Choice of Derek Tsang to direct Three-Body Problem’s first episode on Netflix raises doubts in China about his suitability for sci-fi adaptation

Hong Kong filmmaker Tsang, 41, will direct the first episode of the Netflix adaptation of Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin’s alien encounter trilogy

Internet users in China doubted Tsang’s suitability for the role, given several of his films focus on very different subject matter – teenage angst

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Tsang Kwok-cheung at his office in Hong Kong. He has been picked to direct the first episode of the Netflix’s Three-Body Problem, an adaptation of Chinese science-fiction author Liu Cixin’s alien encounter trilogy. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 4:32pm, 20 Aug 2021Updated: 4:32pm, 20 Aug 2021

Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung will direct the first episode of Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi drama series Three-Body Problem, the streaming platform has announced.

Based on the award-winning trilogy of the same name by Chinese author Liu Cixin, the much anticipated English-language live-action adaptation will be produced by Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and written by Alexander Woo. The project will be Benioff and Weiss’s first TV show after the hugely popular HBO fantasy drama. Liu serves as a consulting producer for the series.

Tsang, the 41-year-old son of veteran Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang Chi-wai, was catapulted to the A-list following the success of his 2019 film Better Days, which won a nomination for best international feature at this year’s Oscars, as well as the best director and best film prizes at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Reactions to Tsang’s appointment from Chinese internet users was mixed, with many doubting whether Tsang would rise to the challenge, given that several of his films have been about teenage angst.

US streaming giant Netflix announced on September 1, 2020 that an English-language drama series based on the acclaimed Chinese sci-fi novel series The Three-Body Problem is in the works. Photo: Netflix

Better Days is a searing drama about teenage bullying. Soul Mate (2016), which was nominated for the best director prize at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards, is a sentimental youth friendship drama. His directing debut, Lover’s Discourse (2010), for which he was nominated for the best new director prize at the 47th Golden Horse Awards, explores the different facets of romantic love in modern society.

One user on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, said it was a strange decision by Netflix to find a director with expertise in love and youth drama to direct a sci-fi project.

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