I was reading about Apple having the rights to adapt Issac Asimovs Foundation novels into a television series. Coming from David Goyer and Josh Friedman they plan on adapting the series for Apples streaming television service with Tom Cruises Skydance Productions. This should help Apple enter the market currently dominated by Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. This seems like a good idea on its surface but I think Apple bit off more then it can chew, pardon the pun. I don't think they realize just how complicated the Foundation saga really is.
This is not the first time someone has bought the rights to a series of books but did not understand just how deep and complicated the stories really are. The most recent being Stephen Kings Dark Tower novels. While one movie was made from the books a television show was/is supposed to follow up on the movie. The movie did not live up to expectations with the movie audience, fans of the books or even the studio behind the movie. The movie was a few parts of some books mashed into something called the Dark Tower. I watched it in a theater and didn't hate it. I knew parts of the story already. What was in the theater didn't live up to expectations because the people behind the movie didn't understand what made the books work.
With the Foundation novels you have what is considered one of the greatest science fiction series of all time. I understand why someone would want to adapt the series for television but it's a very complex thing to do. The story of Foundation plays out not just in three books but in seven with two of them being prequels. That just the books titled under Foundation. The series actually starts with the Robot novels which is five books. The Galactic Empire books are three books and then you start the Foundation books. According to what I found on Goodreads there are sixteen books in the Foundation Universe. That's not even accurate as Asimov took two books that were originally stand alone books and added their stories to the Foundation universe. How do you make all of this work as a television show?
The major problems that this series would run into is time. The Foundation saga is set over 20,000 years. Starting with the Robot books it ends saw far into the future that you have to make reference to it. The scale of the story doesn't make sense unless you mention how everything measures out from the robot books. It's the same problem that the Dark Tower had. It's the same problem that Dune has. You even see it with Game of Thrones. Now with Westworld returning you see parts of it in that show. The more linear you make the show the easier it is to understand. With Foundation the story is rooted in things maintaining the appearance of a linear narrative. The intrigue is seeing the characters within that narrative react to whats around them. While seeing the characters outside that linear narrative react to their places within their own narrative.
I've read most of the Foundation series, I have to read the three Empire books, the two standalone books and one Robot book that I never knew existed until I saw it on Goodreads. If I were to advise the folks making this series I'd say don't look to Westworld as a template for this series. There are similarities between Foundation ad Westworld but those are very loose. If they are going to make this series they should start with the prequel books. That might seem odd to some people but it is the best road to take for this series.
A little background on the story goes like this. A mathematician discovers a way to plot out the future of human civilization. His system only works in large groups so his predictions have a better chance of being accurate. In his model he finds out that the Galactic Empire will collapse within a few years. This collapse will cause a breakdown in human civilization that would last 10,000 years. This dark age could not be avoided but the time frame could be minimized to 1,000 years. So he becomes the creator of the Foundation, an organization which hopes to preserve enough information about human civilization to act as a foundation for the return of a second Galactic Empire. Sounds fine doesn't it.
The first part of the story deals with the mathematician trying to get his idea developed. Later on after he's old we see what steps those who follow him must do to maintain what he's established. This goes on throughout each book as different characters deal with the situations facing them in their time periods. The last two books follow one protagonist as he moves toward the real end goal of the Foundation. That revelation ties directly to the beginning of the saga with the Robot books. That big reveal is why you can't have the series work unless you establish the beginning of the whole saga at the start of the show.
I haven't read the Dark Tower books, yet. I only own the first book in that series. I look forward to reading it since I've never read any Stephen King books. Seen plenty movies and shows adapted from his work but never read a book, yet. I'm sure the problems that people who read the books had with the movie are what may plague the Foundation series. I'll use Dune as an example to illustrate.
I read the original six Dune novels by Frank Herbert. The best way to sum up the whole thing is this, what happens when superhumans take over the galaxy? That's the best I've come up with to sum up the characters within that story as a whole. It's a series that is broken up into parts. The first four books are about drugs, this was released first in the nineteen sixties. The next part was about sex, but Herbert died before he could finish it. I wrote in the old blog about if someone were to try adapting this series I think it would be best if they did the first four books as an animated series in the designs of Aeon Flux. The series has already had two adaptations tried to varying degrees of success but a third attempt is on the way. I don't think Foundation will get as many chances as Dune mostly because the characters are not as memorable.
