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Thread: The Three-Body Problem

  1. #1
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    The Three-Body Problem

    China’s First Homegrown Sci-Fi Film Struggles to Market
    By Fergus Ryan|June 22nd, 2016|

    Obama, Zuckerberg have read book, but no film until 2017
    Getting CGI right could be key for first Chinese sci-fi film
    Delay may have caused layoffs in marketing department


    (Anne Petersen—Flickr/Creative Commons)

    President Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have already read the book, but they will have to wait until next year to catch the motion picture adaptation of The Three Body Problem (三体), one of China’s most hotly anticipated films.

    As a book, the sci-fi story took China by storm with its depiction of a surreal virtual reality world mixed in with the brutalities of the Cultural Revolution. The highly original story even saw Liu Cixin become the first Asian author to win the Hugo Award.

    The success of the story soon prompted Liu to adapt it into not just a film, but also a video game, with Liu becoming both “Art Director of the movie and Cloud Architect of the game,” according to a press release in December.

    That same announcement said the film would be released in July 2016. But with only a couple of weeks to go, there has yet to be a trailer or any other sign the film will make a deadline that many local sci-fi fans and industry insiders doubted it ever would.

    Since shooting wrapped up in August 2015, the film’s post-production process has been less than smooth, with high-level personnel changes and a wholesale replacement of the CGI team, according to several local media reports and social media updates from key players.

    While the details are still murky, and contradictory behind-the-scenes accounts play out in the media, there have been enough problems to prompt author Liu Cixin to tell local media the film’s release has been postponed till 2017.

    After initial local trade press reports of the resignation of Kong Ergou, CEO of Yoozoo Pictures and executive producer on the film, the executive took to social media to deny the charge and clear up the reasons for the delay.

    Kong confirmed the delay, but said it was because the post-production budget had increased and they had higher standards for the CGI.

    “As the first sci-fi in China, we want to do our best to achieve the best possible visual effects,” he wrote.

    Sci-fi, though increasingly popular in China, is seen only in films, television and Internet entertainment imported from overseas. China’s strict censorship of homegrown content leaves little room for plot points not grounded in fact.

    Kong said that he had switched from CEO to executive director a year earlier but he also took the opportunity to promote a new company he had created called “Rexue Yoozoo” (热血游族). It’s unclear whether the new company is related to Yoozoo Pictures.

    China Film Insider repeatedly contacted Yoozoo Pictures to confirm Kong’s version of events, but the company’s representatives did not reply.

    An employee at one of the visual effects companies connected to the film told China Film Insider that the delay in the film’s release was due to a disagreement over funds between director Zhang Fanfan and his producers.

    Given the global success of the book, hopes are high that the sci-fi story will become a rare thing in the Chinese film industry—a breakout movie with worldwide appeal.

    But such a result is unlikely for a Chinese sci-fi film if the special effects aren’t up to a global standard.

    “We hope the movie will trigger a huge transformation in the whole Chinese movie market,” Lin QI, CEO of Yoozoo Pictures, said in November. “The entire movie is expected to contain more than 1,700 special effect shots.”

    On June 17, Yoozoo Pictures released a statement via the official The Three Body Problem Weibo account which said the new CGI team was made up of top American, Korean, German, and Chinese teams working in tandem, including the high-profile visual effect company Pixomondo.

    Some reports claim the film’s marketing department has been slashed as a result of the delay. While the film scrambles to get its visual effects right, gripes from anonymous insiders continue to leak out into the press.

    “We originally planned to jointly market The Three Body Problem with 20th Century Fox’s Independence Day: Resurgence,” one insider said in a social media post that later was deleted. “The film will hit the screen for sure, but now we just don’t know when exactly.”

    —Additional reporting Kelly Li
    It fascinates me that China is moving towards Sci-Fi with this and Jackie's next project Bleeding Steel. I imagine The Martian played some role in this trend.
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    To Netflix

    Game of Thrones makers to adapt Chinese sci-fi classic for Netflix
    7 hours ago


    HBO
    Can the Games of Thrones team pull off a Chinese sci-fi saga?

