... The possibilities of domestic science fiction film and television works are beyond our imagination.
On January 15, it was a small Chinese New Year's Eve in southern China. But on this night, it was the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" that brushed the screen.
In just one hour after its launch, the popularity of the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" exceeded 25,000 on Tencent's website, becoming the fastest drama on Tencent Video to break 20,000 in popularity, and breaking the first-day popularity value record of Tencent Video dramas. On the night of the broadcast, the topic #Three-Body # also topped the Weibo hot search list.
In terms of word of mouth, there is an animated version of "Three-Body Problem" with a score of 4.6 on Douban, and the drama version of "Three-Body Problem" seems to have withstood the test. Many original fans praised the plot as highly restored, the actors' acting skills are online, and the picture texture is extremely strong, and even announced that "you don't need to watch the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem". #Three-body wins numb#The topic also immediately ranked second on the Weibo hot search list.
As an IP with great influence in the world, judging from the first four episodes, although the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" cannot be called perfect, it has impressed the most demanding domestic drama audiences with a posture far beyond expectations, and has also become the number one surprise of domestic dramas in 2023.
In addition to the degree of restoration and the intentions of casting, the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" is more valuable in that it once again raises the imagination space for domestic science fiction.
Details "cut" the book
The high restoration of the original work is the most direct reason why the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" was recognized.
The first scene of the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" is the most core scene in the original work - in the 60s of last century, on the screen of the Red Bank Base, a top-secret national defense project located in Daxing'anling, Inner Mongolia, the newly deciphered alien code appeared - "Don't answer", "Don't answer", "Don't answer". In the song of "Unity is Strength", young Ye Wenjie did not hesitate and pressed the red button to communicate with the three-body civilization, and the fate of mankind has taken a turn since then.
Screenshot from the first episode of the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem"
Then the camera turned, and in 2008, when physicist Yang Dong committed suicide due to an overdose of sleeping pills. In the siren, the first main character, Shi Qiang, appears. The series also tells the beginning of the entire "Three-Body Problem" story through his mouth - "physics does not exist".
Screenshot from the first episode of the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem"
At the tenth minute of the episode, the first scene from the original text appears.
Two policemen and two servicemen came to Wang's door, asked Wang Miao about the scientific border organization, and invited him to a meeting at the war center. Among them, Shi Qiang's dirty jacket, being refused to enter the home by Wang Miao because of smoking, and even the officer's spit lines to Shi Qiang are almost restored in this scene one by one.
Secondly, the details such as the meeting between Wang Miao and Ye Wenjie, the ghost countdown in front of him, the shooter and the farmer, etc., are almost as if they were "cut" from the original work. In the trailer of the eighth episode, the "Three-Body Problem" game scene that the original party was waiting for finally appeared, and elements such as the Heng Era and the Chaotic Era, dehydration, and immersion appeared, presenting a grand and gorgeous sci-fi texture, and complemented the literary drama of the first four episodes.
The screenshot is from the preview of the eighth episode of the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem"
As early as in the trailer poster, the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" showed the characteristics of "strange details". Under the Wang Miao era character on the right side of the poster, Wang Miao who plays the game "Three-Body Problem" appears. In front of him is the 30 million people computer organized by Qin Shihuang in the game, and there is even Wang Miao's game ID "Sea People" on it; Below Ye Wenjie's era character on the left is the forest farm where the young Ye Wenjie worked in Daxing'anling, and the Red Bank base on the top of Radar Peak; In the middle of the characters on both sides, careful netizens also found the microwave transmitter of the Red Bank base, the cosmic microwave background radiation, and the nanomaterial "flying blade" that cut the "Judgment Day" in the "Guzheng operation".
Poster for the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem"
In contrast, the biggest reason why the animated version of "The Three-Body Problem" has been criticized is that it is not enough to restore the original work.
Similar to the drama version, the animated version of "The Three-Body Problem" chose to open with a famous scene from the original book. However, his choice is the guzheng action in the latter part of the first part of "The Three-Body Problem", which makes many original fans inevitably jump a little.
Secondly, the animated version of the presentation of this classic scene is not satisfactory.
In the original work, the biggest appeal of the guzheng project lies in the violent aesthetic sense of the quiet collapse of the behemoth in a silence, and in the powerful destructive power of the nanotechnology "flying blade" moisturizer. In the animated version, the destruction of the "Judgment Day" is like a cannonball, and the imagination and beauty brought by the text to the reader are greatly weakened.
