Executive producer David S. Goyer refers to Isaac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ as “the greatest science fiction work of all time.” Not too daunting, huh? But Goyer and his collaborator, Josh Friedman, felt they were up to the task of turning Asimov’s bestselling book series into an ongoing TV series on Apple TV+.
In an extremely simplified summary, ‘Foundation’ is about “the thousand-year saga of The Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it.” The TV adaptation stars Jared Harris as main character Hari Seldon, Lee Pace as ruler Brother Day, Lou Llobell as Gaal, Laura Birn as Demerzel, Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn, and Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk.
In the story, Seldon predicts that the Galactic Empire is about to collapse and in doing so, will bring a Dark Age that will last 30,000 years. However, he offers potential hope. If he can assemble a “Foundation” of scholars to put all of humanity’s knowledge into the Encyclopedia Galactica, the Dark Age will only last 1,000 years. However, many years later, it is discovered that this was all a ruse, and Seldon had different plans.
The ‘Foundation’ TV series won’t arrive until 2021. (COVID-19 caused a shutdown of production in March.) But Apple TV+ has unveiled a new video that serves as both a first trailer and a behind-the-scenes making-of featurette. You can watch it below:
Apple TV+ launched in November and among its initial offerings were ‘See’, a fantasy/sci-fi series set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has lost the sense of sight, starring Jason Momoa, ‘Servant’ from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan, and the MMORPG sitcom ‘Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet’ co-created by and starring Rob McElhenney (‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’) all of which have been renewed for sophomore seasons. Not yet renewed is the sci-fi anthology ‘Amazing Stories’ based on a 1980s series created by Steven Spielberg.
However, so far, Apple TV+’s successes haven’t really been in the realm of genre programming. Its biggest hits have been the dramas ‘Morning Show’ with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, and ‘Defending Jacob’, a miniseries, with Chris Evans.
If you want to check out what Apple TV+ has to offer, subscriptions are a low $4.99 per month or completely free with the purchase of a new or refurbished Apple device.
Source: Esquire