Remember back in March, when everyone on Twitter/X was obsessed with the phrase “you are bugs?” That’s because 3 Body Problem — the high-concept sci-fi series that Netflix had declared as its latest darling — was all the rage following the release of its first season.
A second and third season of the unthinkably expensive show — from Game of Thrones alums David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, along with True Blood writer Alexander Woo — will follow in due time, but it seems as though filmmaker Zhang Yimou has decided that a story this big deserves an equally big screen to tell it on. Indeed, Three-Body Problem, a film adaptation of Liu Cixin’s rousing novels, is in post-production as we speak. Per ComicBook, the announcement came during the Shanghai International Film Festival.
It will be the fourth on-screen adaptation of the material since 2014 (the fifth if you count Fanfan Zhang’s unreleased film), after the Three-Body Problem in Minecraft animated series, the Chinese live-action series Three-Body, and the aforementioned 3 Body Problem on Netflix. So, what will Zhang be bringing to the table here?
What is Three-Body Problem about?
As this film, like its fellow Liu adaptations, is named after the first book in the author’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, it’s safe to assume that it will also adapt the events of the novel The Three-Body Problem.
In other words, expect humanity to prepare for the arrival of an advanced and powerful alien civilization, and to witness the events that took place during the Cultural Revolution that set such an invasion in motion (although, given the sensitivity of that era in the minds of the Chinese government, it’s safe to say that those aspects will be more downplayed in comparison to the Netflix series, since this is a domestic production).
Who stars in Three-Body Problem?
Information on the film’s actors remains scarce, but Zhang’s helming of it should be more than enough to rope in those who are familiar with the illustrious filmmaker. It’s perhaps no help that most Western audiences will recognize him as the guy who made The Great Wall starring Matt Damon, but rest assured that that dire amalgamation is very much an exception to Zhang’s norm.
When will Three-Body Problem release?
There’s no release date at the time of writing, but the film is in post-production as previously mentioned, so a release window announcement shouldn’t be terribly far off. Whether or not it will find its way overseas is a whole other question.
