The other day AppleTV+ launched its lavish big-budget sci-fi series adaptation of the legendary Isaac Asimov’s iconic novel “Foundation”.
The new take arrives after decades of attempts to adapt the story with David S. Goyer serving as the showrunner on the series which takes some major liberties with the novel’s narrative even as it tries to adapt the “unfilmable” story for the screen.
It’s so dense a work though that there’s plenty of material for Goyer to mine and he tells Slashfilm that he came up with an approach that could see the show run to eight seasons:
“When I presented the plan for season one, Apple knew that it was a big undertaking, and they wanted at least some inkling that I had a direction of where I was going in future seasons.
So I did present a loose plan for eight seasons. And there are definitely story moments and threads that are set up in season one that will not pay off in this season. But at least we know what we’re writing towards. We’re not just starting from scratch. There is a roadmap.”
Goyer also confirms not everything in the series is going to be easily wrapped up by the end of the season, with easter eggs and references being deliberately seeded in early to pay off not just later in the season but later seasons down the line:
“I love it when a little offhanded moment that happens in episode two pays off in episode eight, or even in a later season. I like the universes of these big epics to feel fully lived in and 360 degrees.
I like it when there are shades of gray. I like it when not every question is answered. I will say, in this season, we answer a lot of questions, and there are some questions we don’t answer. And hopefully, the audience will be patient, because if we haven’t answered a question, there’s a reason why we haven’t answered a question. And it’s not because we forgot about it.”
The series launched to mostly good reviews, though whether it is a subscriber generator for Apple remains to be seen. Variety reports that Apple disclosed the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees that Apple TV+ has fewer than 20 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada as of July this year.
By revealing that, Apple is reportedly able to pay discounted rates to production crew members as the 20 million-subscriber threshold ties into the union’s current contract with Apple. That figure is only for those two countries though with Apple TV+ available in more than 100 countries and regions.
The first two episodes of “Foundation” are available now on Apple TV+ and will run weekly with the finale scheduled for November 19th.
