Three Body poster Phot: Sina Weibo

A new TV series adapted from Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin's award-winning novel The Three-Body Problem has been listed in Chinese streaming giant Tencent Video's 2021 slate of shows, if the Tencent series does release this year, it will be the first live action adaptation of the story. This was a great news for fans of the novel, many of whom have been waiting for the release of a movie adaptation that was filmed more than five years ago but has still not been released.

Finished shooting in late 2020, the new TV drama's story involves humanity "exploring signals from extraterrestrial civilizations," according to a description from its official Sina Weibo account, and will star well-established Chinese actors such as Zhang Luyi and Wang Ziwen. The complex sci-fi story will be told over 24 episodes. 

Although a specific released date has not yet been announced by the platform, promotional materials such as makeup photos were released in 2020. On Monday, Tencent Video released the official poster for the show, which it described as "a challenge of massive production" and the results of a "screenplay polished over four years." A special trailer has also been released on the platform. 

Tencent Video is not the only party interested in the famous novel, which became the pride of Chinese sci-fi fans after it became the first Chinese novel to win the Hugo Award in 2015. In July of that same year, a film adaptation by Chinese director Zhang Panpan and with the book's author Liu Cixin as a screenwriter completed filming. The film was originally scheduled to release in 2017, but was later postponed. Some fans speculate that it most likely will not see the light of day. 

Besides domestic streaming platforms, international streaming giant Netflix has also shown interest in the IP. In September 2020, it announced that it was producing an adaption under the skilled hands of creators such as David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, well-known for their work on Game of Thrones.