'Foundation' Showrunner Hopes for Unparalleled 80 Episodes on Apple TV+

"Foundation" writer and showrunner David Goyer is ambitiously hoping to tell Isaac Asimov's science-fiction story over the course of eighty hours, which is as yet unheard of on Apple TV+.

foundation trailer

Foundation tells the story of "a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire," and is based on Isaac Asimov's science-fiction novels of the same name.

In a new interview for Lovin Malta, Goyer discussed why much of the show is being shot in Malta and revealed that he is hoping that the show will run for 80 hours, comparing it to the eight-season run of "Game of Thrones."

The audience is changing. The way that we're consuming stories is changing. Game of Thrones was really the first of these big, giant novelistic shows, and now with Foundation we can tell the story hopefully over the course of 80 episodes, 80 hours, as opposed to trying to condense it all into two or three hours for a single film.

He added that he hopes future seasons will continue to be mostly shot in Malta. Malta was selected for much of Foundation's shooting schedule for its "copious water tanks," being appropriate for Foundation's water planet setting, and due to being suitably versatile for shooting a range of environments during a time in which global travel has been limited. Malta's Film Commissioner, Johann Grech, highlighted that Foundation is the first ‌Apple TV‌+ show to be produced in Malta.

This is the first time that a senior crew member has spoken publicly about an ‌Apple TV‌+ show running for such a long period of time, and seems surprisingly confident given that the first season of Foundation has yet to even finish shooting.

"Dickinson" and "Servant" are the only ‌Apple TV‌+ shows to have premiered a second season so far, with the second season of "For All Mankind" set to arrive on Friday, February 19. ‌Apple TV‌+ show "Ted Lasso" is highly likely to end at three seasons despite its success with critics and audiences. The show was renewed for a second and a third season not long after the first season was released. Servant has also been renewed for a third season.

Given that only two ‌Apple TV‌+ shows have premiered second seasons and been renewed for third seasons, it is far too early to speculate on whether Foundation will reach as many as eight seasons. Nevertheless, discussion of a considerably longer, overarching narrative than has otherwise been seen on ‌Apple TV‌+ so far, and comparison to the highly successful Game of Thrones may indicate that Apple has very ambitious plans for Foundation.

The first, ten-episode season of Foundation is expected to debut on ‌Apple TV‌+ in the fall of 2021.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 With Apple's Own 5G Modem 'Confirmed' to Launch in March

Tuesday November 19, 2024 12:12 pm PST by
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
at t turbo indicator iphone 16 pro max v0 8hrh7w5f3w1e1

AT&T Turbo Indicator Showing Up in iPhone Status Bar for Subscribers

Wednesday November 20, 2024 3:42 am PST by
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence. Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476 The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

Apple Releases iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 With Security Fixes

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Surpass iPhone 6 as Thinnest iPhone Ever

Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick. "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote. If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
bug security vulnerability issue fix larry

Make Sure to Update: iOS 18.1.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerabilities

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:52 am PST by
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices. With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...
apple card feature2

Apple Card 3% Daily Cash Back Now Available From Two More Apple Partners

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:36 am PST by
Apple has partnered with select merchants to offer Apple Card users three percent Daily Cash back on their purchases, and two new companies were added to the partner list today. When purchasing goods and services from Booking.com and ChargePoint, Apple Card users will now get more cash back. Booking.com is a site for reserving flights, cars, cruises, and hotels, while ChargePoint sells...

Top Rated Comments

Serban55 Avatar
49 months ago
I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
svanstrom Avatar
49 months ago

I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER
For a true fan it will never be good enough; but it looks like a very serious attempt, so it might just be a good watch anyways. I'm very excited about it.

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
McKodiak Avatar
49 months ago
If the show is as great as it looks and should be, this could be Apple's Game of Thrones. 10 episodes a year for 8 years, released weekly. Should raise subscription totals.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
VforVelveta Avatar
49 months ago

Malta was selected for much of Foundation's shooting schedule for its "copious water tanks," being appropriate for Foundation's water planet setting...
I'm not one to get upset for shows not following books to a T, but how much are they changing that requires a water planet? That seems like an unnecessary constraint considering none of the story has anything to do with water planets.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
VforVelveta Avatar
49 months ago

I love the books...up there with Dune....hope they will do the story for all Foundation, Prelude to Foundation , forward the foundation and at least foundation and empire

This is the beginning from where all star wars, dune etc started Foundation is the FATHER
Honestly, I'd rather they just stick with the original 3. Maybe do some occasional flashback type stuff to get some of the info from the prequels about how Seldon got started, but that's it. The prequels/sequels got too "Asimov Universe" for my taste and I wouldn't want to dilute the shows from really telling the story of the original trilogy.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
49 months ago

I'd love to see a Robots TV series...
That will smith cinematic abomination didn’t do it for you? :-)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)