Three-Body

Three-Body (Chinese: 三体) is a Chinese science fiction television series adapted from the novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, which was first published in serialized form in 2006. The series premiered on January 15, 2023.

Premise

In 2007, Wang Miao, one of China's leading nanomaterials experts, is enlisted by Shi Qiang, a detective who specializes in counterterrorism, in the case of strange apparent suicides in the scientific community. During the investigation, Wang Miao encounters a mysterious organization called the Frontiers of Science and proceeds to learn the truth behind how an alien world depicted in a popular video game connects with the apparent suicides and the fate of the world.

Cast

• Zhang Luyi as Wang Miao
• Yu Hewei as detective Shi Qiang
• Chen Jin and Wang Ziwen as Ye Wenjie
• Lin Yongjian as General Chang Weisi
• Li Xiaoran as Shen Yufei
• Eric Wang as Ding Yi
• Kou Zhenhai as Ye Zhetai
• He Dujuan as Yang Dong
• Kenan Heppe as Mike Evans
• Mike Koltes as Colonel Mike Williams

Production and release

Although Tencent obtained the rights to the novels in 2008, attempts to produce a Chinese live-action adaptation of the novels began in earnest in 2015 with The Three-Body Problem film by YooZoo Film. Filming lasted for 5 months in 2015, but the final product was never released. While YooZoo Film struck a deal in September 2020 to produce their own adaptation for Netflix with Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss at the helm, work on the script for a Chinese adaptation was already underway at Tencent and took four years to complete. Shooting began in July 2020 and lasted 126 days. The Beijing Electron–Positron Collider II doubled for the particle accelerator in the series.

In November 2021, a trailer for the series was released with no specific premiere date. This was followed by a second trailer in June 2022, and a final trailer 3 days prior to the premiere. After several delays, the series began airing on January 15, 2023, with the first 4 episodes available for streaming on WeTV and Rakuten Viki. The series made its first American debut on the New York PBS affiliate WNET in December 8, 2023. On February 10, 2024, NBC released the complete 30-episode English-subtitled version of "Three-Body" on its Peacock streaming platform. It is also available on Amazon Prime in the US.

Episodes

Reception

Three-Body has received wide acclaim in China. On Douban, the series received a score of 8.7 out of 10. Viewers praised the overall production quality, the faithfulness of the adaptation and the casting. Domestic critics praised the visuals as astonishing.

In the United States, The New York Times critic Mike Hale noted that the series was faithful to the original text, with logical adaptations made to suit television. However, he described the screenplay and cast as mediocre, and the game scenes not as vivid as the original.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Three-Body at IMDb
• Three-Body on Weibo (in Chinese)
• Three-Body (30 episodes, English subtitles). Peacock.
• Three-Body (30 episodes, multiple subtitles). Rakuten Viki.
• 【4K Ver.】ENG SUB【三体 Three-Body】 (30 episodes, English subtitles). MiGu Official Channel/YouTube.
• 【4K Ver.】ENG SUB【三体 Three-Body】 (30 episodes, English subtitles). Tencent Video/YouTube.