‘Foundation’ Season 3 Update: Production on Temporary Hold Due to Reduced Budget

Filming on Foundation Season 3 had been expected to resume this month on the Apple TV+ hit series. However, despite the cast and crew returning to set, everyone was told to return home ahead of the planned February 19 start date.

Deadline reported that: “Cast and crew who had already convened for the shoot were told to return home while production issues are sorted out, with the budget brought down.”

The series is not known for excessively high production costs, despite its European filming locations and rather incredible visuals. It’s reported that Season 1 only cost $45 million for the streaming platform. (In comparison, Disney+ reportedly spent $212 million for Secret Invasion Season 1, and then there’s Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, which cost $465 million.

It’s not known when filming will resume on Foundation Season 3, though the originally planned dates were February 19 – June 28, 2024.

So, when can fans expect to see new episodes? And what will the storylines look like in Season 3? Here’s everything we know so far. Spoilers ahead for Season 2.

Foundation Season 3 Is Renewed

The good news is, yes, there will be a third season of Foundation on Apple TV+! Fortunately, Foundation was renewed not only for a second season after its first season came out – but also for a third. Pre-strike, production was expected to begin on Season 3 in April 2023. However, last year’s Hollywood strikes impacted the series’ production schedule.

For those not familiar with the series, Foundation is based on the sci-fi book series by Isaac Asimov. The series takes place at a time in the future when humankind has spread across the galaxy. The story follows a mathematician named Hari Seldon, who predicts the fall of the Galactic Empire. Out of wanting to preserve knowledge and prevent a dark age from happening, Hari Seldon established the Foundation. It’s made up of a group of scientists and scholars who safeguard the future of civilization.

Over the course of the show, viewers are brought along on an epic journey paired with political intrigue and complex characters. As well as some themes that will make one think.

Foundation was created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman.

Who Will Be Return for Season 3?

For Foundation Season 3, it’s likely we’re getting a new cast of characters. Goyer told Polygon that creating new characters who fans love is an important aspect of every season for him. This is especially true after the success of characters like Constant, Hober, and Bel. However, Goyer also warned fans not to get too comfortable just yet.

Goyer said many new characters would likely just appear in one season similar to the first two seasons. But, there’s always the chance that some of the new characters may stick around.

Still, there are cast members who may still be around regardless of when the third season is set. This includes Jared Harris as Hari Seldon and Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick, whose characters are both in cryo-sleep. Also expected to be around is Laura Birn as Demerzel, and new clones of the Empires, namely Cassian Bilton as Dawn, Lee Pace as Day, and Terrence Mann as Dusk.

Goyer also talked about how the time jump in Season 3 would affect the characters involved.

“…Hari Seldon himself – he exists in the prequels – but that was really the biggest challenge, is knowing that the audiences would need that tether, some familiar faces to carry them from century to century. And because we have the tropes of one of the characters being a robot, and we invented the genetic dynasty, I thought that would be an interesting way to present at least the same faces to Empire, even though they are different characters. And then using things like cryo sleep to have Gaal sleep from century to century, that was the biggest nut to crack” said Goyer in an interview with Collider.

What Has Happened in Seasons 1 & 2?

In Foundation Season 2, Hari Seldon experiences a disturbing dream of getting stabbed by Raych on Deliverance. When he wakes up in the Beggar, Hari sees an apparition of Raych, which dissipates after a tense confrontation. The Beggar spacecraft enters the planet Ignis, where it crashes upon landing. Salvor leaves the ship to investigate a possible observer.

Meanwhile, Sareth is determined to get information about an assassination attempt on Cleon XVII. After inspecting a caregiver’s memory audit, Sareth finds out about Demerzel’s true nature. Demerzel turned out to be a robot. Dusk confronts Demerzel about Day’s authority to conduct memory audits on him and Dawn.

The official synopsis of the show reads:

“Follow a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire.”

But while Foundation is based on Asimov’s book series, the show has made a lot of changes from the book. Fans can expect Foundation Season 3 to show the events that involved The Mule, a telepathic warlord that can get in the way of Hari Seldon’s plan. This mostly takes place in the second Foundation book, Foundation and Empire. At the same time, the show has jumped ahead to the third book, but in some places is not like what happens in the books.

Either way, it seems like the events from Season 2 are setting up what’s to come for Foundation Season 3. Goyer told The Wrap that he’s already started planning the third season.

“It’s bonkers what happens,” said Goyer, referring to Foundation Season 3 at the time.

What Should Fans Expect in Season 3?

Speaking to Polygon, Goyer said he saw Foundation as a serialized show and an anthology at the same time. So as for what might happen in Foundation Season 3, it’s possible that the story would be very different. It’s also possible that Foundation Season 3 may have a flash forward into the future.

“I thought it was really important to give some of the characters like Bel, Hober, and Constant lovely closure,” said Goyer. “I adore all those characters, I adore Bel and I adore Hober. But I also felt the fact that they have that fate together at the end felt like the right way to end the story.”

The showrunner also told Collider that there would be a time jump 150 years into the future. Goyer also explained how the major time jump will work, which he considers the hardest part of adapting Asimov’s work.

“Well, I mean, as Robyn is well aware, probably the trickiest thing about adapting her father’s work, particularly because this book is really an omnibus of short stories where you don’t have a lot of continuing characters, it’s trying to work around the anthological nature of particularly the first book. But also, the whole premise, if you’re trying to tell a 1000-year story, and not have it be an anthology, which no one was interested in supporting at this price point, figuring out how, through some of the tropes of science fiction, to keep some of these characters ongoing,” said Goyer.

Foundation Season 3 Release Date News & Speculation

Unfortunately, the Foundation Season 3 release date has yet to be announced, and planned production dates have been paused. So, it’s unclear when new episodes will arrive.

Based on the current production situation, fans likely won’t see a third season until sometime in 2025. For further context, Season 1 came out in 2021, and Season 2 premiered in 2023.

When production does resume, filming is expected to take place in the Czech Republic and Spain. (The pre-strike production schedule for Season 3 was initially set to begin on April 3, 2023, and run through October 26, 2023. And the latest production timeline (which has been paused) had the series filming from February 19 – June 28, 2024.)

For now, fans can rewatch the first two seasons on Apple TV+.