Perhaps you are among those who picked up one of the nine million reported sold copies of Chinese author Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy—the first entry of which is The Three-Body Problem. And perhaps you also heard that Netflix had acquired the rights, and had made a $200 million deal for Game of Thrones producers David Benoiff and D.B. Weiss to adapt it. If so, it's entirely possible you read some of the more vivid passages, like the bit with the human computer, the episode set in the Panama Canal, or just the whole deal with the Trisolarians, and wondered, “how the hell are they going to turn this into a television show?”

Well, you are going to find out in January. (This will also give me plenty of time to pick up The Dark Forest and Death’s End, the second and third books, which I’ve been meaning to do for a while now.) 

With a slight alteration of the book’s title, 3 Body Problem debuted its trailer on Saturday at Netflix’s Tudum pep rally in São Paulo, Brazil. Fans of the Liu novels—which famously include Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, and George R.R. Martin—will no doubt recognize key moments in the flashes of imagery, like the instigating death of astrophysicist Ye Zhetai during a Cultural Revolution “struggle session,” the lab at Red Coast Base, and the ominous shadows of a countdown that presents itself in unusual places. The voiceover is that of science educator Carl Sagan, reading from his 1994 book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. 

In The Three-Body Problem, an assortment of scientists, philosophers, military specialists, and even a frumpy old police detective assemble to deal with the existential conundrum facing Planet Earth. Adapting this work for a series poses its own heavy challenges, and in addition to Benioff and Weiss, who are credited as showrunners, many of Hollywood’s top producers have come together. Among them are the companies T-Street, run by Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman, and Plan B, run by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner. Rosamund Pike is also an executive producer. Alexander Woo, best known for True Blood and The Terror, is credited as executive producer and writer. The Hong Kong-based director Derek Tsang, whose 2019 picture Better Days was nominated for the Best International Oscar, is the only announced director. The first season will consist of eight hourlong episodes. Back in 2020, author Cixin Liu and translator Ken Liu (who are not related) were announced as consulting producers on the project. 

In the cast, you’ll find Jovan Adepo, Benedict Wong, Eiza González, Jonathan Pryce, Jess Hong, and—Star Trek fans take note!—Rosalind Chao. If she could survive the Dominion War, she can handle whatever’s coming her way in this one.

Keep in mind, a Chinese adaptation of the book has already premiered on CCTV. (The domestic rights were acquired by Tencent, the company that operates WeChat and several other tech and gaming companies.) I greatly look forward to true heads arguing that the lower-budget Chinese version is actually better. Also, if you want to get your Cixin Liu fix in now, you can check out the two Wandering Earth films, based on his earlier short story. 

Lastly, if the soothing tones of Carl Sagan’s voice in the 3 Body Problem teaser have perked up your ears, perhaps you’ll get a kick out of this, too.