It’s happening! And for once, I am sorry not to be an Apple consumer.
After years of false starts, both at the movies and on TV, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation just got a 10-episode, direct-to-series order from Apple, according to Deadline. The company acquired the rights to the property earlier this year, with Dark Knight writer David S. Goyer and Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Josh Friedman attached to executive produce and showrun. Skydance, the company behind the current Terminator, Mission: Impossible, and Star Trek franchises, is also on board.
Foundation is based on a series of novels by the legendary writer; they tell a vast, sweeping, story of a group of people placed across the universe working to better position humanity for the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which currently rules the galaxy. And before you say “Galactic Empire? That’s a Star Wars ripoff,” it’s actually the opposite. Asimov’s first Foundation story was in 1942, and then the novels began in 1951.
Very cool, but I have questions?
1. What does direct-to-series mean?
2. Is 10 episodes it, or is that just season 1?
3. How far do the 10 episodes go? That seems like too much for just Foundation, and too little for the triolgy.Report
Direct to Series means they ordered it flat out without requiring a pilot to evaluate first.
I’m curious about the other two as well.Report
I wonder if direct is also a tactic to illicit trust with content makers, showing commitment where they do not yet have a reputation to fall back on in supporting their products.Report
@andrew-donaldson Yeah, I think that’s often the case based on other scuttlebutt I’ve heard about shows. It’s a real demonstration, too, not just soothing words, because of the financial positive impact on the creators, the actors hired, etc etc etc. Security is hard to come by in the television business.
Netflix did it a lot when they first started with original shows and now they use it to lure in the big name folks too :).Report