Dante Harper to Pen Roland Emmerich’s Adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s FOUNDATION

Roland Emmerich’s adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi trilogy Foundation just got some fresh blood. Deadline reports that Dante Harper has come aboard to write the latest draft of the screenplay, after Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) penned the first draft. Asimov’s series takes place at a time when humans are scattered on planets all over the universe, living under the rule of the galactic empire. When a psycho-historian who has the power to see the future foretells that the empire will come under collapse very soon, he sets out to ensure that the knowledge of mankind isn’t wiped out. Emmerich previously talked about the challenge of adapting such a sprawling mythology back in 2009, and at the time said he was waiting on Rodat’s script. Apparently he now feels the material needs another go.

Though he hasn’t yet seen the release of one of his projects, Harper is a bit of a hot commodity at the moment. His calling card was the Timothy McVeigh biopic Dreamland for Brad Pitt’s Plan B. He also wrote the script for Black Hole, which David Fincher was going to direct, and did a rewrite on the fairy tale update Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters which opens next March. His next film likely to go into production is Doug Liman’s super cool-sounding All You Need is Kill, which is currently casting. Emmerich’s next directorial effort after the release of Anonymous will be the sci-fi flick Singularity, which he told Steve will probably start filming in March.