    Netflix has announced it's recruited two of the masterminds behind Games of Thrones to adapt bestselling Chinese sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem.

    Writers David Benioff and DB Weiss will work on the series with True Blood writer Alexander Woo.

    The news has drawn mixed reactions with some fans doubting a US adaptation of the Chinese story will work.

    The book is the first instalment of the trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past by writer Liu Cixin.

    First published in 2008, the books were soon translated into English and have received both critical acclaim and a global readership, counting former US President Barack Obama and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg among their fans.

    The plot of the saga spans from China's Cultural Revolution to events several thousand years in the future.

    "Liu Cixin's trilogy is the most ambitious science-fiction series we've read, taking readers on a journey from the 1960s until the end of time, from life on our pale blue dot to the distant fringes of the universe," Netflix cites writers and executive producers Benioff and Weiss as saying.

    "We look forward to spending the next years of our lives bringing this to life for audiences around the world."

    The pair signed an exclusive deal with Netflix in 2019.


    GETTY IMAGES
    Benioff and Weiss brought the Game of Thrones books to the small screen
    The streaming company has not released any information on the release date nor other details about the series.

    Fears over 'western stereotypes' of China
    By Zhijie Shao, BBC News Chinese

    Before Liu Cixin and his "Three-Body" series, Chinese science-fiction was not prominent, even among Chinese audience. The country has a history of suppressing its development, which used to be seen by the government as "a western view of the future of mankind".

    Liu's work captured the imagination of Chinese fans in both scientific and philosophical terms without avoiding some controversial parts of Chinese history and society, bringing an innovative sense of modern China to the world stage. And he did it without being a dissident.

    A whole new generation of Chinese sci-fi authors and fans have emerged after Liu's success.

    On the Chinese internet, Three-Body fandom continues to go strong. A group of fans even made an experimental adaptation in Minecraft style,

    But when it comes to a proper film adaption, many fans doubt that China's sci-fi film industry is sophisticated enough to handle the grand ideas presented in Liu's books.

    A case in point: the first attempt of a film adaptation of "Three-Body" was announced in 2015 and reportedly finished filming in only a few months. It was never released.

    Now with Netflix and a team of western writers involved, fans are instead worried that the Chinese characters and historical events in the story might fall into "western stereotypes".

    Either way, they're worried they could never enjoy it as much as they have the books.

    Liu Cixin, the Chinese author of the novels, will be involved in the project as a consulting producer.

    "I have the greatest respect for and faith in the creative team adapting The Three-Body Problem for television audiences," he said in a Netflix statement.

    "It is a great honor as an author to see this unique sci-fi concept travel and gain fandom across the globe and I am excited for new and existing fans all over the world to discover the story on Netflix."

    The movie adaption of The Wandering Earth, another Cixin novel, in 2019 became one of China's highest-grossing films of all time.


    NETFLIX
    Liu Cixin's trilogy has become an international bestseller

    The Netflix announcement was welcomed by some fans hoping the producers will create a series as successful as Game of Thrones while others were doubting it was the right team.

    Many Chinese netizens were pointing out that they did not think that US producers could do justice to the novels.

    Others though said Netflix will be free of any censorship constraints while a Chinese adaptation would be limited in how it could portray events around the Cultural Revolution for instance.

    Chinese streaming platform Tencent earlier this year announced its own adaptation of the novel after having already launched a comic book adaptation last year.
    thread
    3 body problem
    wandering earth
    got
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    Uighur problem

    The U.S. detained Uighurs in Guantanamo for over a decade.

    Netflix faces call to rethink Liu Cixin adaptation after his Uighur comments
    Five US senators have written to question plans to adapt The Three-Body Problem after its author voiced support for China’s mass internments in Xinjiang

    Alison Flood

    Fri 25 Sep 2020 08.12 EDTLast modified on Sat 26 Sep 2020 23.37 EDT


    Liu Cixin. Photograph: Imaginechina/Rex Shutterstock

    Five Republican US senators have asked Netflix to reconsider its plans to adapt the bestselling Chinese author Liu Cixin’s book The Three-Body Problem, citing Liu’s comments in support of the Chinese government’s treatment of Uighur Muslims.

