news culture Netflix: The greatest saga of Chinese sci-fi adapted into a series, it’s getting crazy
Netflix’s strategy to produce more and more content is based on the adaptation of important works regardless of the medium of origin. After acquiring the rights to comics, novels, comics, manga, etc. SVOD service sets its sights on the flagship of Chinese sci-fi.
The best of Chinese SF
The origin lies in the three-body problem a science fiction novel by Chinese author Liu Cixin. It was pre-published in Science Fiction World magazine in 2006, then fully published in China in 2008, and quickly became a phenomenon in the People’s Republic. In France, “The Three-Body Problem” was only published by Actes Sud in 2016. Two more novels follow, becoming one of the most important trilogies in contemporary science fiction.
The Dark Forest and The Immortal Death were released in China in 2008 and 2010, respectively, and then in France in 2017 and 2018, respectively. That should be emphasized The English translation by Ken Liu, published in November 2014, won the 2015 Hugo Prize for Best Novel. La Mort Immortelle repeated this feat three years later, also winning the Hugo Prize for Best Novel (2017). In 2020, Netflix announced an adaptation project based on the first book in Liu Cixin’s trilogy.
A Netflix original
Netflix’s interest in science fiction is well known. Between Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Love Death + Robots, Space Sweepers or Altered Carbon, the SVOD service regularly makes use of this popular genre to enrich its catalogue. Now it’s the turn of the novel “The Three Body Problem” to join the ranks of SF adaptations. The expectations of this project are high. It’s one thing that the series is based on a modern literary bestseller, but it’s definitely the presence of Game of Thrones co-creators – David Benioff and DB Weiss – that helped fuel the hype.. The airing of the first trailer only fueled the flames of passion. Here is the synopsis of the novel The Three Body Problem:
In the midst of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese power is building a secret military base to house a research program into potential extraterrestrial civilizations. Ye Wenjie, a young astrophysicist undergoing “re-education” manages to send a message into space containing information about human civilization.
The Cast of The Three-Body Problem Series:
- Jovan Adepo (Babylon, Overlord) – Saul Durand
- John Bradley (Game of Thrones) – Jack Rooney
- Tsai Chin (Casino Royale, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
- Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) – Thomas Wade
- Rosalind Chao (Sweet Tooth) – Ye Wenje
- Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver, Godzilla vs. Kong) – Auggie Salazar
- Jess Hong (Brokenwood) – Jin Cheng
- Marlo Kelly (Dare Me) – Tatiana
- Vedette Lim (True Blood) – Vera Ye
- Avital Lvova-Ramanujan
- Andy M Milligan (Indiana Jones 5, Secret Invasion, The Flash)
- Jonathan Pryce (Tomorrow Never Dies) – Mike Evans
- Alex Sharp (Les Sept de Chicago) – Will Downing
- Sea Shimooka (Arrow)
- Ben Schnetzer (Snowden, Warcraft Le Commencement) – Mike Evans (young)
- Zine Tseng – The best of Zine Tseng
- Saamer Usmani (successor) – Raj Varma
- Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange, Avengers Infinity War) – Da Shi
The Three-Body Trouble series will begin streaming on Netflix in January 2024.
