Prince Harry and Meghan Sign Sprawling Netflix Deal

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Prince Harry and Meghan Sign Sprawling Netflix Deal Friday 23 Lifestyle | Features Friday, September 4, 2020 ‘Thrones’ creators join ‘Star Wars’ director for Netflix series he creators of “Game of Thrones” will team up with “Star Wars” director Rian Johnson and Brad Pitt for an Tambitious new Chinese sci-fi adaptation, Netflix an- nounced Tuesday. Liu Cixin’s bestselling book trilogy “The Three-Body Problem,” which tells the epic story of human- ity’s first contact with an alien civilization, will become an in- ternational series for the streaming giant. “Liu Cixin’s trilogy is the most ambitious science-fiction series we’ve read, taking readers on a journey from the 1960s until the end of time, from life on our pale blue dot to the distant fringes of the uni- verse,” “Thrones” duo David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, who will co-write, said in a statement. They will be joined as executive producers by Rian Johnson, who oversaw 2017’s critically acclaimed “Star Wars” movie “The Last Jedi,” as well as Brad Pitt’s Plan B A few tourists visit the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. One of the tour guides walks by Ernest Hemingway’s writing studio, Entertainment company. Prolific Chinese science fiction au- an annex of the late author’s Home and Museum. thor Liu said the apocalyptic series “transcends time and the confines of nations, cultures and races; one that com- square to watch the sunset. “It was so busy pels us to consider the fate of humankind as a whole.” It you could hardly walk through the crowd, imagines an alternate history in which a female Chinese as- and now there’s nobody here,” said Jack Re- trophysicist caught up in the Cultural Revolution makes ichenbach, a 67-year-old local who lost his contact with an alien civilization, prompting global fears of job during the pandemic and who is trying an invasion. Fans include former president Barack Obama, to sell some watercolors of the sea view. who once said the “wildly imaginative” trilogy made “my “Everything is pretty bad,” he said. day-to-day problems with Congress seem fairly petty-not For the first time in years, tourists do not something to worry about. Aliens are about to invade!” An- have to elbow their way through the throng other of Liu’s works, “The Wandering Earth,” was given the or line up to have their snapshot taken in big-screen treatment last year-billed as China’s first space- front of the buoy marking the southernmost age blockbuster, it became one of the country’s highest point of the mainland United States. Among grossing movies with over $690 million domestically. those waiting for the sun to go down was “Thrones” showrunners Benioff and Weiss signed a multi- New Yorker Carol D, 65, a frequent visitor year deal with Netflix last August to write, produce and di- to Key West who asked an AFP reporter rect new series and films. Tuesday’s announcement is the what sites she had visited. When the re- first confirmed project to emerge from that deal, which was porter replied “Hemingway house”, Carol reportedly worth a nine-figure sum and followed an intense noted she did not know that place, but said bidding war between major studios. — AFP enthusiastically: “You gotta see the cat house!” “They’re amazing,” she said. —AFP A few tourists visit the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. ple said aim to “share impactful content that unlocks action.” Prince Harry and No financial terms were disclosed, but the deal is reported to be multi-year and exclusive to Netflix. The pair recently moved into a new family home in affluent Santa Barbara, after a stint in Meghan sign nearby Los Angeles saw them become embroiled in a legal bat- tle with paparazzi over photos taken of their son Archie. Their new neighbors include powerful entertainment industry figures sprawling Netflix deal including Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres. The couple’s ambitions to produce in Hollywood had long been rumored, with reports of meetings taking place in recent rince Harry and Meghan Markle officially launched their weeks with Disney, Apple and NBCUniversal. Harry recently new Hollywood careers Wednesday, signing a deal with appeared in Paralympics documentary film “Rising Phoenix,” PNetflix to produce “impactful” films and series for the while Markle narrated a wildlife documentary for Disney. Spe- streaming giant. The couple-who quit the British royal family cific details of other projects have not yet been released, but and moved to California this year-already have multiple projects the couple is expected to produce scripted series and feature in development, although former “Suits” star Markle has no films as well as children’s programming. plans to return to acting. “Through our work with diverse com- Markle and Harry have spoken of their desire “to do some- munities and their environments, to shining a light on people thing of meaning, to do something that matters,” in California, and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating con- where they are launching a wide-ranging non-profit organiza- tent that informs but also gives hope,” the Duke and Duchess of tion named Archewell. Their Netflix project is expected to focus Sussex said in a statement to AFP. “As new parents, making in- on the same issues as Archewell. The couple have worked with spirational family programming is also important to us, as is a charity to hand out meals to chronically ill people in Los An- In this file photo Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancÈe US actress powerful storytelling through a truthful and relatable lens.” geles, and Markle-whose mother is black-spoke out in June Meghan Markle pose for a photograph in the Sunken Garden at A nature documentary series and an animated series focused after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African American Kensington Palace in west London, following the announcement of on inspiring women are among the first projects, which the cou- killed in police custody. — AFP their engagement. — AFP .