    In a letter to Netflix, the senators said they had “significant concerns with Netflix’s decision to do business with an individual who is parroting dangerous CCP propaganda”. The letter cites Liu’s interview with the New Yorker last year, in which the Chinese novelist was asked about the mass internment of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang.

    “Would you rather that they be hacking away at bodies at train stations and schools in terrorist attacks? If anything, the government is helping their economy and trying to lift them out of poverty,” Liu said, adding: “If you were to loosen up the country a bit, the consequences would be terrifying.”

    The senators, led by Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, said that the Chinese Communist party was “committing atrocities” in Xinjiang, “including mass imprisonment, forced labour, thought transformation in order to denounce religion and culture, involuntary medical testing, and forced sterilisation and abortion”. An Australian thinktank found this week that China has built nearly 400 internment camps in the Xinjiang region. Concerted attacks on the Muslim Uighur minority have been catalogued by human rights groups and western governments, even as earlier this summer China’s ambassador to the UK insisted the Uighur people live in “peaceful and harmonious coexistence with other ethnic groups”.

    “These crimes are committed systemically and at a scale which may warrant a distinction of genocide,” the US senators wrote to Netflix. “Sadly, a number of US companies continue to either actively or tacitly allow the normalisation of, or apologism for, these crimes. The decision to produce an adaptation of Mr Liu’s work can be viewed as such normalisation … In the face of such atrocities in XUAR [the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region], there no longer exist corporate decisions of complacency, only complicity.”

    Donald Trump signed the Uighur Human Rights Act into law in July, which will sanction Chinese officials over the mass incarceration of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. But according to former national security adviser John Bolton’s memoir The Room Where It Happened, Trump told Xi Jinping in 2019 that building concentration camps in Xinjiang “was exactly the right thing to do”, and the US president “didn’t want sanctions because of the China trade negotiations”.

    Netflix announced at the start of September that Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and DB Weiss would be adapting the Hugo award-winning novel The Three-Body Problem and its two sequels, together with TV writer Alexander Woo. Benioff and Weiss said the books were “the most ambitious science-fiction series we’ve read, taking readers on a journey from the 1960s until the end of time, from life on our pale blue dot to the distant fringes of the universe”, while Woo called it an “elegant and deeply human allegory”. Liu is acting as a consulting producer for the series.

    The senators asked Netflix if it was aware of Liu’s comments “regarding the CCP’s genocidal acts prior to entering into an agreement to adapt his work”, and what steps the company would be taking “to cast a critical eye on this project – to include the company’s broader relationship with Mr Liu … in order to avoid any further glorification of the CCP’s actions against the Uighurs”.

    Netflix did not respond to requests for comment about the letter from Reuters and Vanity Fair.
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    poisoned

    China Producer on Netflix's 'Three-Body Problem' Poisoned in Alleged Murder Plot
    7:51 PM PST 12/23/2020 by Patrick Brzeski

    Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
    Shanghai

    The streaming giant and 'Game of Thrones' creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss partnered with Yoozoo Group on the high-profile plan to adapt the bestselling Chinese sci-fi books. But Yoozoo's chairman Lin Qi is now hospitalized after an alleged poisoning and another executive from the company is in police custody as the lead suspect.
    Netflix's high-profile plan to have Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss adapt the bestselling Chinese sci-fi books The Three-Body Problem has been hit by a scandalous attempted-murder plot in Shanghai.

    Netflix acquired the rights to produce the big-budget English-language adaptation of the hit books from Chinese company Yoozoo Group and its subsidiary Three-Body Universe, which previously had acquired the rights to the properties.

    Yoozoo Group's chairman, Lin Qi, who is credited as a producer on the Netflix series alongside Benioff, Weiss and others, was hospitalized after having been poisoned on Dec. 16, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Shanghai police. Local authorities have apprehended a suspect, surnamed Xu, whom they believe to be responsible for the poisoning.

