Apple is ready to tackle one of the most ambitious sci-fi projects in the history of Hollywood after the company greenlit a new TV series based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation.
The new TV show is being produced by Skydance Television with David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman signed on to write the series that’s about a galactic empire of humans living on multiple planets across the galaxy.
If the concept of Foundation sounds a bit like Star Wars to you, that’s because it was one of the biggest inspirations behind George Lucas’ sci-fi fairytale set in a galaxy far far away. Foundation was originally published in 1942 as a sci-fi series.
The story’s protagonist has the ability to see the future and the empire’s upcoming demise and then sets out to save the knowledge of mankind from being wiped out. The challenging story contains a number of empires that rise and fall, giving it more depth than Game of Thrones.
Foundation could be Apple’s most ambitious TV project yet, according to Deadline. Goyer’s writing credits include Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and the Blade franchise. Friedman is most known for is work on the remake for War Of The Worlds and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
A number of Hollywood studios have tried to turn Foundation into a film. The scope of the story is so vast though that squishing it down into a 2.5 hour film proved too challenging for some of the industry’s best sci-fi movie writers.
Apple also has another sci-fi series in the works. Battlestar Galactica writer Ronald Moore is creating a TV show for Apple that takes place in a near future world where the space race between the U.S. and Russia never ended.
The growing roster of Apple TV shows also includes projects by Reese Witherspoon, Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stores anthology, a basketball series from the creator of Friday Night Lights and a few other shows. The company plans to spend more than $1 billion on original content in 2018.
