What Do You MEAN We’re Getting a ‘Three-Body Problem’ Movie, Too!?

Following Netflix’s successful and popular TV series adaptation sci-fi book Three-Body Problem is getting a Chinese language feature film.

The project is being helmed by Zhang Yimou, who considered to be one of the most talented Chinese filmmakers of all time. The information was disclosed last Sunday at the Shanghai International Film Festival, with copyright holder for the book and media, Three-Body Universe Cultural Development Co. confirming the news.

Key details, like the release window of the film and cast, have not been disclosed yet, understandably so, considering Enlight Media chairman Wang Changtian mentioned the project being in its early stages. However, the plot of the film will likely remain true to the source material. Three-Body Problem revolves around the simultaneous depiction of past, present and future, where the Earth has to encounter an attack from an alien civilization with a solar system comprising of three sun-like stars orbiting each other.

Liu Cixin’s bestseller has seen multiple adaptation attempts in the past, both successful and unsuccessful. In 2015, a Chinese 3-D film by production studio Youzu film was in the works, but was shelved later due to company’s internal shuffling and other factors. Cixin was a producer on the film, with Zhang Fanfan attached to direct and Feng Shaofeng and Zhang Jingchu set to star. In 2023, a Chinese-language TV series based on the book was released to critical acclaim, and was later made available for streaming on Peacock and Amazon Prime US.

The most popular adaptation so far has come from Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, whose Netflix series was deemed a major hit and has been greenlit for seasons 2 and 3. It will enable the showrunners to complete their vision of adapting the other two books in the trilogy, The Dark Forest and Death’s End. The show stars Juvan Adepo, Eiza González, John Bradley, Liam Cunningham, Jess Hong, Rosalind Chao, Benedict Wong, and Jonathan Pryce in lead roles. The Netflix show’s first season has eight episodes, as opposed to the Chinese adaptation’s 30.

The English language version of 3 Body Problem is available to stream on Netflix.