EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT APPLE TV+’S THE FOUNDATION SERIES
Isaac Asimov is probably the most famous name when it comes to science-fiction literature and he is considered – by many – to be the most important and influential sciencefiction writer ever. His opus includes over 500 books and, in that aspect, he is certainly one of the most prolific writers in the history of the genre. Among his works, the Foundation series (actually hepatology) is by far the most important and most influential.
The Foundation consists of seven books in total – Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation, Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation, Foundation’s Edge, and Foundation and Earth – and tells the story of scientist Hari Seldon who, during the waning days of the Galactic Empire, predicts its downfall and a 30,000-year-long dark age and then uses his theory of psychohistory to alter the future and limit the consequences of the Empire’s downfall to just 1,000 years.
The Foundation is a seminal science-fiction series and it should not come as a surprise that filmmakers tried to adapt it for the big screen. The initial plan was to adapt the Foundation Trilogy as a three-part movie series similar to The Lord of the Rings, but that plan ultimately failed and the filmmakers turned to television. Initial plans were discussed as early as 2014 but it wasn’t until 2018 that Apple actually ordered the series that was set to premiere on Apple TV+. In the paragraphs that follow, we are going to discuss what we know about the series.
The Foundation is set to premiere sometime in 2021 on Apple TV+ with its first season, that received a 10-episode initial order. David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman were hired as showrunners and creators, with Goyer saying that “... with Foundation we can tell the story, hopefully, over the course of eighty episodes; eighty hours, as opposed to trying to condense it all into two or three hours for a single film”. Goyer’s statement tells us that the producers have a very ambitious plan for Asimov’s masterpiece, which is something we are certainly looking forward to. The filming of the series started somewhere around the beginning of 2020 and it was initially suspended for a while because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed by the Irish government. Filming resumed in October 2020 and soon moved to Malta, after the crew satisfied all of the government criteria imposed for foreigners entering the island country. Filming was completed in February 2021.
The first cast members were revealed as early as October 2019, when it was confirmed that Jared Harris was cast as Hari Seldon, while Lee Pace was cast as Brother Day, the Galactic Emperor.
Jared Harris is a well-known name in the world of television, having had acclaimed appearances in shows such as Mad Men, Chernobyl, and Fringe; he also starred in several major movies, such as Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Lincoln. Lee Pace is another well-known name, although his career was marked with prominent movie roles, rather than television appearances, with the most notable being the roles of Ronan the Accuser in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Thranduil the Elvenking in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.
Terrence Mann was soon cast as Brother Dusk, the eldest living member of the ruling family, while Cassian Bilton got the role of Brother Dawn, the Emperor’s heir. Lou Llobell was cast in the role of mathematical genius Gaal Dornick, while Leah Harvey was hired for the role of warden Salvor Hardin. Laura Birn was cast as Eto Demerzel, the Emperor’s enigmatic and mysterious aide. Of the other known casting decisions, Alfred Enoch was cast in an as of yet unspecified role.
The series is a very ambitious project with a budget that is, for the first season, estimated to be at least €45 million, which is a truly large budget for a television series, but the quality the showrunners have promised us certainly merits this and we are hopeful that Apple is going to stick with the show – if it is successful – as long as Goyer and Friedman need them to do until they realize all of the ideas they have for the Foundation. A first-look teaser trailer for the Foundation television series was released by Apple on June 22, 2020, and it was met with acclaim by fans and critics, who voiced their anticipation for the series. Despite the fact that the Foundation is coming very soon, precise information are still pretty scarce. We know all the main plot elements and the ideas that the production team wants to film. We also know the people behind the show, as well as the main cast members. Some production details have also been published during the last year but that’s it. We still don’t have any information on the exact release date, nor do we know anything about the show’s structure and style. We’ll still have to wait some time before we find out all of this but we are certainly looking forward to the show.