The New Line founders-turned-producers, Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, have signed on to produce their first project since they received their post-New Line deal at Warners, boarding an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's futuristic sci-fi epic "Foundation."

Warners recently picked up "Foundation," which had been in development at Fox. Vince Gerardis, who had been attached as a producer in the Fox incarnation, will remain on board as a producer for the Warners project with Shaye and Lynne.

"Foundation" is based on Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy," which centers on a society that has figured out how to predict the future based on a method called psychohistory and sets up a foundation devoted to scientific research to protect itself and ensure its survival.

The politically inflected work, which features such characters as the prophetic Hari Seldon and a villain called the Mule, spans hundreds of years, essentially tracking the rise and fall of civilizations. Each book contains a new set of characters, which has in the past prompted some development execs to say they consider it a difficult work to adapt for the screen.

Shaye and Lynne's goal is to adapt the first book for now, and, if it's successful, potentially follow the New Line "Lord of the Rings" template by developing adaptations down the road of the second and third books.

Shaye noted that the books' political themes, particularly its focus on the rise and fall of empires, give the movie a geopolitical relevance. But he also said their complexity would cause the company to move forward carefully. "This is not a script you can knock out in six months," he said.

Hollywood has found Asimov a difficult writer to adapt to film because his books tend to incorporate philosophical themes as much as action elements. Still, the loose adaptation of his "I, Robot" collection of stories turned into a $340 million global hit for Fox in 2004.