Netflix made a medium-term investment when it signed David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for the price of $200 million. They were not exactly writers and producers who developed a multitude of projects at the same time, as other creators of the platform do, such as Ryan Murphy (Dahmer, The Watchman) or Shonda Rhimes (Who is Anna, The Bridgertons), but they did have a title on their books. attention-grabbing career: the adaptation of Game of Thrones. Could they repeat the television phenomenon?
Benioff and Weiss, rather than walk away from the television industry's idea of them, decided to embark on a similar project: adapting an ambitious science fiction trilogy. This is Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem, which uses a Chinese social, political and cultural framework to delve into science fiction. It should be released in the coming months on the platform, as its first trailer hinted at. But Netflix has encountered an obstacle: China has spoiled the scoop with Three bodies, an adaptation that they developed in parallel. Here, the trailer of the American series, which is entitled The problem of the 3 bodies:
Liu Cixin's trilogy, an engineer by training, was published between 2006 and 2010 and consists of three novels: The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and The End of Death. It begins with Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who grew up during the Cultural Revolution, in which her father was killed by Red Guards, and who enters into a unique program: to find extraterrestrial life. He discovers the way to send a message to outer space and eight years later he receives a response.
The message is from a being from a planet called Trisolaris, which revolves around three suns, who warns the scientist that he lives under an authoritarian regime and that he fears that he could be hostile to Earth. This fictional universe therefore offers an alternative frame of mind to the Anglo-Saxon and European dominance. It takes as its starting point a defining moment in Chinese history and Trisolaris, with its most advanced technology and the possibility of conquering Earth, represents Western pressure.
Netflix announced the project in September 2020 and, so far, the interested viewer has not yet been able to see a single episode. On the other hand, its version of the adaptation has already arrived from China: with a total of thirty episodes that can also be seen in Spain through Viki, a platform specialized in broadcasting Asian productions. If someone wants to see it, it's easy: you can watch it for free as long as you accept a lower image quality and a couple of ads per chapter (to see it without advertising and in high definition you already have to register on the platform, which costs less than Netflix or HBO Max).
The production values are high: the Chinese industry in the last decade has taken a notable leap that, for example, allows them to dispense with Hollywood cinema in movie theaters. And, while Chinese series don't usually attract the attention of Western media, this adaptation written by Tian Liangliang may attract critical attention. "The bleak tone of the story, its motifs of environmental destruction and the possibility of human extinction, allow the story to have strength, as does its allegory of despair and revenge fostered by the Cultural Revolution," it was argued from The New York Times, "but what sets the series apart is how science, rather than being a backdrop or a frame, drives the action throughout."
Those who feel the need to jump on any work with the aroma of a phenomenon, or even to get ahead of them, can always take a look at this adaptation entitled Three bodies. Whether a Chinese production will be able to subtract momentum from a Netflix production remains to be seen, but the drawback for Weiss and Benioff is that they will find themselves facing a double rival: not only will their version of the story be compared with Ciu Lixin's cult trilogy it must also be measured against the adaptation that preceded it. It has not offered a single season but has directly been released with thirty episodes that cover the three novels. Could it even become a haven for those who hate waiting between seasons when the Netflix version is released?