Secondly, Colonel Stanton, who went to the Panama Canal with Wang Miao on a mission, was directly replaced by Shi Qiang; Wang Miao, who has always been calm, also showed extreme panic in the animated version, holding her head and moaning in pain.
Subsequently, the main plot in the first part of "The Three-Body Problem" was brought by the text, and the protagonist Luo Ji in the second part of the original "Three-Body Problem, Dark Forest" appeared directly. Some netizens said that cutting the story of the first part directly weakened the thick humanistic and historical heritage of the entire "Three-Body Problem" and seriously affected the texture of the story.
As of press time, the animated version of "The Three-Body Problem" is rated
Previously, Entertainment Studio reported on the authorship controversy of the animated version of "The Three-Body Problem". Gu Yi, one of the screenwriters, also posted the original script on Weibo many times, and replied to netizens in the comments: "The adaptation of the animated version of "The Three-Body Problem" was harmed by the screenwriter's teaching materials, and I wanted to create a low-lying space in front of the characters, so that if the adaptation is powerful, it can give the arc of the characters, but this kind of thinking is only suitable for movies or TV series with two or three episodes of serialization, and is not very suitable for weekly dramas. ”
Casting "sticker" book
In the first episode of the drama version, almost all the main members of the first novel of "The Three-Body Problem" appeared.
Among them, there are Shi Qiang played by Yu Hewei, Wang Miao played by Zhang Luyi, the elderly Ye Wenjie played by Chen Jin, the young Ye Wenjie played by Wang Ziwen, Chang Weisi played by Lin Yongjian, Shen Yufei played by Li Xiaoran, Ding Yi played by Wang Chuanjun and so on. Such a luxurious cast made the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" receive high expectations as early as 2020 when the lineup was officially announced.
Poster for the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem"
Shi Qiang in the original work is a rough man of five big and three thick, and Yu Hewei, who is thinner, was once questioned as "not strong enough". But the moment Shi Qiang appeared in the drama version, most of the audience began to believe that this was Shi Qiang in the book.
In terms of body details, Yu Hewei's version of Shi Qiang habitually puts his hands in his pockets, walks shakily, his expression is exaggerated, his eyes are floating around but he is extremely sharp, and his smoking posture is very skillful, which is the same as Shi Qiang, who is actually thoughtful on the surface of the book.
As a fan of the "Three-Body Problem" book, Yu Hewei once mentioned in an interview: "Shi Qiang is thick and thin, maverick, very simple, but also very courageous, bold, down-to-earth, and down-to-earth, these characteristics I have many of myself, from this point of view we have a certain degree of similarity." ”
The drama version of "The Three-Body Problem", Yu Hewei
Wang Miao, played by Zhang Luyi, was rated by readers as the most suitable candidate to play Wang Miao during the casting stage. In the play, he also perfectly presents Wang Miao's elegance and rigor as an intellectual, as well as the melancholy after being caught up in a huge storm.
Wang Miao's casting is also a choice that the creators have no disagreement with. Zhang Luyi and chief producer Bai Yiqing are classmates, and also starred in director Yang Lei's "Red", the three are very familiar with each other, and even convenient to "time out" during filming. Bai Yiqi laughed in the live broadcast that it is easy to find an actor with a domineering president in China, but it is not easy to find an actor who is a scientist. Zhang Luyi's temperament can be believed by the audience that he is a scientist, and he has excellent acting ability.
The drama version of "The Three-Body Problem", Zhang Luyi
In addition to the "Wang Miao Shiqiang" duo, the casting of other key roles has also been recognized by netizens. "Grand Slam" looks at the old Ye Wenjie played by Chen Jin as cold and gloomy, the young Ye Wenjie played by Wang Ziwen is ruthless and mysterious, Chang Weisi played by Lin Yongjian is steady and humorous, and the image of Shen Yufei played by Li Xiaoran fits the "cold from the inside to the outside" in the original work.
However, Ding Yi, played by Wang Chuanjun, seems to have caused controversy among netizens. Some netizens believe that Wang Chuanjun's styling and performance are too "literary and artistic", not like the calm and intelligent scientist in the original work, and there is a big gap with the performance methods of other actors.
