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Lee Pace and Jared Harris Cast in Apple's Isaac Asimov 'Foundation' Adaptation

I haven't seen anything of interest in any of Apple's TV efforts. I don't think I am their target market.
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That’s because Apple's not marketing to you & your lousy “target markets.”

They’re focused on “Quality.”

(Really, has anyone anywhere ever said “We’re not marketing to demographics, we’re focused on crap.”

You would think that focusing on quality would be the goal of every producer of anything, despite the results.)
 
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Hopefully the show is better than the books. I remember really liking the Foundation trilogy (and other books in the series) in high school but I just reread it this year and was very underwhelmed. Asimov's writing improves over the trilogy but many of his books are almost nothing but dialogue. Once he learned to write a little action (3rd book in the trilogy), the books and characters became more interesting. Instead of just saying something they did something. If the show is done well, it has the potential to improve on the source material. I say this as a solid Asimov fan (or at least I was when younger; I've read and re-read 6 or 7 of his books in the past couple years and wasn't impressed).
 
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GeneralChang said:
So, based on that summary, it's actually gonna be based on Prelude and Forward the Foundation, not... Foundation. Still good books, but that legitimately bums me out.
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I don’t think so. Seldon was fairly young in ‘Prelude to Foundation’, whereas his age in the original three books (the trilogy) is much older, more fitting to Jared Harris’s age and appearance...
 
So... Anderson Dawes from The Expanse will die or be an offscreen character the next season :D
 
Ormolu said:
Ho hum. No Brother Day in the books, AFAIR: Seldon is the only character that appears throughout a series that spans a millenium or so.
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Yeah, I also don't know who they refer as Brother Day.

Seldon doesn't really appear in the original trilogy, except for a few pages at the start. He is mentioned, though, in all the books, as he was the father of Psychohistory. But there are two prequels written several years later, by Asimov, that are, IMHO, very very good, which are in fact about Hari Seldon. I would really love if they start or focus on those two books. Or the last two, which I also love. The original trilogy I like but less that the latter books.

Anyway, with Apple's budget, they could do a whole series for the whole Foundation universe which would be amazing if done right.
 
BlueParadox said:
I don’t think so. Seldon was fairly young in ‘Prelude to Foundation’, whereas his age in the original three books (the trilogy) is much older, more fitting to Jared Harris’s age and appearance...
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He's middle-aged in Forward, and the article states that it's supposed to follow Seldon as he creates the Foundation. That seems to heavily suggest prequel novels.
 
So far only two of Asimov’s novels have been made into movies, Fantastic Voyage and I, Robot. Both were stinkers. In the case of Fantastic Voyage I believe Asimov wrote the novel to go along with the movie instead of the movie being inspired by the book. I, Robot is an abomination that has no ties to the short stories that make up the I, Robot collection. And a post above is correct. There was no emperor named Brother Day. Cleon II was the last strong emperor.

I have high hopes for this series but I will also not be surprised if it’s a poor representation of the Foundation Trilogy series of novels, ALL of which I have read including Robots and Empire that unified the Empire and Robots storylines.
 
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PhilMacbook said:
💤 I haven't seen anything of interest in any of Apple's TV efforts. I don't think I am their target market.
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Baffling. ATV+ will have comedies, dramas, dramedies, documentaries, thrillers, legal drama, LGBTQ, horror, war, and now Azimov’s Hugo-award winning material fleshed out into a high-budget series with top talent. What target market are you thinking of? Gradeschoolers who miss Teletubbies?

I’m starting to think that comments like this are just becoming a thing to say. Has everyone actually seen the full list of projects under development? And not a single show is even remotely worth considering?
 
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For those dinging Asimov’s writing style in Foundation, the trilogy was actually first published as a scifi serial in a popular science fiction periodical of the time. So, most of the chapters are nearly the exact same length, due to the word count the publisher allocated to Asimov's serial for each issue. The books are literally a collection of all the serial episodes he wrote, all strung together. The prequel and sequel novels were written later as stand-alone books, so the style is more polished and fluid than the original trilogy.
 
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luvbug said:
For those dinging Asimov’s writing style in Foundation, the trilogy was actually first published as a scifi serial in a popular science fiction periodical of the time. So, most of the chapters are nearly the exact same length, due to the word count the publisher allocated to Asimov's serial for each issue. The books are literally a collection of all the serial episodes he wrote, all strung together. The prequel and sequel novels were written later as stand-alone books, so the style is more polished and fluid than the original trilogy.
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I ding his writing style in the trilogy because 2 of the books are 99% dialogue. The 3rd is closer to 90% dialogue and is an improvement in part because things happen rather than just get talked about. That’s all completely separate from having to write set length serial chapters.

I appreciate his books and influence but didn’t like the Foundation trilogy nearly as much as I did decades ago. Maybe it’s just me getting too much dry writing in academia that I can’t tolerate as much of it in my spare time. Caves of Steel (and the others in the trilogy) is better but while Asimov’s ideas behind Foundation and other books are phenomenal, he’s not the best writer. He’s good but not great (certainly better than I am but isn’t as good as Heinlein, for example). This isn’t to detract from Asimov’s influence or importance, I’m just sharing my opinion of his writing.
 
