New ‘Foundation’ Trailer Shows the Decline of the Galactic Empire
Isaac Asimov’s classic trilogy is coming to the small screen next month and it looks gorgeous.
There have been attempts to adapt Asimov’s novels to both movie and TV formats in the past – the most recent was a project from HBO helmed by West World‘s Jonathan Nolan. None worked out till now. Apple has teamed with David S. Goyer to bring the epic story of a collapsing empire, a technology that can predict what’s to come, and a dangerous plan to save the best of what mankind has created. It has inspired multiple sci-fi sagas, including Star Wars.
Adapting Asimov’s massive and groundbreaking trilogy for AppleTv+ is no small feat. Apple’s series have all had high production value (on par and above HBO) with amazing creators attached. The cast is filled with great names and it’s gorgeous with an epic scale. Series creator Goyer pitched the series to Apple in one perfect sentence:
“It’s a 1,000-year chess game between Hari Seldon and the Empire, and all the characters in between are the pawns, but some of the pawns over the course of this saga end up becoming kings and queens.”
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. Only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humanity, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls this sanctuary the Foundation.
But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. And mankind’s last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and live as slaves—or take a stand for freedom and risk total destruction.
With the universe established, the latest trailer is more focused on some of the large battles and the decline of the galactic empire. And what must be done to save the future of humanity.
Hopefully the books’ core story about science, free-will, civilization, and politics can be found among all of the modern day space battles. It would be a shame if such a great saga was reduced to that, and Asimov deserves something on screen that’s actually good. That said, I’m still really excited to see what they’ve done.
The cast includes stars Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, Lee Pace as Brother Day, Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick, Leah Harvey as Salvor Hardin, Laura Birn as Eto Demerzel, Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk, Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn, and Alfred Enoch as Raych. The series is being led by David S. Goyer; and written by Goyer and Josh Friedman.
Foundation arrives on AppleTv+ on September 24th.