    The suspect Xu, 39, has been identified by Chinese media outlets as Xu Yao, a senior executive in Yoozoo's film and television division (only his surname and age were released by police). Local reports have said that a dispute among the Chinese entertainment company's executive ranks preceded the surreptitious assault on Lin, which was allegedly carried out via a cup of poisoned pu-erh tea.

    Liu's The Three-Body Problem trilogy is a global publishing phenomenon. The first book in the series won sci-fi's highest honor, the Hugo Award, in 2015 — a first for an Asian writer. The series has since become an international bestseller, translated into dozens of languages, and praised by critics for its vast scope and originality.

    Netflix was planning the property as a major event series, with Benioff and Weiss at the helm, and Alexander Woo (The Terror: Infamy) installed as showrunner. The project also counts heavyweights such as Rian Johnson, and Rosamund Pike and Brad Pitt's Plan B among its executive producers.

    On Wednesday evening in China, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau posted the following statement over its official Weibo social media account:

    "At 5pm on Dec 17, 2020, the police received a call from a hospital regarding a patient surnamed Lin. During the patient's treatment, the hospital said it had determined that the patient had been poisoned. Following the call, the police began an investigation. According to investigations on site and further interviews, the police found that a suspect surnamed Xu, who is a coworker of the victim Lin, was the most likely the perpetrator. The suspect Xu has been arrested and investigations continue."

    The Three-Body Problem's path from page to screen has been fraught to say the least. Back in December 2015, Yoozoo announced that it had acquired the rights and would be collaborating with the acclaimed author, Liu, to produce both a Chinese-language film adaptation and a video game version. The movie was scheduled for release in July 2016 but soon became mired in reports of problems on set, including senior personnel changes and, eventually, the firing of the entire post-production and VFX team. The release date was moved to 2017 — and later scrapped again, with Yoozoo taking no shortage of shade online from China's large sci-fi fan community. When the Netflix series adaptation plan was unveiled this September, what many in the Chinese industry had long suspected appeared confirmed: That Yoozoo had given up on adapting the hot property itself and settled on being more of a rights broker (the company also sold Three-Body Problem rights to Shanghai-based streaming platform Bilibili and local animation company YHTK Entertainment for a Chinese-language animated series).

    Despite the enormous industry sway that came with Game of Thrones, Benioff and Weiss also have walked a somewhat rocky path as of late. The duo's GoT follow-up was supposed to be Confederate, a big-budget HBO series set in a parallel universe where the South won the American Civil War and slavery continues. But the show faced immediate backlash from black activists and thought leaders, and was eventually abandoned.

    Benioff and Weiss then signed a deal with Disney's Lucasfilm to develop a trio of original Star Wars movies, but they later stepped away from those plans, citing a busy schedule because of a nine-figure overall deal they inked at Netflix. The Three-Body Problem is to be their first major project under that latest partnership.

    The Netflix Three-Body Problem series plan was hit by political controversy not long after it was announced in September. The streamer's decision to get onboard with the project was challenged by a group of Republican Senators who alleged that the company would be "normalizing" China's human rights abuses by working with Liu, the original books' celebrated author.

    In a letter sent to Netflix chief content officer and co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the lawmakers quoted from a lengthy interview Liu gave to The New Yorker in 2019, in which he responded to a question about China's mass internment of Uyghur Muslims in the country's Xinjiang Province, by saying, "Would you rather that they be hacking away at bodies at train stations and schools in terrorist attacks? If anything, the government is helping their economy and trying to lift them out of poverty." The Senators' letter posed a sequence of questions asking Netflix to justify its decision to proceed with the project in partnership with Liu, saying that he is "an individual who parrot[s] dangerous CCP propaganda" in the face of atrocities.

    Netflix responded to the Senators one day later, noting noting that while the author may supports the Chinese government's inhumane policy, Benioff, Weiss and Netflix do not share those views. The streamer added that it "judges individual projects on their merits" and described Liu's comments as "entirely unrelated to his book or this Netflix show.
    Maybe this project is cursed.
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  5. #5
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    Anyone read this?