GeneralChang said:
He's middle-aged in Forward, and the article states that it's supposed to follow Seldon as he creates the Foundation. That seems to heavily suggest prequel novels.
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Except he creates the Foundation in the original trilogy. Read the novels before theorizing about them lol.
 
shpankey said:
Harris is such an amazing actor. Will watch to see him at his craft again.
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Living up to the (acting I should add) reputation of his father, Richard.

Pace is also interesting casting, was surprisingly good in the title role of that recent film about John DeLorean.

Like many, I was an avid reader of the Foundation series from about age 11-14, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with the source material, which is as close to unfilmable as you get.
 
I always thought that "Star Wars" ripped off--er, appropriated a lot of the Foundation universe, without the sophistication. Let's see: a republic overthrown by an empire, a mutant emperor, a capital world that is completely developed with no bare soil, etc. Just as "V" and "Independence Day" took the visuals of Clarke's "Childhood's End". This will be very interesting to see.
 
Jerry Fritschle said:
I always thought that "Star Wars" ripped off--er, appropriated a lot of the Foundation universe, without the sophistication. Let's see: a republic overthrown by an empire, a mutant emperor, a capital world that is completely developed with no bare soil, etc.
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Yup - "Coruscant - twinned with Trantor".

The problem is that a straight adaptation of the first novel would be about as exciting as the opening crawl of The Phantom Menace. You can get a way with 200 pages of exposition and somewhat stilted dialogue in a classic SF novel, but it ain't gonna make good television. OK, there was The Man from Earth but that was better written than Foundation. I really hope they don't try and pad the first novel out over 8 hours or more, as some other recent adaptations have done.

neuropsychguy said:
I appreciate his books and influence but didn’t like the Foundation trilogy nearly as much as I did decades ago.
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For one thing, the story features a lot of political plotting that comes over as very simplistic and naive by modern standards. After shows like "The West Wing", "House of Cards", "Game of Thrones" (and... what's that really implausible one about the billionaire reality TV star who gets elected to the White House?) I think they'll have to spice that side up to appeal to audiences.

I think, as you mentioned, that they chose the wrong book - the Elijah Bailey series strikes me as far better material for the screen. Probably an easier pitch, too - TV knows how to make Whodunnits.

lkrupp said:
So far only two of Asimov’s novels have been made into movies, Fantastic Voyage and I, Robot. Both were stinkers.
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You forgot "The Bicentennial Man" - which was a reasonably faithful adaptation.

I thought "I Robot" was basically spoiled by (a) a pair of trainers and (b) making Susan Calvin the sex interest. Apart from that (Mrs Lincoln) it did pull in a lot of ideas and themes from Asimov's robot stories - particularly what would happen once robots/AI got smart enough to start getting creative with the 3 laws. Reputedly, it started out as a completely different story by another author - either it got re-written a lot or that story was a pretty shameless rip-off.

The problem with all classic SF novel-to-movie adaptations, though, is that the source material is for an "art house" audience but the special effects require a blockbuster budget. So dumbing-down is inevitable.
 
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Everything Jared Harris seems to touch turns to gold. The Terror was missing from his "recent" list. More great stuff, looking forward to this.

If they are only now casting this, we won't see this for at least a year right?
 
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lunarworks said:
Because it's not a role he's generally known for, it's one of a myriad of Marvel villains, and his performance was unremarkable in it? It's like going out of your way to credit Hugo Weaving as Red Skull.
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Marvel movies are the most popular in the world. Guardians of the Galaxy is a flagship Marvel property. More people have heard of Guardians of the Galaxy than any thing else he has been in.
 
MacRumors said:



Lee Pace and Jared Harris have scored lead roles in Apple's upcoming "Foundation" series that's based on the classic Isaac Asimov novel of the same name, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Pace is known for his roles in "Pushing Daisies" and "Halt and Catch Fire," along with his work in "The Hobbit" movies. Harris is known for "Chernobyl," "Carnival Row," "The Crown," "The Expanse," and "Mad Men," among other TV shows and movies.

paceandharrisfoundation.jpg


Image credit: Getty​

Asimov's "Foundation" series follows a psychohistory expert and mathematician Hari Seldon who is able to predict the future. Seldon creates a group called the Foundation to preserve humanity's collective knowledge ahead of the impending fall of the Galactic Empire.

There are multiple novels in the "Foundation" series that span many years and cover the rise and fall of multiple empires. Harris will be playing Hari Seldon, the mathematical genius, while Pace will play Brother Day, the Emperor of the Galaxy.

Apple TV+ is set to launch on November 1, but as "Foundation" is still in the casting stages, it will be some time before it premieres. The service will launch with titles like "The Morning Show," "See," "For All Mankind," and "Dickinson."

Apple is charging $4.99 per month for Apple TV+, but customers who purchase an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac can get a free year of service. Each $4.99 subscription fee allows up to six family members to watch.

Article Link: Lee Pace and Jared Harris Cast in Apple's Isaac Asimov 'Foundation' Adaptation
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I have read the full Foundation series not less than 20 times each book and I am pretty sure there is no emperor with a name "Brother Day". I am begging this is an error on the article and not a real character introduced by Apple. The only thing that Apple TV+ needs to do perfectly is the Foundation show so please, please Apple don't screw it up.
 
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