Foundation is a TV show on Apple TV+ that adapts the famous sci-fi novels by Isaac Asimov, about the collapse of a vast galactic empire and the survivors who leave to start their own civilization. The show has run two seasons so far, and while they've been more or less well-received, it's fallen well short of becoming a TV phenomenon. Not a lot of people talk about Foundation, which makes you wonder how Apple TV+ is justifying spending tons of money on it. Shows that look this good don't come cheap:
Well, it ends up that Apple is trying to do something about that. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they're intent on ratcheting down the budget for the upcoming third season. Or rather, they want to bring down the budget for the second half of the third season, as the first half was filmed before the actors strike went into effect last year and the rest is scheduled to start shooting again in March. That could make for a strange viewing experience when new episodes finally start to come out.
Also, creator and showrunner David S. Goyer — best known for having a hand in writing superhero movies like The Dark Knight — is stepping back as showrunner, although he'll still keep the title and continue to work as a writer on the series. He'll be replaced by executive producer Bill Bost.
Apparently Goyer stepped back over "clashes" involving the budget. Line producer Laurie Borg is always stepping down, replaced by Doug Moreno. A line producer's job typically involves keeping a production on or under budget, which suggests that Apple and production company Skydance are serious about getting costs under control.
At the moment, streaming studios are going through a bit of a reckoning. For years, they threw tons of money at shows and movies with the hope of growing their subscriber bases. Now, investors and executives want to see returns. So we're seeing cutbacks in an attempt to make these services factually profitable rather than just theoretically profitable. Warner Bros. Discovery has turned a lot of heads with its strategy, which has involved refraining from releasing already-finished movies so it can write them off on its tax returns. Reducing the budget for Foundation is well in line with this kind of move.
For a while, Apple seemed like the company that was holding out against these headwinds. They're Apple, after all; if anyone has money to burn for the hell of it, it's them. So if even Apple is trying to cut costs, we know that the era when streaming studios spend indiscriminately on movies and TV shows is coming to a close.
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h/t The A.V. Club