Tencent C-drama adaptation of Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem

It starts airing on Tencent on Jan. 15

Trailer with English subs:

I read the English translation of the trilogy a few years ago, and it kinda blew my mind; quite original and different than most Sci-fi novels. My advice is to go in reading knowing the least, so you can really experience it.

Netflix is also making a series base on this trilogy and so I will watch that too. Wonder which will be the better adaptation.

Brief Info re the trilogy:

The Three-Body Problem is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, but the whole series is often referred to as The Three-Body Problem. The trilogy's second and third novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End, respectively. The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor Books in 2014. Thereafter, it became the first Asian novel ever to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Quote from bartkun

how it's possible?

wasn't it announced that Netflix is doing whole series about it?

Yah different adaptations. I guess Tencent bought it first and didn’t stipulate a time period until the author can sell the rights for another adaptation because the Netflix one with the guys from The Game of Thrones is scheduled for release later this year too.

Also saw this:

Quote from bartkun

yeah but it sounds like bullshit to me

it's just too close, it's unusual as hell

then it should be said that Tencent one is China exclusive, and Netflix one is global

I think there can be different adaptations. As complex as this novel is - both adaptations being made by different teams in different countries; I think each will be quite different.

Obviously, the Chinese govt will censor certain aspect of the novel and it would be interesting to see what they kept as the key points from the novel.

Also, the American show runners of Netflix version will also have their own take and I wonder if they can truly capture the ‘Chinese’ elements (history, cultural context) of the trilogy. I will watch both to see which is the better adaptation.

Quote from 3best

Looked through the cast - as expected, Western entertainment continues with the routine of erasing Asians in favour of non-Asian actors even in adaptations of Asian works. The first book has like two non-Chinese characters while the cast is majority non-Asian and considering that there are only two Asian male actors (one of whom is already confirmed to be Wang Miao) so far, which means that Netflix has erased most of the Chinese male characters like always and will probably push WMAF pairings again.

I don't understand their hate boner against Asians, especially the obvious gender typecasting.

Oh thanks for the update! I haven’t been following the news re the Netflix adaptation at all.

To erase the ‘Chinese’ from a Chinese sci-fi novel —- and not stay ‘true’ to the original source; that is so disrespectful. Double ewwww re the WM hero and AF pairing too. Like the world doesn’t evolve around WM leads especially when the main characters in the book were mostly Asian.

I am so glad that Tencent made this adaptation then. I may need to wait and see if I should watch the Netflix one then…why bother if it is not going to resemble the novels in any way.

Quote from 3best

Yinye The first episode from Tencent is out on their YouTube channel, did you watch it? IMO so far it is very faithful to the book although a bit slow-paced, kind of exceeded my expectations tbh. Even less reasons to watch the Asian-erasing Western-washed Netflix version.

Thanks for the heads up! I will check it out and have found WeTV Malaysia also uploading it to YT with English subs. Will report back after watching the first episode.

Ok I just finished the first episode. It's true that it's a bit slow paced and I hope it picks up too. However, I really am surprised at how well they presented the key plots, so many characters, and 'essence' of the novel so far. They also got all the actors and 'TONE' of the novel correct.

I'm gonna wait until more episodes get uploaded and then watch.

Quote from 3best

There are already 3 more episodes on YouTube, I think they are releasing them daily or something. The second episode is better than the first one imo, they nailed the atmosphere. The pacing is probably the result of adapting the book so thoroughly because the book itself is slow-paced at the start.

Oh that is good to hear. I don’t mind the slow pace for the first episode, it’s the ‘setting-up’ of everything lol. On the WeTV Malaysia Chanel on YT, there was only 2 episodes this morning when I watched ep 1 but I will check it again this weekend and watch a few more.