The drama version of "The Three-Body Problem", Wang Chuanjun
In the end cast list, a series of familiar names also appeared, such as Guo Jingyu who played King Jun, Jiang Nan who played Fuxi, Hou Hongliang who played Confucius, Tang Jia Sanshao who played Qin Taishiling, Ma Dong who played Qin Signal Officer and so on. These film and television industry bigwigs have appeared as passers-by in the virtual game scene, once again highlighting the strong industry appeal of the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem".
In the casting process, the tone set by Bai Yiqian and Yang Lei is that "The Three-Body Problem" should be filmed with realistic techniques, and the selected actors must also be performed in realistic techniques, without the need for so-called traffic actors and suspended acting skills.
After all, no one's traffic is as big as "The Three-Body Problem".
Special cast list of the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem"
Why is "The Three-Body Problem" difficult to change?
The audience's praise for the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" lies in its completion of an extremely difficult IP to film and television at a level higher than the passing line.
In May 2006, the first part of "The Three-Body Problem" began to be serialized in "Science Fiction World" magazine, and a year later won the 18th China Science Fiction Galaxy Award Science Fiction Special Award. In the 17 years since, "The Three-Body Problem" has repeatedly broken various sales records at home and abroad, and even Facebook founder Zuckerberg did not hesitate to praise; In August 2015, "The Three-Body Problem" won the 73rd Hugo Award for Best Long Story, which was also the first time an Asian won a Hugo Award.
However, such a sci-fi IP, which is famous all over the world, has always had difficulties in film and television.
In 2014, Youzu Pictures announced that it would make "The Three-Body Problem" into a six-part series, and the first film was originally scheduled to be released in 2016, starring Feng Shaofeng, Zhang Jingchu, Wu Gang, Tang Yan, Du Chun, Zhang Han, etc., and then postponed due to personnel changes in Youzu Pictures, and has not been heard from since. Douban shows that the release time of the "Three-Body Problem" movie is 2025.
Zhang Fanfan directed the movie "Three-Body Problem", Zhang Jingchu played the young Ye Wenjie
Instead, in the same year, netizen iQue Bafang's self-made animated drama "My Three-Body Problem" was the first to go online on Station B. Subsequently, the production team of "My Three-Body Problem" joined the official development team of the "Three-Body Problem" IP - Three-Body Universe, and successively launched the second "My Three-Body Problem: Luo Ji Ji Ji T
As of press time, the My Three-Body Series is scored
In 2019, Station B announced the launch of the "Three-Body Problem" animation project, and the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" produced by Penguin Film and Television was also officially recorded. Since then, the animated version of "The Three-Body Problem", originally scheduled to be launched in 2021, has been postponed to the end of 2022, and the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem", which was completed as early as 2020, was also delayed in 2023 after being officially announced many times. Even while waiting, in 2021, Netflix announced that it would shoot the English series "The Three-Body Problem", joined by the creator team of the popular series "Game of Thrones".
In film and television adaptation, the most difficult to adapt is the work with a grand world view and complex description of the environment and atmosphere, and "The Three-Body Problem" is the most typical representative. From the three-body game, Tomoko, to water drops, and "two-way foil", these complex, large and elaborate settings require both extremely high level of special effects support and long presentation. Even the famous Hollywood director James Cameron is suggesting that Liu Cixin must shoot six films to make "The Three-Body Problem".
Under the shell of science fiction, "The Three-Body Problem" also contains extremely deep humanistic concepts. In the face of powerful enemies and apocalyptic crises time and time again, humanity has used human nature to come up with countless strategies. But even if the guzheng plan, the ideological steel seal, and the face wall plan are brilliant, everything in the end is still destroyed by human nature.
In addition, the novel also contains the alienation of human beings with rapid development, the ignorance of human beings under the laws of the dark forest, and the insignificance of human beings in the huge universe. "The Three-Body Problem" examines the fate of mankind from an unprecedented height, which is also almost impossible to reproduce and reach in flat images.
In the four episodes that have been broadcast, it can be found that although it risks not being understood by the original party, the drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" still uses a long length to expound many classic theories of the original work. This determination to be faithful to the original, the courage to challenge the threshold of viewing, is enough to cover up the flaws of its surface technique.
In the finale special, director Yang Lei believes that science fiction works should have their unique practical significance and show the audience a certain possibility of "future reality". The drama version of "The Three-Body Problem" is already proving to the audience that after the movie "The Wandering Earth", the possibilities of domestic sci-fi film and television works are beyond our imagination.
Drama version of "The Three-Body Problem"