The understated key of Foundation is choice. Everyone believes they are making the right choices for themselves and something greater then themselves. The mathematician believes his choices will help humanity each character after that believes the same thing. By the last book you see that many of those choices were manipulated by something. That needs to be handled delicately otherwise it won't go over well with the audience. It's another reason to start at the prequels to keep the story going in a linear direction.
The science fiction novel to film or television show idea isn't always good. An example of a good movie is 2001: A Space Odyssey, a bad movie is Annihilation. They are both movies about abstract ideas coming to life. One of them understands it's source material which makes the adaptation easy to watch. The other ends up being something you should watch while high on drugs. That's not a good movie it's just another version of The Fountain, which also sucked.
I understand that shows like Game of Thrones, The Magicians, The Expanse, and Altered Carbon are all adapted from books that have varying degrees of television success. With Foundation I understand that Apple might have a show that can help sell people on not just a streaming service but also Apple TV and iTunes. That's the part no one has mentioned. If you want to see this show you won't watch it on Netflix or Hulu. You'l have to own a Apple TV, subscribe to whatever app linked to iTunes they'll use all for a monthly fee. But keep in mind that if you think about it this is at most a seven season show. That's one season per book if we go with a 12 episodes per season model. I won't even get into Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology being linked to this, just keep it mind for yourself.
This is a gamble in my book. Can it work, yes. Should people just read the books instead, yes. Would now be a great time for audible book versions of the books, hell yeah. Should a company like Big Finish make an audio play version of the books, there was one done for BBC radio already. Will someone else try to make i Robot, again, probably. Whats the chance of someone bringing Asimovs other work back into the main stream, pretty good if this works. How will this affect a project like Robert Jordans Wheel of Time books, it won't any more then Game of Thrones will (I have the first two Wheel books to read someday). Will I watch it, depends on the price. Will you watch, depends on the price. Enjoy.
www.goodreads.com
www.deadline.com
www.swordandlaser.com
www.georgerrmartin.com
www.dunenovels.com
www.jamessacorey.com
www.syfy.com
www.hbo.com
www.itunes.com
www.richardkmorgan.com
www.unboundworlds.com
www.randomhousebooks.com
www.stephenking.com
www.skydancemedia.com
If you liked this post please share and subscribe to receive future posts.
This is not the first time someone has bought the rights to a series of books but did not understand just how deep and complicated the stories really are. The most recent being Stephen Kings Dark Tower novels. While one movie was made from the books a television show was/is supposed to follow up on the movie. The movie did not live up to expectations with the movie audience, fans of the books or even the studio behind the movie. The movie was a few parts of some books mashed into something called the Dark Tower. I watched it in a theater and didn't hate it. I knew parts of the story already. What was in the theater didn't live up to expectations because the people behind the movie didn't understand what made the books work.
With the Foundation novels you have what is considered one of the greatest science fiction series of all time. I understand why someone would want to adapt the series for television but it's a very complex thing to do. The story of Foundation plays out not just in three books but in seven with two of them being prequels. That just the books titled under Foundation. The series actually starts with the Robot novels which is five books. The Galactic Empire books are three books and then you start the Foundation books. According to what I found on Goodreads there are sixteen books in the Foundation Universe. That's not even accurate as Asimov took two books that were originally stand alone books and added their stories to the Foundation universe. How do you make all of this work as a television show?