Recommended publications
  • Dinosaurs and B.-E
    THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION: “Dinosaurs and B.-E. M.” Page One The Age of Enlightenment brought decisive steps toward modern science, giving birth to the Scientific Revolution. During the 19th Century, the practice of science became professionalized and institutionalized, which continues to today. So, upon this stage in the 19th Century strode the “Mother of Science Fiction,” Mary Shelley (1797- 1851), whose Frankenstein of 1818 electrified the world! The promotion of the 1931 film featured a supply of smelling salts in theatre lobbies for those who might swoon! The “Co-Father of Science Fiction” was H. G. Welles (1866-1946), whose War of the Worlds of 1898, as adapted on radio by Orson Wells on Halloween, 1938, sparked a mini-panic of alien invasion terror! His The Time Machine of 1895 and The Invisible Man of 1897 became best sellers. Hints of our future were depicted by aircraft, tanks, space and time travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television, and the World-Wide Web. Page Two The other “Co-Father of Science Fiction” was the commercially-successful French author Jules Verne (1828-1905). I remember watching, with wonder, the 1954 Disney film of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, of 1870. And I remember riding on the ride in Disneyland in California in the 1950’s. The 1959 film of Journey To The Center Of The Earth, starring James Mason and an unknown Pat Boone, featured an epic battle of dinosaurs, joining Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, of 1912, and the 1993 film Jurassic Park with dinosaur themes in science fiction.
    [Show full text]
  • The Development History of Chinese Science Fiction from Liu Cixin's Science Fiction
    International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 6, No. 3, September 2020 The Development History of Chinese Science Fiction from Liu Cixin's Science Fiction Xia Tianyi nature? At present, China's science fiction is facing many Abstract—In the history of Western literature, science fiction, problems, such as the writer's fault, the decreasing number of as an essential branch of it, has been widely loved by the masses, publications, uneven works, the stagnation of theoretical and and a crowd of outstanding science fiction novelists has been critical research work, etc. How can we stimulate the produced. With a large number of science fiction books adapted enthusiasm of the people for science fiction so that Chinese into films, the novels are also familiar to more audiences. Science fiction has been sprouting since 1902 in China, with the science fiction can develop continuously and healthily? It is a efforts of the pioneers and the relay of the latecomers, there question worthy of further discussion. have been many excellent works. But compared with the situation of western science fiction, it is not supportive of the healthy growth of science fiction in our country, and the public II. A BASIC EXPLANATION OF SCIENCE FICTION has not accepted science fiction novels. This paper will focus on the development history and current situation of science fiction Science fiction is a literal translation of western terms. It in China, and explore the differences between the creative originally meant science, which is a type of popular literature environment of Chinese and western science fiction and the with scientific imagination and innovation.
    [Show full text]
  • An Ecological Alarm Bell: Liu Cixin's Science Fiction the Wandering Earth
    ISSN 1923-1555[Print] Studies in Literature and Language ISSN 1923-1563[Online] Vol. 19, No. 3, 2019, pp. 60-63 www.cscanada.net DOI:10.3968/11366 www.cscanada.org An Ecological Alarm Bell: Liu Cixin’s Science Fiction The Wandering Earth LI Jiya[a],* [a] Instructor, PhD candidate, School of Foreign Languages, Southwest fiction literature. His short and medium-length novel Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China. The Wandering Earth was published in 2008, and has * Corresponding author. been reprinted by different publishing houses many Received 6 September 2019; accepted 21 November 2019 times. The box office of the adapted film of the same Published online 26 December 2019 name surpassed 1.6 billion in 2019, and the response at home and abroad was enthusiastic, which could be Abstract regarded as a milestone of Chinese science fiction film. The Wandering Earth is another masterpiece of Liu Cixin This work surpasses ordinary sci-fi literary works in after The Three, and later adapted into a film. After its both grand imagination and meticulous details of science release, the film has won high reputation at home and and technology, and can be regarded as a literary classic. abroad. It can be regarded as a milestone of Chinese In addition to the grand narrative, we should also pay science fiction movies. From the perspective of Western attention to the realistic problems, the development of eco-criticism, the future ecological environment described natural ecology and the ideological dilemma of human in the work is fragmented; the earth disaster which has beings. The story is full of humanistic care.
