China doesn’t want its greatest sci-fi work filmed in China

Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Problem is getting TV show from a Chinese gaming company, but fans want HBO

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China doesn’t want its greatest sci-fi work filmed in China

Published: 7:21pm, 19 Jun 2019Updated: 9:07am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

It’s China’s best-known work of science fiction, but Chinese fans don’t want Chinese TV producers to touch it.

The Three-Body Problem trilogy, officially named Remembrance of Earth’s Past but more widely known by the title of the first book, is finally set to be made into a TV show. The novel and its writer, Liu Cixin, already hold cult classic status in China with Liu being the first Asian ever to win the Hugo Award, the most well-known international prize for sci-fi literature.

However, the announcement that the story of Earth fighting off a dangerous alien species is finally getting adapted for TV has left some loyal fans disappointed.

“Why doesn't HBO shoot it?!“ was one of the questions asked on China's microblogging site Weibo.

Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg have both praised The Three-Body Problem. (Picture: Tor Books)

Alas, fans can’t get an HBO adaptation. The rights to the series are currently owned by Yoozoo, which has received permission to adapt the book to TV from China's TV and radio regulatory body, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA). The series is set to start filming in September this year and will consist of 24 episodes, the approval document shows.

One of Liu Cixin’s works has already been adapted into the hit movie The Wandering Earth, a Chinese blockbuster that broke records at the box office over the Chinese New Year holiday this year. It earned nearly half a billion dollars in its first ten days of release.