Sci-Fi Foundation (2011)

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[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]FOUNDATION (2011) - PREVIEW [/FONT]

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Foundation (2011)

Starring: TBA
Director: Roland Emmerich
U.S. Opening Date: 2011[/FONT]
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THEY SAY[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]Roland Emmerich will direct a movie based on the Foundation series of novels by Isaac Asimov. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]The Foundation novels are a series of tales set so far in the future that Earth is all but forgotten by humans who live in a vast Galactic Empire throughout the galaxy. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]Yet all is not well with this empire. Its vast size is crippling to it. In particular, the administrative planet, honeycombed and tunnelled with offices and staff, is vulnerable to attack or breakdown. The only person willing to confront this imminent catastrophe is Hari Seldon, a psychohistorian and mathematician. Seldon can scientifically predict the future, and it doesn't look pretty: a new Dark Age is scheduled to send humanity into barbarism in 500 years. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]He concocts a scheme to save the knowledge of the race in an Encyclopedia Galactica. But this project will take generations to complete, and who will take up the torch after him? The first Foundation trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation) won a Hugo Award in 1965 for "Best All-Time Series". — Amazon.com
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[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] WE SAY[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]There is a certain irony, which Hollywood is probably too dumb to get, in the fact that the director of some of the stupidest science fiction2.gif movies ever made (Independence Day! Godzilla!) would adapt one of the smartest science fiction novels ever written![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]Anyway, word has it that Sony's Columbia Pictures has won a bidding war for the Isaac Asimov series of Foundation books, beating out Warner Bros.2.gif bidding for Alex Proyas to direct and Fox bidding for producer Vince Gerardis, who first worked on developing the film.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman]Why this sudden bidding war for a batch of novels which basically have been around since the 1940s? We don’t know either. But the whirring sound you hear is no doubt Asimov himself who has been spinning in his grave since 2004 when Hollywood completely missed the point behind his I, Robot stories and ****ed them up (sorry: there is no other way to put it).[/FONT]
 
keithman said:
I have high hopes for this movie!

The books were EXCELLENT!!!

The director has a lot to live up to

Cheers,
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I'm going to have to take a 'wait & see' attitude with this one in regards to the director.

Emmerich made an enjoyable enough popcorn-movie with Independence Day but, as a fan of the original Japanese movies, I think the US big movie remake of Godzilla was horrible. By contrast he directed the original Stargate movie & the original Universal Solider movie, both of which I am still fans of. As a producer he also brought us The Thirteenth Floor which I thought was pretty good and it should be noted that he is credited as a writer on the Stargate movie as well. Turning it around again though and he also directed & produced The Day After Tomorrow (I still wonder if Mexico has forgiven him for calling them a third-world country).
 
Kevin said:
I'm going to have to take a 'wait & see' attitude with this one in regards to the director.

Emmerich made an enjoyable enough popcorn-movie with Independence Day but, as a fan of the original Japanese movies, I think the US big movie remake of Godzilla was horrible. By contrast he directed the original Stargate movie & the original Universal Solider movie, both of which I am still fans of. As a producer he also brought us The Thirteenth Floor which I thought was pretty good and it should be noted that he is credited as a writer on the Stargate movie as well. Turning it around again though and he also directed & produced The Day After Tomorrow (I still wonder if Mexico has forgiven him for calling them a third-world country).
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He will do well - stargate as you said is an excellent movie! Interesting that he also wrote it - i thought it was one of the more original plots in sci fi.

Foundation will be so kwel!
 
I think it is very important to keep in mind that film is a different medium than books. The point of making a book into a movie is to make a movie ([parenthetically] based on the material in the book), not necessarily to put a book inviolate onto the big screen. Most importantly, the audience for movies is somewhat different from the audience for books, especially in this genre -- broader, including many people beyond those who read books like this, so many, in fact, that their numbers probably easily overwhelm that of the readers. Therefore, the nature of what appears on screen is the qualities of the books that foster both a great screen experience, and appeal to this broader audience.

I've watched several (book) writers talk about their books being made into films, over the years (most recently last night, coincidentally), and most of them readily acknowledge and celebrate this difference, and value the opportunity to be able to have their creation appreciated by yet another audience, beyond just those who read their books. They typically understand (and in these interviews I'm referring to, at least) outline the parameters of what needs to be changed, and how some concepts are best translated from the page to the screen.
 
Going to be difficult to make a movie out of a trilogy, plus supplements, unless Hollywood is looking for a franchise to exploit over several major movies, in which case look out for the usual spectacular battles, huge starships and complete lobotomization of the characters and storylines.

:rolleyes:
 
I heard somewhere that Peter Jackson might do this movie. In my mind I can't see it condensed to even a 2 hour feature. It would have to be a multi film release like LOTH but I don't think it has the mass appeal popularity of those books to get it past the first film...kind of like The Golden Compass. I enjoyed that trilogy but I doubt we'll be seeing the next book in the "His Dark Materials" series in film form soon.
 
Stories can be told at various levels. As we've seen before, putting a book word-for-word onto the screen doesn't necessarily work. Film is different. So what is probably the best approach is to just use some of the themes from Foundation to create a film, rather than trying to present everything in the book.
 
I would LOVE to see Foundation get the proper treatment in a film (or series of films, preferably). Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to get my wish on this one. PKD has had several great movies made from his work -- Asimov hasn't been so lucky, like everyone has mentioned with the abysmal i,Robot. I'm actually making a science fiction short film that is inspired by PKD and Isaac Asimov. Should be an interesting experience. Intelligent sci-fi needs to make a comeback in a big way. Moon gave me some hope.
 
Figured I would 'look into' this movie as well, Here is what I have found out:

On April 18, 2015, dariopecarov in Movies, News at Asimov's Foundation to become an HBO series Tells us that HBO intends to do a series on Foundation.
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy is being in development by HBO and it’s said to become a TV series. Foundation and HBO in the same sentence sounds great, right? Add Jonathan Nolan, the mastermind behind Interstellar to this equation, and your brain might just explode out of excitement.
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I’m so thrilled about this and the fact that HBO is behind the project makes me hopeful that they will save no money on the awesome CG this adaptation deserves. No other official news are available at this time but I will make sure to share with you any updates I might come across. Do you think that Foundation is a good choice for a TV series? What other sci-fi book or series do you think could make a perfect TV adaptation?

I can’t wait to see how they decide to present the city-planet of Trantor, the capital of the Galactic Empire. But until then, you can envision it in the art of Gouie, who’s amazing image I used in this post’s cover.
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In an interview with Empire Online, the director talked about his approach to ‘Foundation’ and about having second thoughts about making a big screen feature and adapting it into a mini-series instead:

“We’re trying to do it as a big mini-series, but even there you would have to change the story itself and set it in a time when the galaxy has fallen apart — and then you’re pretty much making a TV show with all these characters and playing all the scenes out. You can (do that) and we’ll see what happens. We tried so hard (to make it into a movie), honestly, because it’s one of my most favorite books. I just love it.”
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SOURCE

So, in reading this I decided to look at HBO productions
I searched 'foundation' on HBO Talk and it revealed no results for a movie series in the works.

A quick search of IMdb gave me a placeholder for the series but no information on it at all
Foundation (TV Series) - IMDb

Jonathan Nolan IMdb page shows no Foundation entry in production.

Roland Emmerich IMdb Page shows no Foundation entry in production

Lets face it, Its going to be a Loong time before we see Azimov's Foundation put to the screen.
 
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