Earlier this year, Jonathan Nolan re-teamed with his “Person of Interest” collaborator J.J. Abrams for a new “Westworld” pilot at HBO that seems very likely to go to series. However, Nolan apparently has even grander ambitions for HBO.
According to The Wrap, Nolan is developing Isaac Asimov’s classic science fiction novel series, Foundation as a drama at HBO. Asimov began writing the Foundation series in 1942 as a series of short stories that were eventually collected as the first Foundation novel in 1951. Asimov followed that novel with Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation before eventually writing sequel and prequel novels in the series.
The Foundation series takes place across several thousands of years in the distant future. But the beginning of the story focuses on Hari Seldon, a mathematician who develops psychohistory, a mathematically based form of sociology on a galactic scale that allows him to accurately predict future events.
When Seldon’s analysis foretells the fall of the intergalactic Foundation that controls the Milky Way galaxy, he devises a plan to ensure that humanity’s ensuing dark ages will be dramatically shortened by creating an enclave of artisans and engineers to expand and preserve humanity’s collective knowledge.
Related: Evan Rachel Wood & Anthony Hopkins Move Into HBO’s ‘Westworld’
Because Foundation is essentially a series of stories set in the same universe but in different years and locations, it would likely be an anthology series on TV. If it goes forward, it would also be HBO’s most serious push into sci-fi programming. The report at The Wrap says that “HBO spent big bucks to acquire the property when it became available earlier this summer.”
Nolan has previously collaborated with his brother Christopher Nolan on Memento, Interstellar, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight trilogy.
HBO has yet to publicly confirm the report from “The Wrap,” which may change in the near future.
