Image: Apple/Skydance
David S. Goyer wears a lot of hats for Apple TV+’s adaptation of Foundation—along with serving as its showrunner, he’s also written and directed several episodes and is on hand as executive producer. He’s behind the show in a big way, but with the upcoming third season, he’ll be stepping back from his showrunning duties.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Goyer’s semi-exit comes as production on season three is starting up again in early March. It was halted during the strikes, then its restart date was pushed back due to budget concerns, which are also the impetus for his leave. Sources speaking to THR claim Goyer and executives at Skydance (who produced the show) were clashing over how much it costs to make the show. Budgetary cutbacks are happening all across the TV industry, and since making a space opera show ain’t exactly cheap, production had to be paused again to figure out how to reduce the budget.
Stepping in as showrunner going forward will be Bill Bost, who’s already an EP on the show and helped get it off the ground to begin with. Goyer will still have the showrunner title, though, and he’ll continue to do most of his other duties for the series. (He’s directed some of the season three episodes he was scheduled for, and while the remaining ones will be passed on to other directors.) According to Deadline, “about half” of the season has been filmed prior to the strike shutdown.
In the grand scheme, Goyer’s stepping down as showrunner isn’t a major shakeup to the show, since he’s still part of the creative staff. But the change does highlight how tight a spot streamers put themselves in during the strike, and the weird state of affairs TV finds itself in for the forseeable future.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
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