Sci-fi series Foundation like Game of Thrones but in space

It's considered as one of the greatest science fiction works of all time, pre-dating even Star Wars and Star Trek.

Foundation, best described as "Game of Thrones in space", is set to release its second season on Apple TV+ on July 14 in New Zealand.

Show runner David S. Goyer said the series has been incredible to produce.

"It is a 1000-year-old chess game between Hari Seldon and the Galactic Empire with all the heroes and villains in between being the pawns that are being played out over the course of that thousand years."

Jared Harris said playing Seldon has been both fun and complex.

"He's been through hell and he is seriously physiologically damaged.

"Everyone has a conversation with David about where their thoughts are in relation to their characters because they've got the plot and then there's a conversation with the actors about how to create that emotional arc within that plot."

The story not only transcends space and time, filming's has also traversed exotic locations around the world.

The $72.4 million production was shot in place in Canary Islands, Ireland, Berlin, Prague, and Iceland.

Actress Laura Birn, who plays the character Dermezel, said if the cast had their way they would also shoot down under.

"I've never been to New Zealand so I'm crossing my fingers. I really want to go."

Her character is an immortal android who is tasked with looking after the Emperor Cleon, who has audaciously divided himself into three personalities who co-exist and cycle through each other as they get older.

"She's an AI that has a sentience. She has emotions, she's developed this whole understanding of everything," Birn said.

The story revolves around the struggle for power, the preservation of knowledge, and about characters who have figured out how to cheat death.

For actor Lee Pace, who plays the middle-aged Cleon Brother Day crowned every 33 years, it means a challenge to mix up performance and constantly bring fresh nuances to the role.

"That's what we find so much fun to play as actors because it becomes this riddle to solve.

"One of the most delicious things about playing Cleon is this sense of 'you can't stop me'. I am overwhelmingly violent, I'm clever, I'm the emperor of the galaxy."

In the television series adaptation, there are a number of departures from the novels written by Isaac Asimov.

Goyer made a conscious effort to include female and diverse characters.

"If we had just taken Foundation as if it was preserved in amber and adapted it exactly as it was, it would have seemed out-of-date," he said.

"Asimov was writing in the late 1940s and early '50s, when America, and indeed science-fiction as a whole, was predominantly dominated by white men."

Gaal Dornick, played by Lou Llobell, is one such character Goyer gender-flipped from the books.

"It's meant to be like thousands and thousands of years in the future. Imagine if it wasn't diverse, how, what kind of world would we be living in if that wasn't a possible reality," Llobell said.

"It's been a big responsibility but something I am trying to take with as much grace as possible because it's such an important one."

Llobell said Kiwi audiences will have an extra reason to tune in, revealing she is joined by none other than renowned actress Rachel House.

"She is just such an incredible actress, person, and human. She is a Queen!"

Foundation premieres Friday, July 14 on Apple TV+.