How the Apple TV+ adaptation of 'Foundation' differs from its source
Showrunner and writer David Goyer shares how "Foundation" had to change for its Apple TV+ version, from modernization to adaptation to changing social standards.
'Foundation' premieres on September 24
Gizmodo talked with David Goyer, the showrunner, writer, and executive producer of Apple TV+ show "Foundation." He shared his approach to bringing Issac Asimov's science-fiction epic to life 70 years after its publication.
"Whenever I'm adapting something, I read it again or watch it again, and I try to write down what I think the core ideas are, the essential ingredients," he told Gizmodo over video chat. "In this case, because Asimov wasn't alive, I was talking to his estate, to his daughter, and I said, I want to make sure that I've identified the core ingredients that make "Foundation," "Foundation."
The estate says Goyer has zeroed in on the most important elements of the story. Additionally, since the original text was written for a post-World War II audience, with the mores of the time, some events would have to be changed.
For example, most of the characters in the original book were men. So, Goyer asked the estate how they would feel if a few characters were gender-flipped.
The estate responded positively, saying that "we think Asimov himself would have completely embraced that."
Rather than focus on a line-for-line adaptation of the book series 70 years later, Goyer said he focused on the characters, their motivations, and ensuring they led three-dimensional lives. For example, one character is time itself, with the writers embracing time jumps, forward and backward.
While "Foundation" as a tv series will appeal to diehard fans, Goyer hopes the story can appeal to wider audiences with a grounded and coherent base storyline. The drama of the characters needs to be translatable to a real-world version of itself, or else it won't attract people who aren't fans of the genre.
"If this doesn't work without the science fiction trappings, then that's not a story we're going to tell," Goyer says he told his writing staff, actors, and directors. "That was our true north for how we approached the show: this needs to be able to appeal to people who would not consider themselves fans of science fiction."
Goyer concludes his interview by stating that he believes that "Foundation" couldn't be more relevant in the wake of a global pandemic. He wants to tell a story that's got a message of hope.
"Foundation" arrives on Apple TV+ on September 24 with its first two episodes. There are ten episodes in total, with each one releasing each Friday after that. Subscribe to Apple TV+ for $4.99 per month or via any tier of the Apple One subscription service.
Read on AppleInsider
'Foundation' premieres on September 24
Gizmodo talked with David Goyer, the showrunner, writer, and executive producer of Apple TV+ show "Foundation." He shared his approach to bringing Issac Asimov's science-fiction epic to life 70 years after its publication.
"Whenever I'm adapting something, I read it again or watch it again, and I try to write down what I think the core ideas are, the essential ingredients," he told Gizmodo over video chat. "In this case, because Asimov wasn't alive, I was talking to his estate, to his daughter, and I said, I want to make sure that I've identified the core ingredients that make "Foundation," "Foundation."
The estate says Goyer has zeroed in on the most important elements of the story. Additionally, since the original text was written for a post-World War II audience, with the mores of the time, some events would have to be changed.
For example, most of the characters in the original book were men. So, Goyer asked the estate how they would feel if a few characters were gender-flipped.
The estate responded positively, saying that "we think Asimov himself would have completely embraced that."
Rather than focus on a line-for-line adaptation of the book series 70 years later, Goyer said he focused on the characters, their motivations, and ensuring they led three-dimensional lives. For example, one character is time itself, with the writers embracing time jumps, forward and backward.
While "Foundation" as a tv series will appeal to diehard fans, Goyer hopes the story can appeal to wider audiences with a grounded and coherent base storyline. The drama of the characters needs to be translatable to a real-world version of itself, or else it won't attract people who aren't fans of the genre.
"If this doesn't work without the science fiction trappings, then that's not a story we're going to tell," Goyer says he told his writing staff, actors, and directors. "That was our true north for how we approached the show: this needs to be able to appeal to people who would not consider themselves fans of science fiction."
Goyer concludes his interview by stating that he believes that "Foundation" couldn't be more relevant in the wake of a global pandemic. He wants to tell a story that's got a message of hope.
"Foundation" arrives on Apple TV+ on September 24 with its first two episodes. There are ten episodes in total, with each one releasing each Friday after that. Subscribe to Apple TV+ for $4.99 per month or via any tier of the Apple One subscription service.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
I do like that
ah well, time to renew the Apple TV+ subscription for a while.
You may be right as to why Foundation has not been adapted before now, but it could also be due to producers and executives just not "getting" intelligent sci-fi (and that's assuming they get sci-fi at all). There are numerous examples of outstanding Sci-Fi getting tossed aside, although in a few instances some are rescued.
I do have high hopes for this, but given contemporary efforts in the genre, I will remain skeptical until the product sways me (or I give up on it).
Not having read the book might be an advantage. Too often the film so differs from the source material that fans of the original (novel/cartoon/video game/comic/whatever) end up hating the movie. I try to be fairly open minded (which goes against the general perception people have of me) when watching movies. I enjoyed the 1984 Lynch "Dune" even though it was (in some ways) an abomination... enjoyed it enough to buy the 4K which was just released. I enjoyed the "Avatar" movie even if it paled compared to the cartoon. Heck, I even like what is considered by many to be one of the worst movies of all time - "Alone in the Dark" (and I did enjoy the game back in the day). I will keep an open mind to this adaptation too, but approach with a skeptical eye.
Here’s the real downer. When we watched it again with subtitles we realized that we didn’t really miss much with the dialogue to begin with. As high concept as it was, Tenet was a poorly scripted and edited movie.
I plan on reading the books, just as as soon as I finish reading The Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time!
"with Foundation we can tell the story, hopefully, over the course of eighty episodes; eighty hours, as opposed to trying to condense it all into two or three hours for a single film"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_(TV_series)#Writing
The production values look really good.
One big production like this can sell the platform on its own. If they do extend its production, it could be 1 season of 10 episodes per year for the next 8 years like how Game of Thrones was released:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_of_Thrones_episodes
If the show isn’t captivating enough to attract a lot of weekly viewers, it can’t justify its extremely high production costs regardless of how many one month wonders there are.