    [Show full text]
  • Renowned Sci-Fi Writer with a Spy Personality 刘慈欣:“间谍性格”的科幻作家
    法兰克福专刊 Editor:Qu Jingfan Email:[email protected] WRITER Typesetter:Yao Zhiying F10 e interviewed two of the best and most prominent writers in China, who have a great number of passionate readers in China and around the Wworld. We hope to depict the process of their growth on the road of writing and what they are thinking about literature now. Liu Cixin: Renowned sci-fi writer with a spy personality 刘慈欣:“间谍性格”的科幻作家 By Lu Yun ver since Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem China’s growth of technological strength. This, too, won the world science fiction laureate Hugo is one of the characteristics of science fiction. EAward, it has turned out to be a phenomenal bestseller in Western book markets, with its audience Sci-fi authors write about worst shifting to include not just science fiction readers, but case scenarios for the universe people from all walks of life. By the end of 2019, its worldwide sales have exceeded 21 million copies, of As a science fiction author but professionally which nearly 2.3 million copies were sold overseas; trained as an engineer, he is acutely aware of the in Germany alone, close to 300,000 copies have been fact that science fiction could possibly vanish before sold. long; done for, by science and technology. As we’ve This does not just constitute a commercial almost been living in a world described by science success; Liu Cixin has become an important symbol fiction. “I believe I could turn into the last science for Chinese authors garnering international fame.
    [Show full text]
  • Liu Cixin's Wandering Path to Apocalyptic Transcendence
    Liu Cixin‘s Wandering Path to Apocalyptic Transcendence: Chinese SF and the Three Poles of Modern Chinese Cultural Production An honors thesis for the Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages & Literatures Philip A. Ballentine Tufts University, 2014 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 WHAT IS SCIENCE FICTION (SF)? .............................................................................................................. 4 SF AND CHINA‘S REVOLUTIONARY MODERNIZATION MOVEMENTS ..................................................... 11 THE THREE POLES OF MODERN CHINESE CULTURAL PRODUCTION ...................................................... 15 THE DIDACTIC POLE .............................................................................................................................. 18 DIDACTIC CHINESE SF IN THE LATE QING AND MAY FOURTH ERAS ..................................................... 20 DIDACTIC SF IN THE SOCIALIST PERIOD ................................................................................................. 24 DIDACTIC ―REFORM LITERATURE‖ ......................................................................................................... 27 CHINESE SF‘S MOVE TOWARDS THE ANTI-DIDACTIC POLE ....................................................... 30 ―DEATH RAY ON A CORAL ISLAND:‖ A STUDY IN DIDACTIC ‗REFORM‘ SF .......................................... 33 CHINESE SF‘S
    [Show full text]
  • On the Co-Creation of Science and Science Fiction in the Social Imaginary Brad Tabas
    Making Science, Making Scientists, Making Science Fiction: On the Co-Creation of Science and Science Fiction in the Social Imaginary Brad Tabas To cite this version: Brad Tabas. Making Science, Making Scientists, Making Science Fiction: On the Co-Creation of Science and Science Fiction in the Social Imaginary. Socio - La nouvelle revue des sciences sociales, Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, 2019, pp. 71-101. 10.4000/socio.7735. hal-03000978 HAL Id: hal-03000978 https://hal-ensta-bretagne.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03000978 Submitted on 3 Dec 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives| 4.0 International License Socio La nouvelle revue des sciences sociales 13 | 2019 Science et science-fiction Making Science, Making Scientists, Making Science Fiction: On the Co-Creation of Science and Science Fiction in the Social Imaginary Faire de la science, faire des scientifiques, faire de la science-fiction : sur la cocréation de la science et de la science-fiction
    [Show full text]
  • Science Fiction Booklist
