'Game of Thrones' Creators to Adapt Chinese Sci-Fi Trilogy for Netflix

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss arrive for the premiere of the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’ at Radio City Music Hall in New York, US, April 3, 2019. (Reuters)
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss arrive for the premiere of the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’ at Radio City Music Hall in New York, US, April 3, 2019. (Reuters)
TT
20

'Game of Thrones' Creators to Adapt Chinese Sci-Fi Trilogy for Netflix

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss arrive for the premiere of the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’ at Radio City Music Hall in New York, US, April 3, 2019. (Reuters)
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss arrive for the premiere of the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’ at Radio City Music Hall in New York, US, April 3, 2019. (Reuters)

The creators of television’s “Game of Thrones” are to adapt a best-selling Chinese science-fiction book trilogy for a Netflix series.

Netflix said on Tuesday that the English-language adaptation will cover all three of the award-winning Chinese novels - “The Three-Body Problem,” “The Dark Forest” and “Death’s End,” written by Liu Cixin.

The books tell the story of humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization.

“Liu Cixin’s trilogy is the most ambitious science-fiction series we’ve read, taking readers on a journey from the 1960s until the end of time, from life on our pale blue dot to the distant fringes of the universe,” David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators and executive producers of television’s hit medieval fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” said in a statement.

Benioff and Weiss will be joined by “True Blood” screenwriter Alexander Woo for the Netflix project, which also has the blessing of novelist Liu.

“I set out to tell a story that transcends time and the confines of nations, cultures and races; one that compels us to consider the fate of humankind as a whole,” Liu said in a statement.

“The Three-Body Problem” was first published in book form in 2008 and became one of the most popular science fiction novels in China. An English translation followed in 2014.

No date or casting was announced for the project which is the first in a production deal between Benioff, Weiss and Netflix that was announced a year ago and reported to be worth about $200 million.



Disney Launches Stage Musical 'Hercules' in London

FILE PHOTO: Buses cross Waterloo Bridge with the City of London financial district seen behind, in London, Britain, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Buses cross Waterloo Bridge with the City of London financial district seen behind, in London, Britain, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
TT
20

Disney Launches Stage Musical 'Hercules' in London

FILE PHOTO: Buses cross Waterloo Bridge with the City of London financial district seen behind, in London, Britain, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Buses cross Waterloo Bridge with the City of London financial district seen behind, in London, Britain, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

Disney takes London audiences back to Ancient Greece with its new musical "Hercules", bringing alive its 1997 animation on the West End stage.

Showing at composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the show is inspired by the much-loved Disney film, itself based on the ancient myth.

It follows the titular character and son of Zeus who, upon losing his immortality as a baby due to the plotting Hades, god of the underworld, goes from zero to hero to stop his uncle from taking over.

“It's a myth that reflects contemporary culture and still honors the DNA of (the) animated movie," Robert Horn, who wrote the show's book with Kwame Kwei-Armah, told Reuters late on Tuesday at the musical's press night.

"It's its own new thing and yet fans of the movie will absolutely come and recognize it and love it.”

Central to the show are the five Muses, who sing their way through the story with energetic gospel-like tunes and plenty of costume changes, Reuters reported.

"I think I speak for all of us ... we have idolized these women. We have looked at these women and seen ourselves in times when we weren't really represented," actor Malinda Parris, who plays Calliope, said. "So being able to be that representation for other young girls ... who ... want to be The Muses ... it's living the dream."

The show differs from the movie in several ways, including Hercules' mentor, Phil, no longer being a satyr but a taverna owner.

“The main thing is that he still is there ... to love and support Hercules on his journey," actor Trevor Dion Nicholas said.

"It really is about building this bond between the two of them that kind of builds this paternal relationship that I think we were able to deepen more so than the animated film was."

"Hercules" is the latest Disney stage adaptation in London, showing in the same theatre where the hit show "Frozen" ran up until last year.

It features songs written by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel from the animation, including "Go the Distance" and "Zero to Hero", as well as new tunes.