Word slipped out today that Roland Emmerich — he of Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow fame — is Columbia’s likely candidate to direct a feature version of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. In case you’re not familiar with Foundation, it follows the evolution of a galactic empire and the role of mathematician Hari Seldon in predicting its rise and fall. It is one of science fiction’s grand masterpieces. And it has just been handed to a hack.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for some good hackery — I dug Independence Day, even though it’s laughable as sci-fi, and Doomsday made my list of the most fun flicks of last year — but I shudder to think of the guy who made 10,000 BC slicing into Foundation with all the skill and touch of a bricklayer. I’ll bet that at some point during the film, a giant wall of water will crush something, a la 2012.
What do you think? Am I being needlessly alarmist? Should I give the dude the benefit of the doubt…or am I right in hoping that, at some point, wiser heads prevail?
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You’re right to be worried, Marc. “Foundation” requires someone cerebral and engaging who knows how to create an epic. Stephen Speilberg would be a much better choice. I’d be interested in seeing what Peter Jackson came up with, too.
You’re right. It’s already incredibly hard to adapt Foundation, but Emmerich! God…
Hey Marc, most bricklayers who are even semi-competent at their jobs wouldn’t make anything as crappy as Godzilla or 10,000 B.C.!
Wasn’t the bastardization of “I, Robot” enough, Hollywood? Worst news all day.
When I was reading the Foundation novels, I saw the late Sir Alec Guinness as the Mule. If Roland Emmerich can get a chameleonic actor in that and in other parts, maybe I’ll be able to forgive what he is probably going to do to the Foundation saga.
I was just on the AV Club website, and the headline for the same story reads: “Director Lined Up to Ruin Asimov’s ‘Foundation’”. Everyone on the boards over there is ticked off as well. I’m pretty sure only Emmerich and the studio think this is a good idea.
Frak!!! Though this may be wishful thinking, I hope and pray that someone that manages Asimov’s estate has the final say on this matter. Otherwise…. Frak!!
…really? How awful.
If he makes Foundation, it will make I Robot look like the most wonderful, faithful adaptation ever. (And in some ways, it wasn’t a bad movie at all…but this one will be.)
NO! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Please, somebody tell the studio that this is a very bad idea. He’s going to ruin this.
I think that as long as he has someone there to make sure he sticks to the book there shouldn’t be a problem. There were other times when i thought a movie was going to suck and it turned out to be amazing, so i think we just need to wait and see what happens.
What timing – I am almost done with the Foundation Trilogy. Excellent series (I wonder now how much of this Lucas already borrowed – Coruscant, jedi mind tricks, “Han” the rogue trader). This doesn’t strike me as an “event” series – much more subtle scifi that would be in better hands with a character-driven director. Not a lot of explosions in the books at all – and no walls of water!
The Foundation Trilogy was a clever retelling of the rise of the West from the fall of the Roman empire. Considering Emmerich’s obsession with collapsing civilizations and dislike of religion, it’s a good fit with Asimov. Of course the movie will be laughable, but hey.
Wake me up when someone makes Clarke’s ‘The Deep Range’. Heck, probably Cameron.
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