'Foundation' Showrunner Hopes for Unparalleled 80 Episodes on Apple TV+

[MacRumors]

"Foundation" writer and showrunner David Goyer is ambitiously hoping to tell Isaac Asimov's science-fiction story over the course of eighty hours, which is as yet unheard of on Apple TV+.

Foundation tells the story of "a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire," and is based on Isaac Asimov's science-fiction novels of the same name.

In a new interview for Lovin Malta, Goyer discussed why much of the show is being shot in Malta and revealed that he is hoping that the show will run for 80 hours, comparing it to the eight-season run of "Game of Thrones."

The audience is changing. The way that we're consuming stories is changing. Game of Thrones was really the first of these big, giant novelistic shows, and now with Foundation we can tell the story hopefully over the course of 80 episodes, 80 hours, as opposed to trying to condense it all into two or three hours for a single film.

He added that he hopes future seasons will continue to be mostly shot in Malta. Malta was selected for much of Foundation's shooting schedule for its "copious water tanks," being appropriate for Foundation's water planet setting, and due to being suitably versatile for shooting a range of environments during a time in which global travel has been limited. Malta's Film Commissioner, Johann Grech, highlighted that Foundation is the first Apple TV+ show to be produced in Malta.

This is the first time that a senior crew member has spoken publicly about an Apple TV+ show running for such a long period of time, and seems surprisingly confident given that the first season of Foundation has yet to even finish shooting.

"Dickinson" and "Servant" are the only Apple TV+ shows to have premiered a second season so far, with the second season of "For All Mankind" set to arrive on Friday, February 19. Apple TV+ show "Ted Lasso" is highly likely to end at three seasons despite its success with critics and audiences. The show was renewed for a second and a third season not long after the first season was released. Servant has also been renewed for a third season.

Given that only two Apple TV+ shows have premiered second seasons and been renewed for third seasons, it is far too early to speculate on whether Foundation will reach as many as eight seasons. Nevertheless, discussion of a considerably longer, overarching narrative than has otherwise been seen on Apple TV+ so far, and comparison to the highly successful Game of Thrones may indicate that Apple has very ambitious plans for Foundation.

The first, ten-episode season of Foundation is expected to debut on Apple TV+ in the fall of 2021.

Article Link: 'Foundation' Showrunner Hopes for Unparalleled 80 Episodes on Apple TV+

 

[Serban55]

I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER

 

[VforVelveta]

Malta was selected for much of Foundation's shooting schedule for its "copious water tanks," being appropriate for Foundation's water planet setting...

I'm not one to get upset for shows not following books to a T, but how much are they changing that requires a water planet? That seems like an unnecessary constraint considering none of the story has anything to do with water planets.

 

[svanstrom]

I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER

For a true fan it will never be good enough; but it looks like a very serious attempt, so it might just be a good watch anyways. I'm very excited about it.

 

[svanstrom]

I'm not one to get upset for shows not following books to a T, but how much are they changing that requires a water planet? That seems like an unnecessary constraint considering none of the story has anything to do with water planets.

Terminus is quite watery.

 

[jumpcutking]

As a child, I was like I want to make this movie! But it is a very difficult thing to condense this epic down to a few hours. I would happily embrace the 80-hour concept... but I'd hate to wait a whole year to see another episode.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Apple has done with this creative work.

 

[EmotionalSnow]

Oh boy, sounds exciting for sure.

 

[McKodiak]

If the show is as great as it looks and should be, this could be Apple's Game of Thrones. 10 episodes a year for 8 years, released weekly. Should raise subscription totals.

 

[VforVelveta]

I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER

Honestly, I'd rather they just stick with the original 3. Maybe do some occasional flashback type stuff to get some of the info from the prequels about how Seldon got started, but that's it. The prequels/sequels got too "Asimov Universe" for my taste and I wouldn't want to dilute the shows from really telling the story of the original trilogy.

 

[Marzzz]

Read the main trilogy and a few books beyond, this would be very interesting to see. Would Hari Seldon have predicted it?

