Apple TV+ drama 'Foundation' to become Ireland's biggest-ever production

Posted:
in General Discussion
The Apple TV+ dramatisation of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" novels is to employ over 500 people and will be the largest single production ever made on location in southern Ireland.

Detail from a paperback edition of the first
Detail from a paperback edition of the first "Foundation" novel by Isaac Asimov


Screen Ireland has announced that Apple TV+ drama "Foundation" will be filmed in the region during 2020. The series, based on Isaac Asimov's famous novels of galactic empires is to create over 500 jobs on location in Ireland.

The Screen Ireland organization promotes the country as a filming location, but also works to secure jobs for locals.

At a press briefing in Dublin on Friday, it reported that "Foundation" will be shot at Troy Studios in Limerick in southern Ireland, where it will represent the region's largest-ever location production.

"Several training initiatives are underway for new entrants into the industry in the Limerick region," says Screen Ireland in a statement, "with over 40 skills development participants on the show."

The organization also singled out how Apple TV+ and production company Wild Atlantic Pictures were already working with people from the region.

"Irish talent is represented across the production," it says, "including award-winning costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, who leads a large costume department." Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh is previously best known for costume design on the films "Becoming Jane" and "Brideshead Revisited."

"Foundation" is being written by Josh Friedman and David S. Goyer, who will also be showrunner and executive producer. The series stars include Jared Harris, most recently seen in "Chernobyl," and Lee Pace from "Halt and Catch Fire."

The 10-episode series has been developed by Skydance Television and its executive producers include Robyn Asimov, daughter of Isaac Asimov.

While Screen Ireland states that "Foundation" is the largest production filmed on location in the country, it's not clear how that compares to "Game of Thrones," which was filmed in Northern Ireland.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 42
    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.
    hydrogenSpamSandwichmarklarkFileMakerFellerargonaut
  • Reply 2 of 42
    Where did you get “southern” Ireland. It’s called the Republic of Ireland, Ireland or Éire. 
    It’s great to see great investment news for Ireland but using incorrect labels takes the shine away. 
    Shame on AppleInsider. 
    SpamSandwichradster360flyingdpwilliamlondon
  • Reply 3 of 42
    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.

    The other place, Northern Ireland, is part of the UK! If you’re going to point out an inaccuracy, then get the facts correct all the time. 

    williamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 42
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I'm excited for what this could be even if I never felt the series were compelling novels.


    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.
    Note that they use a lower-case 's' for southern. It's not a proper name like for Northern Ireland. You can have a southern West Virginia, an eastern South Africa or countless other terms relating to a location. This is done on purpose, not by Occident, you just have to re-Orient your thinking. Granted, saying that Limerick is in southern Ireland isn't as geographically correct as it could be. If this was Cork would you not agree that it's located in southern Ireland?


    edited January 2020 ramanpfaffhcrefugeeasdasdJWSCStrangeDaysmaltzcy_starkmanGG1fastasleepmdriftmeyer
  • Reply 5 of 42
    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.
    Errrr? Nope. Being pedantic...

    Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Republic of Ireland.  That other place is part of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".


    marklarkwilliamlondon
  • Reply 6 of 42
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    This is the one I’ve been waiting for, along with Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. I read the three Foundation novels when I was a teenager (I’ll turn 70 this year). In fact I’ve read pretty much all of Asimov’s science fiction novels. Asimov, Heinlein, Clark, Poul Anderson, Ursula Le Guin, now those were science fiction writers.
    hcrefugeesidricthevikingnormmflyingdph2pFileMakerFellerargonaut
  • Reply 7 of 42
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.
    Since Limerick is in the southern part of Ireland there’s nothing wrong here. The only confusion with the term is if it’s referring to a county in the north of Ireland but not in Northern Ireland, like Donegal. Saying Donegal is in southern Ireland is confusing.

    As for the “other place” where game of thrones was filmed. Not England.  


    sidrictheviking
  • Reply 8 of 42
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    When Peter Jackson was making the Lord of the Rings movie, early in its development cycle they were actually planning to use Foundation Series by Asimov, but changed for unstated reasons to the Tolkien series. The original Foundation Series was three books, but later in life Asimov wrote an additional four books and I found those four books (unlike the first three) to be fantastic. (There are a total of 18 books by Asimov in the same timeline so lots of material for Apple should they have the correct license arrangement.) In fact these last four books included Asimov's first books to ever make it onto the New York Times bestseller list. I won't give away who the real antagonist was. Of course, the writers don't have to respect the original series too much. I recall the 1980s adaptation of the Bourne Identity actually was faithful to the book and it turned out Jason Bourne was NOT actually a killer spy (jump to 2:33:40 for the real answer: ). The point I'm making is that a good TV show does not have to be faithful to the books. The last few pages of the last Foundation book refer to another civilization in another galaxy called Galaxia, but there has been no further expanding on that theme yet (so the new show could expand on it if it wants to.) Here's the only song ever written about a character in the Foundation Series, ("The Mule") it's by Deep Purple, and it would make a great theme song for the Apple TV Foundation Series:  perhaps without the lyrics.
    JWSCrandominternetpersonviclauyyctenthousandthingsGG1h2p
  • Reply 9 of 42
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    On the subject of "southern Ireland", I would note that Dublin, where the production will be made, is actually in far eastern Ireland, geographically speaking. So obviously the original article wasn't being geographic but was instead being political.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 10 of 42
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    This is one of those epic tails on the scale of Dune or LOTR.  if they do it justice, a la Peter Jackson, they’ll be heroes.  If they don’t, ehem... David Lynch, they’ll be pilloried for decades.

