In an auction that concluded late Thursday, Columbia won the screen rights to FOUNDATION, the sci-fi trilogy by Isaac Asimov, per VARIETY. Roland Emmerich will direct the film.
Emmerich and Centropolis partner Michael Wimer are producing. FOUNDATION was originally published as a series of eight short stories in ASTOUNDING magazine in 1942 and is about humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy living under the rule of the Galactic Empire.
The struggles between Fox and Warner Bros. over WATCHMAN may have led to Sony's and Emmerich's winning control of the property. It was originally developed by Fox and producer Vince Gerardis, moved to New Line, then to Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne as their first major project after the former heads of New Line formed Unique Pictures at WB.
Gerardis, whose production company Created By formerly represented the Asimov estate and is producing an adaptation of Asimov's THE END OF ETERNITY at New Regency, was attached to produce. Fox would also need to be compensated for development costs, creating a problem at WB, and the studio allowed its option to expire, thinking it could quietly make a new deal, leaving Fox and Gerardis out.
Instead, it turned into a fight. WB bid for Unique and director Alex Proyas, Fox was bidding for Gerardis. Wimer, who had been tracking the availability of the rights since he was Emmerich's agent, got Columbia president Matt Tolmach to grab them.
Sony's 2012, coming this year, were from Emmerich and Wimer.
