After being stuck in development hell for years, an adaptation of Hugo’s popular Cixin Liu winner The three body problem finally found a home on Netflix, with War of Thrones‘ David Benioff and DB Weiss attached to write and produce executive. But now the project is facing a different kind of drama behind the scenes.
Although production on the Netflix series has not yet started, The three body problem is already being shaped by a strange drama following reports that executive producer Lin Qi was allegedly poisoned by one of his colleagues at Yoozoo Group – the Chinese game developer who currently owns The three body problemproduction rights of the company and also becomes the manufacturer of Game of Thrones: winter is coming.
Like the Hollywood Reporter notes, on Wednesday, the Shanghai Department of Public Security accessed its Weibo page with an ad describing how, after Qi was admitted to the hospital earlier this month, his doctors suspected he might have been poisoned, which led to to an investigation that led to the arrest.
“After the call, the police started an investigation. According to investigations at the scene and other interviews, the police found that a suspect with the surname Xu, who is a co-worker of victim Lin, was the most likely perpetrator of the crime, ”the post describes. “Suspect Xu has been arrested and investigations are continuing.”
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Although the police station does not disclose the suspect’s full name, the South China Morning Post reports that an executive by the name of Yao Xu was recently chosen to oversee Yoozoo’s Three-Body Universe, a unit focused on other projects based on The three body problem. Although Yoozoo initially planned to produce film and game adaptations of the story, both did not materialize and it was unclear whether The three body problem could reach the screen until the beginning of this fall, when Yoozoo switched to Netflix partnership.
Although there is no word on what may have motivated the crime (THR points to “A dispute between the executive ranks of the Chinese entertainment company” and notes that the unspecified poison was supposedly administered through a cup of tea), reports that Qi is recovering and in a stable condition. There is also no word on how, or if, these events can affect the future of The three body problem Series.
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