One of the most formative works in science fiction history is finally being brought to the screen.
After years of false starts, both at the movies and on TV, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation just got a 10-episode, direct-to-series order from Apple, according to Deadline. The company acquired the rights to the property earlier this year, with Dark Knight writer David S. Goyer and Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Josh Friedman attached to executive produce and showrun. Skydance, the company behind the current Terminator, Mission: Impossible, and Star Trek franchises, is also on board.
Foundation is based on a series of novels by the legendary writer; they tell a vast, sweeping, story of a group of people placed across the universe working to better position humanity for the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which currently rules the galaxy. And before you say “Galactic Empire? That’s a Star Wars ripoff,” it’s actually the opposite. Asimov’s first Foundation story was in 1942, and then the novels began in 1951.
Goyer and Friedman are both proven commodities when it comes to cracking complex franchises, so if Apple is now all in on Foundation with this series pick up, it’s incredibly encouraging and exciting. It has the potential to be a Game of Thrones, Westworld, Battlestar Galactica-level show.
Update: A previous version of this story did not credit Michael Whelan, the artist of the book covers. That has been amended.