The major problems that this series would run into is time. The Foundation saga is set over 20,000 years. Starting with the Robot books it ends saw far into the future that you have to make reference to it. The scale of the story doesn't make sense unless you mention how everything measures out from the robot books. It's the same problem that the Dark Tower had. It's the same problem that Dune has. You even see it with Game of Thrones. Now with Westworld returning you see parts of it in that show. The more linear you make the show the easier it is to understand. With Foundation the story is rooted in things maintaining the appearance of a linear narrative. The intrigue is seeing the characters within that narrative react to whats around them. While seeing the characters outside that linear narrative react to their places within their own narrative.I've read most of the Foundation series, I have to read the three Empire books, the two standalone books and one Robot book that I never knew existed until I saw it on Goodreads. If I were to advise the folks making this series I'd say don't look to Westworld as a template for this series. There are similarities between Foundation ad Westworld but those are very loose. If they are going to make this series they should start with the prequel books. That might seem odd to some people but it is the best road to take for this series.
A little background on the story goes like this. A mathematician discovers a way to plot out the future of human civilization. His system only works in large groups so his predictions have a better chance of being accurate. In his model he finds out that the Galactic Empire will collapse within a few years. This collapse will cause a breakdown in human civilization that would last 10,000 years. This dark age could not be avoided but the time frame could be minimized to 1,000 years. So he becomes the creator of the Foundation, an organization which hopes to preserve enough information about human civilization to act as a foundation for the return of a second Galactic Empire. Sounds fine doesn't it.The first part of the story deals with the mathematician trying to get his idea developed. Later on after he's old we see what steps those who follow him must do to maintain what he's established. This goes on throughout each book as different characters deal with the situations facing them in their time periods. The last two books follow one protagonist as he moves toward the real end goal of the Foundation. That revelation ties directly to the beginning of the saga with the Robot books. That big reveal is why you can't have the series work unless you establish the beginning of the whole saga at the start of the show.
I haven't read the Dark Tower books, yet. I only own the first book in that series. I look forward to reading it since I've never read any Stephen King books. Seen plenty movies and shows adapted from his work but never read a book, yet. I'm sure the problems that people who read the books had with the movie are what may plague the Foundation series. I'll use Dune as an example to illustrate.
I read the original six Dune novels by Frank Herbert. The best way to sum up the whole thing is this, what happens when superhumans take over the galaxy? That's the best I've come up with to sum up the characters within that story as a whole. It's a series that is broken up into parts. The first four books are about drugs, this was released first in the nineteen sixties. The next part was about sex, but Herbert died before he could finish it. I wrote in the old blog about if someone were to try adapting this series I think it would be best if they did the first four books as an animated series in the designs of Aeon Flux. The series has already had two adaptations tried to varying degrees of success but a third attempt is on the way. I don't think Foundation will get as many chances as Dune mostly because the characters are not as memorable.The understated key of Foundation is choice. Everyone believes they are making the right choices for themselves and something greater then themselves. The mathematician believes his choices will help humanity each character after that believes the same thing. By the last book you see that many of those choices were manipulated by something. That needs to be handled delicately otherwise it won't go over well with the audience. It's another reason to start at the prequels to keep the story going in a linear direction.
The science fiction novel to film or television show idea isn't always good. An example of a good movie is 2001: A Space Odyssey, a bad movie is Annihilation. They are both movies about abstract ideas coming to life. One of them understands it's source material which makes the adaptation easy to watch. The other ends up being something you should watch while high on drugs. That's not a good movie it's just another version of The Fountain, which also sucked.
This is a gamble in my book. Can it work, yes. Should people just read the books instead, yes. Would now be a great time for audible book versions of the books, hell yeah. Should a company like Big Finish make an audio play version of the books, there was one done for BBC radio already. Will someone else try to make i Robot, again, probably. Whats the chance of someone bringing Asimovs other work back into the main stream, pretty good if this works. How will this affect a project like Robert Jordans Wheel of Time books, it won't any more then Game of Thrones will (I have the first two Wheel books to read someday). Will I watch it, depends on the price. Will you watch, depends on the price. Enjoy.www.goodreads.com
www.deadline.com
www.swordandlaser.com
www.georgerrmartin.com
www.dunenovels.com
www.jamessacorey.com
www.syfy.com
www.hbo.com
www.itunes.com
www.richardkmorgan.com
www.unboundworlds.com
www.randomhousebooks.com
www.stephenking.com
www.skydancemedia.com
If you liked this post please share and subscribe to receive future posts.
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