Now there’s a title. You can’t just pull a title out of a lower orifice like that one, no no, it’s takes years of practice citizen. Roland Emmerich, famously fond of epically demonstrated opposing physical forces juxtaposed with people running around screaming, arms akimbo, is planning on soon producing and directing the quite cerebral saga told in Issac Asimov’s Foundation series of books. I did read them, or some of them, in the long ago time when I had an attention span, but I must admit to hitting up the great Wiki for any kind of relevant synopsis;
The Deal:
The premise of the series is that mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept of mathematical sociology (analogous to mathematical physics) devised by Asimov and his editor John W. Campbell. Using the law of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale; it is error-prone on a small scale. It works on the principle that the behaviour of a mass of people is predictable if the quantity of this mass is very large (equal to the population of the galaxy, which has a population of quadrillions of humans, inhabiting millions of star systems). The larger the number, the more predictable is the future.
Using these techniques, Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting thirty thousand years before a second great empire arises. To shorten the period of barbarism, he creates two Foundations, small, secluded havens of all human knowledge, at “opposite ends of the galaxy”.
Yes, it’s a space opera. Space opera is right up Emmerich’s alley. So now that I buried the lead as deep as it can be driven, Roland wants to film “Foundation” using “Avatar” techniques for 3D and motion capture.
Says Roland on the subject:
“The Avatar technology applies to Foundation,” says Emmerich. “It has to be done all CG because I would not know how to shoot this thing in real.”
“Probably now all big movies have to be 3D,” he adds. “I think now everybody who does bigger movies has to shoot them in 3D. I think there’s no way around it. I was on the set of Avatar and I saw how it worked and I really thought, ‘That’s the ultimate way of making movies.’ “
Robert (Saving Private Ryan) Rodat is finishing up the script as we speak so I have high hopes for this one if Roland can keep the explosions to a minimum. Thanks SFX.
