Why Foundation's TV Creator Refused To Adapt Isaac Asimov's Iconic Story As A Movie

Before Isaac Asimov's Foundation series became Apple's most ambitious TV show, the show's creator, David Goyer, gave an interview to Screen Rant about why he refused to adapt the story into a movie. Basically, he said that while he's been offered twice to recreate Asimov's world on the big screen, he didn't believe it would be enough to explore this universe as one should.

"Well, one of the obvious difficulties is that the first book is kind of anthological, and there are these enormous time-jumps that happen in between the stories, and a lot of the characters don't repeat from one story to the next. Previous attempts were by and large attempts to do it as a film or as a pair of films, in fact, I was offered the opportunity to adapt it twice myself as a film. Both times I turned it down because I didn't think it was possible to adapt it as a film or even a series of films," he said in the interview.

That said, unlike other iconic books that got a movie version instead of a proper series, like Ursula K. Le Guin's "Earthsea Tales," which was horribly adapted to the big screen by Studio Ghibli, or even something more popular like "Percy Jackson" that got two bad movies before a proper Disney+ production, Goyer discovered that waiting was the most suitable decision.

David Goyer also said that "Foundation" probably would not have happened if it weren't for the massive success of "Game of Thrones," which opened the door for a big series to be adapted to TV instead of movies. "But then the advent of streaming happened, and you started seeing these large, sprawling, epic novelistic shows taking place like Game of Thrones. It was over the last five years or so that I started to think it might be the right time for Foundation, there might be the right format for Foundation, if I don't have to condense the story into nine hours, but I have potentially the ability to tell the story over 60, or 70, or 80 hours, maybe it could be done. But at the time, the rights weren't available, and then about three years ago the rights became available, and I leapt at it. I said, 'I think now is the time.'"

As of now, "Foundation" is heading into Season 4, and the creator has an ambitious plan for a total of eight seasons. While the original Asimov's story was made out of five books and two prequels, the TV show is heading to the beginning of book three, even though there are several changes between the original story and its small screen adaptation.

"Foundation" has a critics' rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, showing that despite the creative differences between the show and the book, viewers are hooked on the series. With Season 4 expected to premiere in 2027, the only issue with the show, like many modern programs, is the incredibly long period between one season and the next. "Foundation" started in 2021, with a second season released in 2023, and a third in 2025. If the show gets renewed up to Season 8, then it wouldn't be wrapping up until 2037.

While Asimov's story is one of the few that can have this long timespan — characters don't matter as much as the Foundation itself — it'll be interesting to see how Goyer will finish up the story, as Asimov focused on clashing its robot universe with the Foundation world. As of this writing, there aren't many details about Season 4. There hasn't been an official teaser, trailer, or release date, and it has been a year since the show got a green light to continue its production.