I am – Hercules!!


It kinda feels like Hollywood has been trying to make Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” trilogy into a movie or movies since bits of it were first published during World War II.

The latest to tackle the epic sci-fi tale is “Last Mimzy” mastermind Robert Shaye and longtime lieutenant Michael Lynne, who together ran New Line until 10 minutes ago.

The Hollywood Reporter describes the trilogy's premise:

… centers on a society that has figured out how to predict the future based on a method called psychohistory and sets up a foundation devoted to scientific research to protect itself and ensure its survival. The politically inflected work, which features such characters as the prophetic Hari Seldon and a villain called the Mule, spans hundreds of years, essentially tracking the rise and fall of civilizations. Each book contains a new set of characters, which has in the past prompted some development execs to say they consider it a difficult work to adapt for the screen.

The idea, presumably, is the New Line vets can oversee the sci-fi epic because they did such a bang-up job giving Peter Jackson money to make the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

"I, Robot," an Asimov collection of stories also conceived during World War II (and set in the same universe as the "Foundation" trilogy) finally (sort of) hit the big screen in 2004.

Will Brett Ratner, who made a vault full of money for New Line via his "Rush Hour" series, find himself hired to turn the tale into a CGI-happy actioner? Will Chris Tucker be recruited to assay a fast-talking Hari Seldon?

Neither question is answered in the Reporter’s story on the matter here.