After to be stuck in development hell for years, an adaptation of Cixin Liu’s popular Hugo-winning novel The three-body problem had finally found a home on Netflix, with Game of Thrones‘ David Benioff and DB Weiss are included writing and executive production. But now the project is facing a different kind of behind-the-scenes drama.
Although the production of the Netflix series has not yet started, The three-body problem is already shaped by strange drama that follows reports that executive producer Lin Qi has been reportedly poisoned by one of his colleagues at Yoozoo Group – the Chinese game developer that currently owns it The three-body problem‘s production rights and coincidentally also the creator of Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming.
Such as the Hollywood Reporter notes that the Shanghai Public Safety Bureau took to its Weibo page on Wednesday with an announcement detailing how, after Qi was hospitalized earlier this month, his doctors suspected he might have been poisoned, prompting an investigation that led to led to an arrest.
“After the phone call, the police started an investigation. According to on-site investigations and further interviews, police found that a suspect named Xu, who is an employee of the victim Lin, was the most likely perpetrator, ”the post said. “The suspect Xu has been arrested and the investigation is continuing.”
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Although the police station did not fully share the name of the suspect, the South China Morning Post reports that a director named Yao Xu was recently engaged to oversee Yoozoo’s Three-Body Universe, a unit focused on other projects based on The three-body problem. While Yoozoo initially planned to produce both cinematic and game adaptations of the story, both failed to materialize, and it was unclear whether The three-body problem was set to hit the screen sometime until earlier this fall, when Yoozoo moved into a partnership with Netflix.
While there is no word on what could have caused the crime (THR points to “A dispute between the executive ranks of the Chinese entertainment company” noting that the unspecified poison was allegedly administered through a cup of tea) reports that Qi is recovering and in steady state. There is also no word on how, or if, these events could affect the future The three-body problem series.
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