3 Body Problem, the new Netflix sci-fi adaptation, is connected to a recent death sentence after one of the show’s producers was murdered.
Xi Yao was sentenced to death for the murder of Chinese billionaire Lin Qi days before 3 Body Problem hit Netflix.
According to the BBC, Yao, a well-known lawyer at the time, was hired by Qi to run The Three Body Universe subsidiary. The company was in charge of securing the intellectual property rights for Liu Cixin’s Hugo Award–winning novel for film and TV adaptations.
Yao and Qi worked closely together to broker the deal for Netflix to adapt the novel and the two companies finally successfully reached a deal for the book to become a TV series in 2020.
However, things started to take a turn for the worst when Qi placed other executives in charge of The Three Body Universe’s business operations, effectively sidelining Yao from the deal he helped make happen.
After this slight, Yao began to plot revenge against Qi and set up a company in Japan to acquire hundreds of poisons, which he then tested on dogs, cats, and other pets. When he finally found the poison he wanted to use, Yao disguised it as probiotic pills and gave them to Qi.
Just 10 days before Christmas 2020, Qi checked himself into the hospital as he felt unwell after taking the pills and was thought to be in stable condition at first, but ultimately died on Christmas Day from poisoning.
Yao also poisoned several beverages found in the company’s office, such as water and whiskey, and four other people got sick, but all of them survived.
“The plot is as bizarre as a Hollywood blockbuster, and the technique is professional enough to be called the Chinese version of Breaking Bad,” Chinese news outlet Phoenix News also said.
The Chinese court who found Yao guilty of his crime went on record to call the crime “premeditated” and “extremely despicable.”
After his death, Qi was posthumously credited as an executive producer in the end credits in 3 Body Problem.
“It was certainly disconcerting. When you work in this business, you’re expecting all sorts of issues to arise. Somebody poisoning the boss is not generally one of them,” David Benioff told The Hollywood Reporter.