    I'm thinking I should read it soon.
    Oct 28, 2021 5:00pm PT
    ‘3-Body Problem’ Netflix Series Adds 12 to Cast, Including Benedict Wong and Two ‘Game of Thrones’ Alums


    By Joe Otterson


    Sipa USA via AP; Andrew H. Walker/Variety; John Salangsang/Variety
    “The 3-Body Problem” series at Netflix has officially added a dozen cast members, Variety has learned.

    The cast now includes: Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen,” “When They See Us,” “Fences”), John Bradley (“Game of Thrones,” “Moonfall,” “Marry Me”), Tsai Chin (“Lucky Grandma,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), Liam Cunningham (“The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” “Game of Thrones,” “Hunger”), Eiza González (“Baby Driver,” “I Care A Lot,” “Ambulance”), Jess Hong (“Inked,” “The Brokenwood Mysteries”), Marlo Kelly (“Dare Me”), Alex Sharp (“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”), Sea Shimooka (“Pink Skies Ahead,” “Arrow,” “Berlin”), Zine Tseng, Saamer Usmani (“The Mauritanian,” “Inventing Anna,” “Succession”), and Benedict Wong (“Doctor Strange,” “Nine Days,” “Raya and the Last Dragon”).

    News of the castings comes a little over a year after the series was first announced in September 2020. It is based on the award-winning Chinese book series of the same name, with the series order covering all three books — “The Three-Body Problem,” “The Dark Forest,” and “Death’s End.” All three books were written by Liu Cixin. They tell the story of humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization

    “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss co-created the series under their Netflix overall deal. They will also serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. Alexander Woo co-created the series as well and is an executive producer, with Woo also currently under a Netflix overall deal. Derek Tsang will direct and serve as co-executive producer.

    Bernadette Caulfield, president of Benioff and Weiss’ Bighead Littlehead production banner, executive produces alongside Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman and Nena Rodrigue of T Street Productions. Lin Qi, the late former chairman of Yoozoo Group, is credited as an executive producer, as is Zhao Jilong, CEO of the rights-holder The Three-Body Universe. Plan B Entertainment’s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner executive produce along with Rosamund Pike and Robie Uniacke for Primitive Streak.

    Adepo is repped by WME, Powerline Entertainment, and Hansen Jacobson. Bradley is repped by UTA, Authentic Talent & Literary Management, and The Artists Partnership. Chin is repped by Sovereign Talent Group. Cunningham is repped by Independent Talent, Paradigm, and Authentic Talent & Literary Management. González is repped by WME, Linden Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Hong is repped by Johnson & Laird Management, Silver Lining Entertainment, and Sloane Offer. Kelly is repped by Sophie Jermyn Management and Echo Lake Entertainment. Sharp is repped by CAA, Elin Flack Management, Julian Belfrage Associates, and Hansen Jacobson. Shimooka is repped by Buchwald and Authentic Talent & Literary Management. Usmani is repped by Gersh, Anonymos Content, and Sloane Offer. Wong is repped by Hirsch Wallerstein.
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  6. #6
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    3BP = GoT?

    The Three-Body Problem series 'pushes a lot of the same buttons' as Game of Thrones
    "It's like a science-fiction show that is painted on a very large canvas of space and time," says the Thrones co-creator.
    Nick Romano
    By Nick Romano
    March 07, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST

    Game of Thrones TV series creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff don't currently have plans to return to the world of Westeros to work on any of the planned spin-offs, but Weiss says their new show "pushes a lot of the same buttons" as the HBO fantasy epic.

    The creative pair, who struck a deal with Netflix to develop multiple projects, are currently filming a series based on The Three-Body Problem sci-fi book trilogy in London.

    It's "very different from Game of Thrones but in the same general zone," Weiss tells EW in an interview about Metal Lords, the high school-set film he wrote for Netflix. "It's like a science-fiction show that is painted on a very large canvas of space and time. It's as visual effects heavy as Thrones was, and it pushes a lot of the same buttons in many ways that Thrones pushed — and doesn't push others in many ways."

