Networks and streaming services continuously scramble to find the next Game of Thrones or Walking Dead. These types of entities bring viewers and their money so it’s no wonder Amazon is taking another huge risk in negotiating the rights to the popular The Three-Body Problem series. In the words of Dr. Evil, they’re looking to spend “$1 Billion dollars” to make it happen. This dollar amount certainly exceed their out of pocket costs expended for Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy which came in at $250 million.
The Liu Cixin novel is part of a trilogy, Remembrance of Earth’s Past, with accompanying books The Dark Forest and Death’s End. It’s been reported that Amazon has been attempting to acquire the rights from China’s YooZoo Pictures who has struggled with getting a movie version off the ground.
The Three-Body Problem, named for an actual Newtonian issue, highlights a battle between humans and aliens. The main character Ye Wenjie is an astrophysicist with manages to interact with the pending invaders. With the story being set in a tumultuous China, Ye is tired of her years of government backlash and uses this communication to her advantage. The books have a significant following in China and had even been mentioned by former President Barack Obama as being “wildly imaginative.”
Amazon has yet to publicly acknowledge the potential acquisition, but reports are spreading across the webs. If you’d like to read The Three-Body Problem, find it today on…guess where…Amazon.