Apple Snags Rights to Series Based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy

Apple snags rights to TV series adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi trilogy

Apple is ramping up its roster of television content, having nabbed the TV series adaptation of Foundation, Isaac Asimov’s science fiction novel trilogy, reports Deadline.

Skydance Television is handling the project, which has been given straight-to-series consideration, and David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, the upcoming Terminator reboot) and Josh Friedman (Avatar 2, War of the Worlds remake) will serve as executive producers and showrunners alongside Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross. Skydance is behind many other popular streaming original series, including Netflix’s Grace & Frankie and Altered Carbon; and the upcoming series Jack Ryan for Amazon Prime Video.

Foundation is a trilogy that tells the story of humans living throughout the galaxy, under the rule of a Galactic Empire. Protagonist Hari Seldon has developed a branch of mathematics that allows him to predict the future, where he sees the eventual fall of the Empire, and he develops a team called the Foundation to try and preserve humanity.

Sound familiar? The sci-fi books, which include Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation, along with several additional sequels and prequels, served as inspiration for various sci-fi films and TV series, including Star Wars.

Foundation was originally included as a series of eight short stories that were published in Astounding Magazine in the ‘40s. Asimov was, of course, a prolific writer as well as a professor of biochemistry at Boston University.

Several Hollywood heavyweights have explored creating a series or movie based on the trilogy, including New Line Cinema, Columbia Pictures (Sony), and HBO, but nothing has ever come to fruition, and no projects ever materialized.

Apple is working aggressively to launch its own streaming TV service. According to the New York Times, the company has already secured deals to acquire 12 television projects, nine of which have received straight-to-series orders, and is working with a billion-dollar budget. Some of its projects include a scripted series about a morning show that will star Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, and Amazing Stories by Steven Spielberg.

The New York Times anticipates that Apple could launch its own streaming TV service as early as March 2019. The company already offers some original TV series through its Apple Music service, including Carpool Karaoke: The Series based on the popular Late Late Night with James Corden skit, as well as venture capital series Planet of the Apps.

Editors' Recommendations