    An animated adaptation of Chinese sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem is in development


    Cover art for 'The Three-Body Problem' book, written by author Cixin Liu. | CREDIT: TOR BOOKS
    Chinese author Cixin Liu penned The Three-Body Problem and its sequels, The Dark Forest and Death's End. The first book, published in 2008, tells of humanity's first contact with aliens. Against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, an alien civilization on the brink of collapse receives signals sent out into space by a secret military project on Earth and now has plans to invade the planet.

    The Three-Body Project TV series was "the main thing" Weiss says he and Benioff wanted to do once they cemented their relationship with Netflix.

    "We lived in that world [of Game of Thrones] literally and figuratively for a long, long time," he explains. "It just felt like, for us, it was time to move on and get excited and terrified about building something else — building lots of something elses."

    With the release of Metal Lords coming in April, Weiss speaks more generally about the benefits of tackling high-concept fantasy and sci-fi versus smaller-scale real-world stories.

    "If you're dealing with reality, it's so much easier to get things wrong. Nobody can really say, 'Well, that's not how they would do things in Westeros,' because there is no Westeros," he remarks. "But if somebody acts in a way that people in a university or high school or office building just don't act, now it just feels false to everybody."

    "In a way there are far fewer places to hide in a high school," he continues. "If something's not working, you can't say a giant visual effects extravaganza is gonna come along in five minutes and wipe their memory of that scene, sweep it out to sea with the dragons and demons and aliens. Those giant, horrible, wonderful artificial creations aren't there to save you."
    Srsly tho, anyone here read this yet?
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    Jonathan Pryce, Rosalind Chao and Ben Schnetzer

    Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ Casts Four More Actors, Including ‘Game of Thrones’ Alum (Exclusive)
    The upcoming sci-fi epic has added Jonathan Pryce, Rosalind Chao and more to its sprawling ensemble.

    BY JAMES HIBBERD

    JUNE 23, 2022 8:00AM

    Jonathan Pryce, Rosalind Chao and Ben Schnetzer MIKE MARSLAND/WIREIMAGE; JESSE GRANT/GETTY IMAGES; CRAIG BARRITT/GETTY IMAGES

    Netflix has added to the cast of its upcoming sci-fi epic 3 Body Problem.

    The drama series adapted from Liu Cixin’s Hugo Award-winning trilogy has added four more actors to its sprawling ensemble, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

    Jonathan Pryce (The Crown), Rosalind Chao (Better Things), Ben Schnetzer (Y: The Last Man) and Eve Ridley (Peppa Pig) have joined the show.

    The Tony Award-winning Pryce has appeared in Brazil, Glengarry Glen Ross, Evita and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama in 2021. Chao is another fan-friendly name with credits such as Disney’s live-action Mulan, Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Joy Luck Club. While Schnetzer is coming off his starring role in another apocalyptic sci-fi drama, FX’s Y: The Last Man, 10-year-old Ridley is a newcomer to the industry.

    3 Body Problem is an ambitious tale about what happens when humanity discovers that they are not alone in the universe.

    Pryce marks the third alum of HBO’s Game of Thrones to be cast in the series (the others, previously announced, are John Bradley and Liam Cunningham). The reunion isn’t quite coincidental as 3 Body Problem is from Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, who co-created the series along with True Blood veteran Alexander Woo. On Thrones, Pryce played religious leader the High Sparrow.

    Previously, the production announced the cast also includes Jovan Adepo (Watchmen), Eiza González (Baby Driver), Jess Hong (Inked), Marlo Kelly (Dare Me), Alex Sharp (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Sea Shimooka (Pink Skies Ahead), Zine Tseng (series debut), Saamer Usmani (Succession) and Benedict Wong (Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness).

    The other executive producers are: Bernadette Caulfield (Thrones); Rian Johnson (Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi), Ram Bergman and Nena Rodrigue for T-Street; Lin Qi, the late former chairman of Yoozoo Group, and Zhao Jilong, CEO of the rights-holder, The Three-Body Universe; Plan B Entertainment — Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner’s company (Moonlight); and Rosamund Pike and Robie Uniacke for Primitive Streak.