Oh, I see they cast Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, nice choice...

 

[walnuts]

Interesting- I wonder if this is the showrunner’s attempt to bully Apple into greenlighting the whole show. Sci Fi has a long history of shows thought to have ended too soon, by announcing this it puts pressure on Apple. Don’t think it would work on Apple tho...

 

[svanstrom]

Read the main trilogy and a few books beyond, this would be very interesting to see. Would Hari Seldon have predicted it?

Would he have predicted such a lame and obvious joke about him?

Yes, absolutely; I think that was one of the signs of a declining society that he actually used. No creativity etc.

(Sorry, j/k; I just thought this comment fit in too well with the subject. ?)

 

[yaxomoxay]

I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER

I'd love to see a Robots TV series...

 

[Serban55]

Honestly, I'd rather they just stick with the original 3. Maybe do some occasional flashback type stuff to get some of the info from the prequels about how Seldon got started, but that's it. The prequels/sequels got too "Asimov Universe" for my taste and I wouldn't want to dilute the shows from really telling the story of the original trilogy.

yes, i was talking, not to do just 1 but at least 3...in 80 hours i dont know how much you can cover...80 hours seems just 1 book

 

[yaxomoxay]

Would he have predicted such a lame and obvious joke about him?

Yes, absolutely; I think that was one of the signs of a declining society that he actually used. No creativity etc.

(Sorry, j/k; I just thought this comment fit in too well with the subject. ?)

he would've also predicted the grumpy MacRumors user's reply..... ?

(joking of course )

 

[DeepIn2U]

I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER

Odd I've been a long time fan of Dune yet never heard of Foundation until Apple picked this up.

Honestly I thought this was a movie not a TV series and this I think was to be released this month so why does it seem there is 'hope' for 80 shows not signed and filming ?

 

[DeepIn2U]

yes, i was talking, not to do just 1 but at least 3...in 80 hours i dont know how much you can cover...80 hours seems just 1 book

Hmm.

Seems like if it was a movie, as I originally thought, then they may make the very same mistake as Dino De Laurentis did with Dune in 79 (?)

 

[Cosmosent]

My $0.02, except for the last season, GoT was the Reference Standard by which ALL other shows should be compared against.

The last season, however, was a Disaster, an F-- grade disaster !

 

[aforty]

Game of Thrones doesn't deserve the credit shows like Sopranos and The Wire should be receiving. Those shows started the TV revolution.

 

[V.K.]

I'm not one to get upset for shows not following books to a T, but how much are they changing that requires a water planet? That seems like an unnecessary constraint considering none of the story has anything to do with water planets.

It's fine with me personally. The series started strong but went off the rails completely by the end. Asimov admitted as much. I don't know if they are planning to do the whole series but I'd be happy if they completely eschew the last couple of books and write something totally different which actually follows the original intent of the series.

 

[NMBob]

It's kind of a letdown when you know

Spoiler

The Mule throws a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

Guess I'd better read these prequel books. Might as well just read them all again.

 

[svanstrom]

It's fine with me personally. The series started strong but went off the rails completely by the end. Asimov admitted as much. I don't know if they are planning to do the whole series but I'd be happy if they completely eschew the last couple of books and write something totally different which actually follows the original intent of the series.

That Asimov guy obviously wasn't a real fan. ?

 

[alfonsog]

With streaming the new delivery system it would be cool if shows could be in continuous production and not bother with "seasons" and release episodes continuously over a few years weekly or bi-weekly and taking some breaks for holidays and such... instead of 10 show bursts once a year.

 

[svanstrom]

With streaming the new delivery system it would be cool if shows could be in continuous production and not bother with "seasons" and release episodes continuously over a few years weekly or bi-weekly and taking some breaks for holidays and such... instead of 10 show bursts once a year.

Production often isn't linear like that, though, so there's nothing to continuously release; at least not without them having the whole season ready, and then "artificially" delaying the release of each episode.

 

[cmaier]

I'd love to see a Robots TV series...

That will smith cinematic abomination didn’t do it for you?