Asimov's Foundation Trilogy....the movie?

[Dover]

I wish there was a filmmakers forum to post this in. I'm just thinking and questioning out loud and don't really expect an answer...

I am wondering why no one has ever made a film of this amazing 'scifi' trilogy. And I don't mean the usual Hollywood treatment that crams as many stars into it as possible. But a really serious epic. Does anyone know if such a project has been broached by producers/filmmakers? Surely it has.
I am just aching to see this on film.

If you've never read the book(s), get thee to a bookstore immediately.

[YankeyMCC]

1. It would not be easy but it could be done

without spoiling the story I think. For the most part it isn't exactly action packed and not much in the way of love interest, and it wasn't exactly the height of even Asimov's abilities in characterization.

And I'm a HUGE fan of these books, I read them almost every year.

it has been a while but I do believe the movie rights have been bandied about and are currently owned by one of the big production companies. I saw someone on the Asimov's forum write up an intro on a whim (the Asimov forum is full of actual published SF writers and editors btw) and it sounded Excellent which I why I say it could be done. If I can find the post I'll put it here but it was several months ago.

[Orrex]

2. As you say, character would be a major challenge

I respect Asimov and Foundation's place in the sf canon, but I honestly don't care for it all that much. IMO most of it read like an overheard description of a space-adventure computer game.

Neat concept, and a great "surprise" answer to the riddle, but too much of the action happened offscreen for it to make an easy transition to the big screen.

But here's my prediction: if it does get made and released, Asimov fans will renounce it as a desecration of the trilogy (and they'll probably be right).

Heck, even the film version Bicentennial Man, based on a short story that had comparatively strong characterizations, was a real stinker. I wonder what Foundation, with a much bigger plot and much thinner characterizations, would become?

[Dover]

3. You're right. It seems one is in production!

I posted this in another forum. Here's the link :

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4223279

[phantom power]

4. My problem is that the concept itself is pre-chaos-theory, and dated.

I think something family-related to psychohistory might be produced, but it won't ever be a tool for predicting the course of a civilization hundreds or thousands of years in advance. Asimov himself sensed the problem of chaos, in his character the mule, but he didn't capture the full depth of the problem.

[Dover]

5. Also there was a BBC radio dramatization, and here's the download >

http://www.torrentz.com/25ad08ba3ae58555615f0b076d851dd8792f3376


About the BBC Radio Dramatization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Foundation_Trilogy_(BBC_Radio)


General Info On Asimov's Foundation Series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Foundation_Series