HBO to make Foundation

[oorang]

I'm a bit skeptical. Much of what is so interesting about Foundation is the big ideas and big galaxy-wide trends and whatnot and those kinds of things tend not to play as well in tv. To really capture all that you'd probably need like hours of narration, which would make it totally unwatchable. Then again, maybe they could just spread the contextual sorts of information out across a whole series and it would be tolerable. It would take a lot of revision though I think.

We'll see though. I'll most definitely check it out.

 

[BAYLOR]

I think HBO is good place for this one to be done. They'll do a good adaptation.

 

[HanaBi]

I remember reading foundation as a young man. Like DUNE I can see the story being hard to dramatise. But of course if they did a season of robot stories the evolution of Asimov's robots and the three laws, like Ringworld and its shared universe, both could be the subject of some fairly amusing stories if done correctly. The Elijah Bailey stories are also ripe for conversion. If I was able to suggest such a series, I would start with an alternative 20th century, where robots have become common place. The anti robot sentiment could build, over the series the years would roll by, the first colonists would leave Earth and Earth itself would begin to break down. Season 2 would be the off world stories years progressing till Elijah Bailey's time. Climax of that seson would be Robots and Empire. Season three more or less Pebble in the sky and that trilogy. Season 4 would deal with the Foundation and the events of the first three books. Season 5 would be the sequels Foundation's edge and Foundation and Earth. The preqels might even be in there too, but I dont know how good they are! The problem with his work is that he was more of a scientist than a Writer, but there is a solid base of writing and story to work to in my opnion.

It's been a good couple of years since I last read the Foundation series, and I do wonder if the eventual TV adaptation will be able to stand on its own two feet given that the Foundation Universe is interwoven with the Robot series in terms of timelines.

Ideally it would have been great to have had a Robot adaptation for TV, followed by Foundation. Now that really would be a TV spectacle for the diehards!

 

[BAYLOR]

It's been a good couple of years since I last read the Foundation series, and I do wonder if the eventual TV adaptation will be able to stand on its own two feet given that the Foundation Universe is interwoven with the Robot series in terms of timelines.

Ideally it would have been great to have had a Robot adaptation for TV, followed by Foundation. Now that really would be a TV spectacle for the diehards!

Potentially , Foundation could end up being a great tv spectacle.

 

[HanaBi]

Potentially , Foundation could end up being a great tv spectacle.

HBO are also known to throw a shedload of cash into production set design - have just finished watching Boardwalk Empire, and still marvel at the sumptuous 1920s sets, coupled with some wonderful camerawork & compelling storylines

Just so long as HBO get the CGI balance just right: I don't want to be watching a computer game on my TV!

 

[BAYLOR]

HBO are also known to throw a shedload of cash into production set design - have just finished watching Boardwalk Empire, and still marvel at the sumptuous 1920s sets, coupled with some wonderful camerawork & compelling storylines

Just so long as HBO get the CGI balance just right: I don't want to be watching a computer game on my TV!

Given how well they done with Game of Thrones , Foundation is in good hands I too would love to see them adapt Caves of Steel and the Naked Sun . Which might happen if Foundation ends up being a success.

 

[BAYLOR]

Given how well they done with Game of Thrones , Foundation is in good hands I too would love to see them adapt Caves of Steel and the Naked Sun . Which might happen if Foundation ends up being a success.

It will interesting see who they cast as Hari Seldon. I think an actor like William Hurt would be an interesting choice to play the part

 

[HanaBi]

It will interesting see who they cast as Hari Seldon. I think an actor like William Hurt would be an interesting choice to play the part

Hurt, would be a good choice, but I worry about his age! I would need to think long and hard regarding the actors I'd like to realise the likes of Seldon, Salvor Hardin & Dors Venabili et al.

That's the great problem with TV/film adaptations: when you've read the book several times you have a pretty good idea on your mind's eye, what your main characters look like. And yet this can go horribly wrong when you see those same characters in film format. Sometimes it works perfectly - LOTR being a case in point - especially Aragorn/Mortensen, Gandalf/McKellen etc.

