Foundation: AppleTV+ offers first look at saga based on Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi series

Book series is described by producers as ‘the greatest science-fiction work of all time’

AppleTV+ has offered the first look at Skydance’s forthcoming drama Foundation, based on the award-winning book series by Isaac Asimov.

The show was announced by Apple in 2018 but forced to pause production earlier this year due to lockdown restrictions.

However, a new teaser – shared as part of Apple’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference – offers a glimpse at the saga, which follows a band of exiles on a mission to save humanity following the fall of the Galactic Empire.

The show, set for release in 2021, stars Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, Lee Pace as Brother day, Terrance Mann as Brother Dusk, Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn, Lou Llobell as Gaal, and Leah Harvey as Salvor.

In a clip preceding the trailer, executive producer David S Goyer explains that TV and filmmakers have been attempting to adapt the show for more than 50 years.

“[It] was an enormous influence for Star Wars; it was the greatest science-fiction work of all time,” he says.

“The story is sprawling, the scope is sprawling – it unfolds over the course of a thousand years.”

“They’re going to arrest me tomorrow,” Harris’s character tells Gaal in the clip. “And you. It’s almost a certainty.”

Foundation is executive produced by Goyer, Robyn Asimov, Josh Friedman, Cameron Welsh, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross.