# How much money is /did apple blowing on its "foundation " series

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-is-did-apple-blowing-on-its-foundation-series/949240>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, apple\
**Created:** [August 20, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-is-did-apple-blowing-on-its-foundation-series/949240 "2021-08-20T21:22:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-is-did-apple-blowing-on-its-foundation-series/949240/21 "2021-08-23T13:05:13Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Googling, this thing is supposed to have ten episodes in the first season, or $40 million.

You’re replying to a comment about Friends, but are you talking about Foundation? And if so are you saying $40 million per episode or for the whole season? Because 40 for the whole season is WAY too low.

I know the story you got from Wikipedia says €45 million (about $53 million), but that is likely just what they are spending in Ireland alone or something like that because it certainly isn’t for the entire production of the season.

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-is-did-apple-blowing-on-its-foundation-series/949240/22 "2021-08-23T16:38:32Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> the Irish Independent says, “With a budget of over €45m, the sprawling Troy Studios in Limerick has become the base for new sci-fi series Foundation, based on the Isaac Asimov work which inspired the Star Wars franchise.”

Wait, what? How is Star Wars anything at all like Foundation? I think some editor decided to write around the phrase “science fiction”.

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**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-is-did-apple-blowing-on-its-foundation-series/949240/23 "2021-08-23T16:57:15Z")

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Yeah, that one goes beyond a stretch into pure fiction. Star Wars owes a lot more to Flash Gordon than the Foundation.

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-is-did-apple-blowing-on-its-foundation-series/949240/24 "2021-08-23T17:13:57Z")

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Definitely agreed; Star Wars is space opera, inspired by the old pulp serials, and George Lucas created it after he failed to get the rights to do a Flash Gordon film.

While there _are_ some thematic similarities between Foundation and Star Wars (e.g., a galaxy-spanning republic/empire which has fallen from its Golden Age), and while [Asimov himself saw some of those similarities](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/26887/was-there-any-influence-of-foundation-series-by-asimov-on-star-wars), they’re clearly very different stories, overall.

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