Executive producer for Netflix’s upcoming ‘Three-Body Problem’ hospitalized in China after suspected poisoning
The founder of a Chinese game company, who is also an executive producer for Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi series the “Three-Body Problem,” was hospitalized after he was allegedly poisoned by a fellow film executive.
The Shanghai Public Safety Bureau took to its Weibo page to reveal Lin Qi, the CEO of Yoozoo Interactive Games, was rushed to Shanghai hospital earlier this month, where he remained Friday in stable condition.
Police responded to the medical facility on Dec.r 17 after staff reported that a patient, “a 39-year-old man surnamed Lin, was likely to have been poisoned,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“After investigation, police said that suspicions fell on a 39-year-old man surnamed Xu, one of Lin’s colleagues,” officials added. “Xu has been detained, and an investigation is ongoing.”
Local outlets in China have further identified the suspect as Xu Yao, a senior executive in Yoozoo’s film and television division. The assault against Lin allegedly occurred after a dispute among the Chinese entertainment company’s executive ranks.
Authorities suspect it was a poisoned mug of pu-erh tea that nearly killed the CEO.
Yoozoo in a statement on Wednesday confirmed Lin had been hospitalized. His company, which is behind the “Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming” video games, in 2015 acquired the rights to the Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel, “The Three Body Problem,” written by Chinese author Liu Cixin.
Yoozoo intended to develop both cinematic and gaming adaptations of the story, though the efforts have yet to come together. The company has since partnered with Netflix for the series, which has tapped “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to bring the project to life.
Netflix’s forthcoming version of the popular series has also faced its share of obstacles. Republican Senators slammed the streaming giant for taking over the project, claiming the move is “normalizing” China’s human rights abuses.
The lawmakers specifically cited Lin’s comments in a 2019 New Yorker article on China’s mass internment of Uyghur Muslims.
“Would you rather that they be hacking away at bodies at train stations and schools in terrorist attacks?” he said. “If anything, the government is helping their economy and trying to lift them out of poverty.”
Netflix in response said that while Lin may support the policy, it does not reflect the views of the company or other executives.