    Don’t screw this up guys!!!
    randominternetpersonlmacentropysargonautrevenant
  • Reply 11 of 42
    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.
    Of course there is. Those of us who live in southern Ireland, especially along the border, use the term regularly. It’s just a quick way to differentiate between the Republic and Northern Ireland. Now, let’s get back to the main topic... Foundation is coming and it’s being produced here! Wow! I loved this series as a teenager. I just hope this is a great production.
    buckaleclolliverGG1williamlondon
  • Reply 12 of 42
    JWSC said:
    This is one of those epic tails on the scale of Dune or LOTR.  if they do it justice, a la Peter Jackson, they’ll be heroes.  If they don’t, ehem... David Lynch, they’ll be pilloried for decades.

    Don’t screw this up guys!!!
    That’s the real issue. Will it be worthy of the original story?
    lmacentropysargonaut
  • Reply 13 of 42
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,844member
    JWSC said:
    This is one of those epic tails on the scale of Dune or LOTR.  if they do it justice, a la Peter Jackson, they’ll be heroes.  If they don’t, ehem... David Lynch, they’ll be pilloried for decades.

    Don’t screw this up guys!!!
    David Lynch's Dune is certainly a cult classic and loved by many, myself included. While there were some changes, and stylistic decisions made, I found most of them enjoyable and memorable. The sets and costumes are incredible and still look great today. The acting and casting excellent. So much so that there is rarely a month that goes by without myself or friends making a reference to his film. It's a Lynchian take on Dune, which is all anyone could expect from a David Lynch film. Hardcore fans were annoyed by the ending shots of rain, but at that point it was decided by his executive producer that there would be no additional sequels as originally hoped for, so they put a bow on it. Didn't see like a big deal.

    Compare this to Sci-Fi's Dune books, which while more loyal to the books, are atrocious to watch, ridiculous costumes, etc.
  • Reply 14 of 42
    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.
    Errrr? Nope. Being pedantic...

    Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Republic of Ireland.  That other place is part of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".


    Come on. So many of us living here use the phrase ‘southern Ireland’ to refer to the Republic. It’s a simple way to distinguish it from Northern Ireland. It’s no big deal. I’ve lived a few miles south of the border for most of my life and this phrase is used frequently. We regularly say ‘The North’ as a shorthand, too.
    maltzrandominternetpersonlolliverh2pwilliamlondon
  • Reply 15 of 42
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    There is no "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Ireland.  That other place is part of England.
    Errrr? Nope. Being pedantic...

    Troy Studios is not in "southern" Ireland. Troy Studios is located in Limerick, Republic of Ireland.  That other place is part of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
    Come on. So many of us living here use the phrase ‘southern Ireland’ to refer to the Republic. It’s a simple way to distinguish it from Northern Ireland. It’s no big deal. I’ve lived a few miles south of the border for most of my life and this phrase is used frequently. We regularly say ‘The North’ as a shorthand, too.
    Don't you mean, "I’ve lived a few miles [Republic] of the border for most of my life"? :smile: 
    sidrictheviking
  • Reply 16 of 42
    Where did you get “southern” Ireland. It’s called the Republic of Ireland, Ireland or Éire. 
    It’s great to see great investment news for Ireland but using incorrect labels takes the shine away. 
    Shame on AppleInsider. 
    I’ve lived in southern Ireland all of my life (I still do!). It’s what we call it locally, as a convenient way to distinguish it from ‘The North’. 
    maltzlolliver
  • Reply 17 of 42
    lmaclmac Posts: 206member
    The original 3 books of the Foundation series are big idea books that span a long period of time. It will be hard to translate this well, but it's worth doing. Those books were great. I reiterate the sentiment above: don't screw this up.
    flyingdph2p
  • Reply 18 of 42
    I guess Apple has learned nothing from getting in bed with the backstabbers in the EU.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 19 of 42
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    This is great news for Ireland.   I've been there many times for work unfortunately but I must say one beautiful country!   I say "but" because work was pretty intense and frankly didn't get to enjoy the place as much as is ideal.

    What I'm concerned with is Apple screwing up the series with a poor adaptation.  Sometimes throwing money at a problem works and sometimes it result in really gross solutions.    A bigger problem is that I'm not likely to sign up for Apples service so who knows if I will ever see the production.

  • Reply 20 of 42
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    I guess Apple has learned nothing from getting in bed with the backstabbers in the EU.
    Ireland is appealing the EU ruling, along with Apple.
Sign In or Register to comment.