    Academy Award-nominated director Derek Tsang (Better Days) will direct multiple episodes and serve as co-executive producer. Chao is repped by Buchwald and Eric Brooks of Goodman Genow; Schnetzer is repped by Gersh, Curtis Brown, Narrative and attorneys David Weber and Lon Sorenson.
    More GoT connects...
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    Three Body Problem TV Series Official Trailer 2 [Eng Sub]

    Gene Ching
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    3 Body Problem

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    Politics

    I'm amused by the political uproar the Netflix version has caused. I'm 3 episodes deep and enjoying it so far. I like the sword hottie.

    3 Body Problem piracy spikes in China, reflecting intense interest as Hollywood films struggle
    BitTorrent downloads topped 90,500 on the first day of release for Netflix’s adaptation of the Hugo-winning Chinese sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem
    Downloads far surpassed other popular Netflix series like Squid Game and Stranger Things and reflect similar interest in Disney’s Mulan in 2020
    Matt Haldane
    Published: 3:30pm, 25 Mar 2024



    A huge spike in online piracy of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem on the day of its release in China, where the streaming service and its original shows are not officially available, reflects an intense interest in the country to see how the US streamer is handling the best known piece of Chinese science fiction globally, similar to a piracy surge after the release of Disney’s live-action Mulan in 2020.

    The number of downloads of BitTorrent files, a type of peer-to-peer file sharing, associated with the show hit 90,618 on March 21 and 72,764 the following day in China. It was far above downloads of other streaming originals that have garnered positive attention in the country in their first week of release, data from iknowwhatyoudownload.com shows.

    The only show to come close is Kingdom, a South Korean zombie period drama. The first two days of the second season’s release in March 2020 saw 53,790 and 68,502 downloads, respectively.

    The download numbers, which track public torrent downloads, are likely a small sliver of actual piracy of the show, as they do not account for illicit streaming sites and file sharing over cloud storage platforms.

    The numbers suggest that even as Chinese viewers’ interest in Hollywood productions wane compared with domestic fare, interest remains high for adaptations related to Chinese culture. No foreign films broke the top 10 at China’s box office last year.

    The Netflix show is adapted from the hit novel The Three-Body Problem by Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin, the first writer from China to win a Hugo Award.
    A similar spike in interest happened three-and-a-half years ago when Disney released the live-action adaptation of its 1990s animated musical Mulan on its streaming service Disney+ while many cinemas remained closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The streaming release came later in China, where it received a theatrical release while cinemas were still operating at half capacity.

    The movie, about a Chinese folk heroine, stars popular mainland actress Liu Yifei. The number of Mulan downloads in China peaked at 145,786 the day after its release on Disney+.

    As Chinese audiences have turned more towards domestic shows and films in recent years, some American shows have still been able to break into the popular zeitgeist online. Shows like Stranger Things and Squid Game, which received a lot of attention on social media, captured mind share but daily downloads of the shows were a fraction of what 3 Body Problem saw last week.

    The four seasons of Stranger Things have ratings of around 9.0 on Douban, a popular media rating site in China. Squid Game’s first season sits at 7.7. Both are higher than the 6.7 given to Netflix’s 3 Body, which is two grades lower than the Tencent Holdings’ adaptation of the book that streamed on Tencent Video a year ago.
    Comments about the show have been mixed. Some criticised the more international cast and global setting of events that in the book take place largely in China. Some netizens also complained that graphic portrayals of the Cultural Revolution, which are mostly explained through dialogue in the Tencent version, showed China in a poor light.

    Others praised the high production value of the Netflix series. One reviewer on Douban even pointed to the author’s own comments in an interview last year as a reason for appreciating the more international flavour.

    “The Netflix Three-Body TV series is different from that of China,” Liu told a Russian influencer who posts on the video streaming platform Bilibili. “It must face the whole world. Most of its characters may no longer be Chinese. This may not be very suitable for the Chinese audience, but I still have full confidence in [Netflix] and am looking forward to it.”



    Matt Haldane
    Matt joined the Post in 2019 after covering technology trends in Shenzhen for more than three years. He previously covered business and technology for publications including The Arizona Republic, Phoenix Business Journal, and Reuters. Matt has a master's degree in business journalism and a bachelor's in economics.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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