Released on March 21, the epic The 3-Body Problem has captivated viewers around the globe with its complex scientific logic, its historical approach and the grand scale of its conflicts. Outside of fiction, however, strong emotions continue to surround the work, represented by controversies in China — the birthplace of the story — and, most surprisingly, by a murder case that has just resulted in the death penalty. The producer and lawyer Xu Yaoaged 43, received the sentence just one day after the premiere of the program, declared guilty of poisoning Lin Qiknown in China as a “millennial billionaire” and founder of the gaming company Yazoo Games, owner of the copyright behind the series.
The crime occurred in 2020, when Xu, still an executive at Yazoo, assisted Lin in negotiations with the streaming platform Netflix. Once the contract was signed, the killer felt left out by his colleague and, shortly after, the billionaire was rushed to the hospital after drinking a cup of tea. After 10 days of hospitalization, Lin did not survive and died at the age of 39. According to Chinese justice, 4 more people were poisoned by the convict between September and December 2020, but survived. Xu was arrested on December 18 of the same year.
For Lin, taking the literary trilogy of Cixin Liu For the screen it was a big dream, for which he paid millions of dollars in 2014, when he acquired the rights. After producing the video game Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming in 2019, the businessman approached the screenwriters David Benioff and DB Weiss, creators of the HBO series, and began development with them. Before this, Xu Yao was the head of the division Three-Body Universe of the company, created in 2017 to oversee the property. The reason for the homicidal fury would have been his demotion and pay cut for poor performance.
Continues after advertising
According to court documents collected by Financial Magazine CaixinXu built a laboratory in Shanghai to test different poisons on domestic animals, inspired by the chemist protagonist of the series Breaking Bad. The next step would have been to poison co-workers with methylmercury chloride until he reached the fatal substance that ended his boss’s life.
In an interview with HollywoodReporterBenioff lamented the death of his business partner: “We expect everything in this business, but poisoning is not usually one of the problems.”
Keep up with news and cultural tips on the following blogs:
Flat Screen for TV and streaming news
O Som e a Fúria about artists and musical releases
In Cartaz brings tips on films in cinema and streaming
Books for news about literature and the publishing market
