Posted in: TV | Tagged: chinese science fiction, Liu Cixin, TenCent, three-body problem, Three-Body Problem: Da Shi, tv series

Three-Body Problem: Da Shi Spinoff Has (Probably) Completed Filming

Three Body: Da Shi, the spinoff miniseries of Chinese TV's adaptation of Liu Cixin's Three-Body Problem, has (probably) completed production.

Three Body: Da Shi, the miniseries spinoff of Tencent's adaptation of Liu Cixin's seminal Chinese Science Fiction epic The Three Body Problem, or Three-Body, may have finished production and is in post. The twelve-episode original miniseries, intended to bridge the gap between the Three-Body Problem and the adaptation of the second book, The Dark Forest, was scheduled to go into production from September to December of 2024. The main character is fan favourite Shi Qiang, or Da Shi ("Big Shi"), the chain-smoking, plain-speaking maverick cop played by the prolific Yu Hewei. We say "may have finished filming" because Chinese production news usually announces their schedules ahead of time and there's very little news until a series gets a premiere date up to a year later.

Three Body: Da Shi takes place after the original Chinese TV series adaptation of Three Body Problem. Following Operation Guzheng, where the intergovernmental task force raided and shut down the pro-alien cult, maverick cop Shi Qiang is now stricken with leukemia after he shot at a nuclear dirty bomb to keep it from detonating and became irradiated. Once again, he teams up with applied physicist Wang Miao to investigate the theft of the nanomaterials that Wang Miao (presumably again played by Edward Zhang) helped develop. They uncover yet another mysterious organization that has set up a conspiracy to destroy the unity of mankind and weaken Earth's defensive capabilities to pave the way for the upcoming alien invasion. As they uncover the truth, Shi Qiang and Wang Miao have a fallout over their approaches but eventually reconcile to find a way to fight this new threat. The director of the miniseries is Yang Lei. This information was taken from official Chinese production schedules and posted to Reddit.

Three Body is the longer and extremely faithful Chinese television adaptation of The Three-Body Problem that was completed and streamed worldwide about a year before Netflix's Anglicized and heavily-altered adaptation 3 Body Problem premiered. In the Netflix version, Da Shi was adapted into Clarence Shi, a British-Chinese former cop turned intelligence officer played by Benedict Wong. The second season of the Netflix version is expected to go into production this year.

Three Body: Da Shi has to be reviewed for a broadcast license before it can get a premiere date, which will hopefully be later in 2025 or early 2026. Meanwhile, Three Body is currently streaming worldwide for free on YouTube, Prime Video, and Peacock TV. Unfortunately, the English subtitles are terrible.

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