The 3 Body Problem is the much-anticipated SciFi series from GOT creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo (True Blood) that debuts on Netflix on March 21, 2024 — nearly four years after first being announced. The series will have its world premiere this week at the SXSW Film & Television festival in Austin.
For new fans, here’s the official logline:
“A young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time into the present day. When the laws of nature inexplicably unravel before their eyes, a close-knit group of brilliant scientists join forces with an unorthodox detective to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”
“When your consciousness ends in one world, it could continue to exist in many other worlds.”
The series is adapted from the multi-award-winning novel The Three-Body Problem by Chinese Science Fiction star Liu Cixin, the first book in his Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. The 3-Body Problem is told in a nonlinear fashion, jumping between a young astrophysicist, Ye Wenjie, who witnesses her father being beaten to death by Red Guards during the 60s Cultural Revolution, and Ye’s return to Tsinghua University as an established professor many years later. During the earlier timeline, Ye figures out a means of sending an interstellar message to possible extraterrestrial civilizations, and after decades receives a response from a planet called Trisolaris — a system with three suns. This ties in to the Three Bodies in the title.
The series stars Rosalind Chao (Mulan) as Ye, Benedict Wong as Detectve Da Shi, John Bradley as Jack Rooney; Alex Sharp as Will Downing, a sixth-form physics teacher; Jess Hong as Jin Cheng, a brilliant theoretical physicist whose curiosity is both a strength and a weakness; Jovan Adepo as Saul Durand, another physicist; and Eiza González (Godzilla Vs Kong) as Auggie Salazar, a pioneer in nanotechnology (comparable to the character of Wang Miao in the novel). Sea Shimooka plays Sophon, an avatar in the story’s mysterious VR game.
Director Derek Tsang read the series in both English and Chinese before diving in to direct Episodes 1 and 2, and said the series will be a more global story that affects all humanity. The 3 Body Problem story will reportedly cover the entirety of the “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy in 8 episodes.
Be aware that there are several other adaptations of the Hugo winning best-seller, including Chinese language versions. Here’s the now-free English comic. The Netflix adaption may be the most complete and lavish.
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David Raiklen wrote, directed and scored his first film at age 9. He began studying keyboard and composing at age 5. He attended, then taught at UCLA, USC and CalArts. Among his teachers are John Williams and Mel Powel.
He has worked for Fox, Disney and Sprint. David has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2004 American Music Center Award. Dr. Raiklen has composed music and sound design for theater (Death and the Maiden), dance (Russian Ballet), television (Sing Me a Story), cell phone (Spacey Movie), museums (Museum of Tolerance), concert (Violin Sonata ), and film (Appalachian Trail).
His compositions have been performed at the Hollywood Bowl and the first Disney Hall. David Raiken is also host of a successful radio program, Classical Fan Club.