 

[Vince W]

Perhaps the greatest challenge for adapting Foundation will be to resist the urge to add bits that Asimov never mentioned. Unlike the GoT series, which based on a series of books that adds filler at every turn, Foundation was written at a time when clear, succinct writing was prized and encouraged.

'Padding out' Foundation would only dilute and muddy Asimov's story to the point of irrelevance. HBO you've been warned.

 

[scidata]

My only real concern is that psychohistory will only get a passing nod, instead of the increasingly deep analysis that Asimov did as the story went on. Just as the island in "Cast Away" was really a central character, so it is with psychohistory in "Foundation". And I really hope they take Asimov's version of it, not the hair-brained mess that one finds on the web sometimes.

 

[Vince W]

April Fool:

http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/0...s-bad-this-math-professor-is-making-it-harder

 

[Ihe]

Given how well they done with Game of Thrones , Foundation is in good hands

HBO are also known to throw a shedload of cash into production set design (...)- Just so long as HBO get the CGI balance just right: I don't want to be watching a computer game on my TV!

I don't know about this. Proportionately, SF needs more budget than fantastic series if it is to be any good, (although I'll admit that budget-wise, it will help that Foundation doesn't hold much epic action) and IMO the viewership for SF is not as populous as other genres', since I find SF less accessible to the average viewer.

I could totally see it run as a mini-series, with every crisis taking up a couple of episodes, (except the mule's arc, which has to be somewhat longer) and changing the cast every time.

 

[scidata]

The key is to understand Asimov. He was an optimistic humanist. Attempting to portray his work as Verne-ian, Wells-ian, or like other prescient "predictors of technology" will miss the point. Perhaps the best means of casting would be to search for people who actually read "Foundation" in their youth.

 

[Vince W]

Perhaps the best means of casting would be to search for people who actually read "Foundation" in their youth.

That's an interesting idea, however I think the Venn diagram of those sets, actors/actors who read Foundation in their youth, would be exceedingly small. Better to use great talent and have a director that understands the stories I think.

 

[dyre]

I suppose I can at least be cautiously optimistic if it's being handled by a combination of HBO and Nolan. I still appreciate his attempt to elevate the (rather dumbed down as of late) science fiction genre with Interstellar.

One thing that helps Foundation is a lack of actual space battle scenes, which gives some more flexibility when it comes to budget. If I remember correctly, what battles that did occur happened "off screen," discussed after-the-fact by characters rather than narrated in real time.

 

[Ihe]

Things will not be as tame as in the books, I suspect. Foundation is all about ideas and trickery and intrigue, and that works fine in a book, but I don't know if casual viewers will watch a SF series without the most exciting and graphic part of SF (that being the high-tech/space action). HBO and Nolan indeed deserve respect and might do the story justice, but I'd be cautious. They will definitely have to compromise, and IMO, will most likely walk a fine line between entertainment and story accuracy/quality.

 

[GMCox]

Things will not be as tame as in the books, I suspect. Foundation is all about ideas and trickery and intrigue, and that works fine in a book, but I don't know if casual viewers will watch a SF series without the most exciting and graphic part of SF (that being the high-tech/space action). HBO and Nolan indeed deserve respect and might do the story justice, but I'd be cautious. They will definitely have to compromise, and IMO, will most likely walk a fine line between entertainment and story accuracy/quality.

I have got to disagree with you there. I doubt that Nolan will allow the books that he has raved about be turned into an action adventure flick.

G

 

[Ihe]

Ahh, big money changes things. We'll see, we'll see.

 

[rmaxix]

Personally I don't see it being successful to anyone other than a cult following if it was made as true to the original. The main concept of psychohistory was philosophically exciting and extremely well pulled off in the way he wrote the first foundation novel but the actual story was significantly less compelling. Especially the way it took huge leaps through time thus avoiding a character focus. After the first book I felt the series went downhill and wasn't a particular fan of the concept of the second foundation or the mule.

 

[BAYLOR]

Any further word on this one?