Apple to make 10 episodes of video series based on Asimov’s Foundation

Apple has ordered a series of ten video episodes based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books. The order is part of Apple’s plans to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with its own content.

Skydance Television will produce the Foundation series. This company was previously responsible for the cyberpunk series Altered Carbon. Asimov’s daughter, Robyn Asimov, is involved in the production, Variety reports.

The series looks set to be Apple’s most ambitious video project to date. There have been plans for decades to make the Foundation into a film, but so far they have failed due to the complexity of making the sci-fi series suitable for video.

Asimov started in the 1940s with short stories that led to the famous Foundation trilogy in the 1950s, consisting of Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. New volumes in the book series appeared in the 1980s and 1990s. The story begins with mathematician Hari Seldon, who predicts that the Galactic Empire will fall. To shorten the chaotic period that follows, he establishes two colonies, the Foundations, on the edge of the Milky Way.

Apple has been acquiring video productions for some time and, according to previous reports, would have set aside 1 billion dollars for them. A new division called Apple Worldwide Video would be responsible for this. Among other things, a reboot of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories is planned. Until now, Apple has published its own productions such as Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke via Apple Music, but the company is expected to come up with a separate platform. The NYT reported earlier this year that the video offer will be offered from March 2019 and that a subscription service is the most likely form.