Asimov’s work is getting a lot of attention lately. We just heard about The Caves of Steel movie being developed (finally!) and now there’s more news regarding Sony’s much anticipated Foundation adaptation directed by the blockbuster king himself, Roland Emmerich. According to First Showing, Sony has hired Dante Harper to take over where the previous writer Robert Rodat left off. Rodat wrote the first draft.
Harper does not have a long list of credits to his name, but has written Black Hole for David Fincher, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and the upcoming All You Need is Kill.
While there are some valid concerns regarding whether Emmerich is up to the task, there’s no doubt he can command the large budget that the film will probably require. His previous efforts, Independence Day, 2012, etc. prove that big is not a problem. Unfortunately though, subtlety may be.
Originally published as a short story series in Astounding Magazine in 1942 before becoming a novel, Asimov’s Foundation is an epic tale of a human dominated galaxy living under the rule of a Galactic Empire whose power is rapidly fading. Historian Hari Seldon has the ability to predict the future using a method of scientific prediction called Psychohistory. Seldon attempts to lesson the impact of the Galactic Empire’s fall by protecting human knowledge. There’s a lot more to the books in the series than can be adequately covered in an article (even in summary form), but I encourage you to read them if you haven’t already. You won’t be disappointed.
Will the movie actually ever reach shooting stage? Is Dante Harper a good choice as writer? Can Emmerich direct with depth and subtly? We'll find out eventually I guess. At least Sony and Emmerich are giving it a shot. Along with a lot of Asimov’s works, a Foundation adaptation is well overdue.
If it makes it, I can’t wait to see it. I predict we’re looking at 2013 at the earliest. We’ll keep you informed.
I just noticed that Caves of Steel is being made too! See above. That's awesome. I hope they do a good job. They could have a decent franchise on their hands if they take all the Foundation books and Empire books and make movies out of them. I hope they do Pebble in the Sky and Currents of Space too.Permit us to stay on our recent sci-fi tangent just a tad bit longer….
Between 1951 and 1953, Isaac Asimov published three books that formed the now legendary Foundation Trilogy. Many considered it a masterwork in science fiction, and that view became official doctrine in 1966 when the trilogy received a special Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series, notably beating out Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. (Don’t miss the vintage Tolkien documentary we featured yesterday.)
Eventually, the BBC decided to adapt Asimov’s trilogy to the radio, dramatizing the series in eight one-hour episodes that aired between May and June 1973. Years later, you can buy the radio drama on iTunes for $9.99. But we’re going to suggest that you pocket that hard-earned money and download the radio drama for free from the Internet Archive.
Click the links below to stream the individual episodes. Or download the full program as a zip file. The Internet Archive gives you more download options here.
They need to redo "I, Robot" because that Wil Smith monstrosity was a debacle.
