The Hugo Award-winning Science Fiction book series by Chinese author, Liu Cixin was recently ordered to receive a live-action adaptation by Netflix. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss of Game of Thrones, who also walked away from a Star Wars Project with Lucas Films, will be taking the helms of the new series that is set to bring the trilogy to streaming services as early as 2022.
The Three-Body Problem, the story of humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization inspired by @cixinliu’s renowned novel, will be adapted as a Netflix series from David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo. pic.twitter.com/Dily05j2Vw
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) September 1, 2020
What made the book series so lauded by the likes of George R. R. Martin, Mark Zuckerberg, The New Yorker, and former President Barack Obama was the story’s ambition and scope. Its title derives from the three-body problem in astrophysics that refers to unexpected ways in which celestial bodies like planets or stars interact with one another as they orbit. In particular, the books’ plot revolves around an alien world called Trisolaris that is oppressed with extreme temperatures due to their solar system being inhabited by a total of three suns. These conditions provoke the inhabitants of this planet to attempt an invasion of the earth. However, what distinguishes these novels from your typical War of the Worlds scenario is the intense sociopolitical commentary that is sprinkled throughout the story.
The novel actually begins during China’s Cultural Revolution, where the protagonist witnesses her father publicly beaten to death for dissent against the Communist government. This murder and multiple other instances of misanthropy by characters, one of which is a radical environmentalist, in the book may play in part as to why the first section of the first novel suffered censorship in its home country, even though the author is a staunch supporter of the current Xin administration.
The series is still in development, though has many other superstar producers like Alexander Woo attached to it.
