It was a year ago that Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss struck a huge deal with Netflix and today it has been announced what their first venture with the streamer will be. The duo has set their first TV world-building by adapting the Chinese sci-fi book trilogy "The Three-Body Problem", the story of humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization, written by Chinese author Liu Cixin.
What's even more impressive is the list of creative partners that Benioff and Weiss have put together for the series adaptation. Alexander Woo, co-creator of AMC’s The Terror: Infamy, who signed an overall deal with Netflix earlier this year, will write and executive produce alongside the Game of Thrones team. Rian Johnson, director of STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII – THE LAST JEDI and KNIVES OUT, will executive produce alongside his producing partner Ram Bergman. Also on board is Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, which is also run by Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner. The last production element in play is Rosamund Pike and Robie Uniacke via their company Primitive Streak.
To maintain authenticity, author Liu Cixin has joined as a consulting producer alongside Ken Liu, who wrote the English translation for "The Three-Body Problem" and "Death’s End." Lin Qi, chairman of the rights-holders, Yoozoo Group, and The Three-Body Universe, and Zhao Jilong, vice president of The Three-Body Universe, will also executive produce alongside Bernadette Caulfield, the Game of Thrones executive producer who was recently installed as President of Benioff & Weiss’ production company, and Nena Rodrigue, President of Television for Johnson and Bergman’s production company, T-Street.
Netflix could have its very own Game of Thrones on their hands in terms of the source material's scope and world-building. Like Game of Thrones, "The Three-Body Problem", which consists of three books "Remembrance of Earth’s Past", "The Dark Forest" and "Death’s End", is set against a sprawling backdrop. The first book tells the story of Ye Wenjie, who following her father’s death at the hands of the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution attempts to help aliens invade Earth, while different factions on Earth plan different ways of welcoming the extra-terrestrials. It was originally serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 before being published in 2008. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had this to say about the source material and adapting it:
"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. We look forward to spending the next years of our lives bringing this to life for audiences around the world."
This could be the next big series that Netflix is looking for and certainly one that could be huge on an international level. Are YOU looking forward to their adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem?"