Isaac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ being considered …

Two brave producers, Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne (founders of the now gone New Line), are considering a sci-fi movie project to rival them all. They want to pursue making sci-fi legend Issac Asimov’s “Foundation” into a movie. The concept has been circulating in Hollywood circles for a few years, but now it seems to finally have some weight to it. Here’s the very abridged synopsis, courtesy of Empire News, who broke the story:

[The story is about the fall of a Galactic Empire (no, not that one) and its aftermath. A mathematician called Hari Sheldon has invented a science called “psychohistory” which can predict the future for large-scale human concerns (so not whether you’ll meet a mysterious stranger, but definitely whether civilisation will survive the next  millenium). Sheldon sees that the Empire is going to collapse, and that there will be a period of barbarism lasting 30,000 years, but he also predicts that, with the help of psychohistory and a planet called Foundation filled with experts in sciences and philosophy from all over the Empire, that barbaric age can be reduced to 1,000 years. The first book, Foundation, tells the story of that planet.]

This sounds really cool, but I have one primary very important question … with such a vast and complex story, covering such a broad span of time and massive number of characters, will they ultimately risk the success of the film [especially for fans] by trying to cram it all into one film, or will they be “cool” like Peter Jackson and instead respect the material and its significance and make it a film in multiple parts? What do you all think? Should this get made? Will it even translate well on screen? One movie or a movie in multiple parts?