The mystery thriller “3 Body Problem” is about humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrial life forms. Behind the scenes of the Netflix series, however, a real crime unfolded.
Note: The title image comes from the series 3 Body Problem (via Moviepilot) and does not depict either the victim or the perpetrator.
Lin Qi was an emerging star in the Chinese internet industry. With his company Yoozoo Games, he developed and published, among other things, the auto-battler MMORPG League of Angels. However, Lin Qi was also a big fan of Liu Cixin’s Trisolaris trilogy.
The billionaire wanted to turn the Chinese sci-fi series into an international pop culture phenomenon comparable to “Star Wars.” For years, he sought to secure the rights for a film adaptation. He reportedly had plans for a film as early as 2014 – but the rights were held by a couple who purchased them directly from the author in 2009.
When Netflix announced the adaptation of The Three-Body Problem in 2020, Lin Qi was listed as an executive producer.
However, just a few months later, in December 2020, Lin Qi died at the age of 39. According to Chinese authorities, he was allegedly murdered by the lawyer Xu Yao, who had previously secured the rights to the film adaptation.
In an interview shortly before his death, Lin Qi spoke about the project: The Three Body Problem had the potential to become his life’s work, the billionaire said. He would likely still be thinking about it when he “says goodbye to the world at 90 years old.”
More about the series itself can be found with the colleagues at Moviepilot.
Planned for a long time
How did the murder happen? According to reports from Chinese media, Xu Yao was allegedly brought to Yoozoo Games in 2017 to secure the rights for a film adaptation of The Three-Body Problem. He was then appointed head of a subsidiary to develop the Three-Body IP.
However, in his new role, Xu Yao apparently could not impress anymore: His salary was cut and major projects went to others. He was reportedly barely involved in the Netflix deal.
Xu Yao apparently planned the murder of his boss long in advance and took extreme measures to do so. He was said to be a fan of the cult series Breaking Bad and seemingly drew inspiration from it. Reportedly, he set up a lab in a suburb of Shanghai where he experimented with various poisons.
According to the Chinese news channel Phoenix News, he set up 160 mobile numbers and established a trading company in Japan to acquire dangerous chemicals. He is said to have purchased over 100 toxic substances on the dark web.
He gifted the resulting poison cocktail to Lin Qi under the guise of “probiotic pills.” On December 17, 2020, Lin Qi was admitted to the hospital with complaints, where he died on December 25.
Xu Yao is also said to have poisoned the drinks of two other executives, causing health issues for a total of four employees. Fortunately, all four survived.
What happens to the perpetrator? Xu Yao was sentenced to death by a court in Shanghai on March 22, 2022 – one day after the Netflix premiere of 3 Body Problem.
