future and foresees the empire’s imminent collapse,” so he sets out to save all of mankind before humanity becomes a thing of the past. Originally, the series was published in Astounding Magazine, starting in 1942 as a series of short stories.

This is a monumental undertaking for Apple and really ups the streamer’s game. Already, Apple has an untitled morning show drama series starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, a Steven Spielberg-led re-imagining of Amazing Stories, a Damien Chazelle series, a comedy series from Witherspoon starring Kristin Wiig, a new space drama from Ronald D. Moore, world-building drama See from Francis Lawrence and Steven Knight, an M. Night Shyamalan psychological thriller and the Witherspoon-produced Are You Sleeping, starring Octavia Spencer in the works.

Goyer’s previous credits include co-writing the forthcoming Terminator reboot, as well as Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Ghost Rider and the Blade franchise. Friedman’s credits include Avatar 2, the War of the Worlds remake, and the forthcoming Avatar 2 and Terminator reboot.