    MOUNT VERNON CITY LIBRARY BOOKLISTS Science Fiction Adams, Douglas The Hitchhiker’s Guide trilogy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Sci-Fi often takes us to a possible future or even an Asimov, Isaac alternate history and frequently has a technological I, Robot theme. Unlike Fantasy Fiction, Sci-Fi is driven by science rather than magic. Find these books or series in Fiction Bacigalupi, Paolo The Windup Girl under the author's last name or browse for the Sci-Fi sticker on the book spine. Bear, Greg Darwin’s Children Moving Mars Bradbury, Ray The Martian Chronicles Jemisin, N.K. Robinson, Kim Stanley Bradley, Marion Zimmer Broken Earth series Shaman Rediscovery The Fifth Season Aurora New York 2140 Bujold, Lois McMaster The Vorkosigan Saga Kenyon, S herrilyn Cryoburn Cloak & Silence Russell, Mary Doria The Sparrow Card, Orson Scott Le Guin, Ursula K. Ender Saga The Left Hand of Darkness Scalzi, John Ender’s Game A Fisherman of the Inland Sea : Old Man’s War Universe Fleet School Science Fiction Stories Old Man’s War Children of the Fleet Leckie, Ann Stephenson, Neal Imperial Radch series Anathem Clarke, A rthur C. 2001: A Space Odyssey The Raven Tower Seveneves Liu, Cixin Wells, H.G. Corey, James Three Body series Expanse Series The War of the Worlds The Three-Body Problem The Invisible Man Leviathan Wakes Martin, George R.R. VanderMeer, Jeff Dick, Philip K. Hunter’s Run The Man in the High Castle Southern Reach trilogy Dangerous Women Annihilation A Scanner Darkly McCaffrey, Anne Vinge, Vernor Gibson, William Freedom Series Zones of Thought series Neuromancer Freedom’s Landing A Deepness in the Sky Heinlein , Robert McCammon, Robert Walton, Jo Stranger in a Strange Land The Border Among Others Starship Troopers Variable Star Miller, Walter Willis, Connie A Canticle for Leibowitz Crosstalk Herbert, Frank Beyond Armageddon All Clear Dune Niven, Larry Yu, Charles Huxley, Aldous The Draco Tavern How to Live Safely in a Science Brave New World Saturn's Race Fictional Universe Parrish, Robin Offworld.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Links with Europe Strengthened
    Demand grows Business downturn Transformative art for individual Australia sees worst economic Remote village workshop provides cultural food servings slump on record in 2nd quarter CHINA, PAGE 6 opportunities to left-behind kids BUSINESS, PAGE 15 WORLD, PAGE 12 CHINADAILY THURSDAY, September 3, 2020 www.chinadailyhk.com HK $10 China’s links Learning about courage with Europe strengthened Wang says 5 nations he visited agreed to reinforce unity, oppose ‘decoupling’ By WANG QINGYUN in Beijing by the pandemic, rising unilateral- and CHEN WEIHUA in Brussels ism, attempts to “decouple” and heightened international rivalry, China and five European coun- he said. tries have agreed to strengthen Wang called for China and joint efforts to bolster unity and Europe to carefully plan high-level oppose “decoupling” to prevent the exchanges and urged they finish world from slipping back into the negotiations over a bilateral invest- grip of “the law of the jungle”. ment treaty this year and sign a The countries voiced a strong strategic plan for bilateral coopera- appeal to safeguard multilateral- tion for the next five years as soon ism, State Councilor and Foreign as possible. Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday Both sides should also work at a joint news conference with together firmly to promote interna- German Foreign Minister Heiko tional cooperation to tackle climate Maas in Berlin. change and enhance digital cooper- A retired teacher tells students about the role of China’s New Fourth Army in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931- Calling for China and Europe to ation, Wang said. 45) at a memorial hall in Deqing county, Zhejiang province, on Wednesday.
    [Show full text]
  • Peregrine an English Companion to Chutzpah Magazine
    Peregrine An English Companion to Chutzpah Magazine 02 Kun Kun But Some of Us are Looking at the Stars Translated by Lucy Johnston 15 Liu Cixin The Thinker Translated by Joel Martinsen 27 Han Song All the Water in the World Translated by Anna Holmwood 34 Fei Dao 7KH%XWWHUÁ\(IIHFW Translated by Nicky Harman Issue 2, June 2011 But Some of Us are Looking at the Stars Kun Kun The wild nature of a realist 7KHPRPHQWWKDWVRPHRQHGHFLGHVWRZULWHLI LW·VWUXO\PLUDFXORXVLVRIWHQOLNHQHGWRD´ÁDVK of inspiration”. Haruki Murakami’s description of such a moment is a classic example, and whether true or not, it has a certain moving patina. He said: I was watching a baseball game when I decided to VWDUWZULWLQJWKHWHDP,VXSSRUWKLWDKRPHUXQDQGWKHEDOOÁHZIDVWDQGKLJKDFURVVWKHVN\,VWDUHG at it and thought: I want to be a writer! :KHQ,WROGWKLVVWRU\WR/LX&L[LQKHLPPHGLDWHO\UHSOLHGWKDWKHKDGKDGDÁDVKRI LQVSLUDWLRQ too, only not quite so romantic. “In 1989 I was a computer programmer at the Niangziguan power plant; I was in my early twenties and had just graduated from university. I lived in single dorms and didn’t have a girlfriend. I had nothing to do in the evenings apart from playing cards and mahjong. In one night I lost a month’s wages – 800 yuan. That was the moment I suppose. I thought – I can’t go RQOLNHWKLV,KDGWRÀQGVRPHWKLQJWRÀOOWKHHYHQLQJV,I ,FRXOGQ·WPDNHPRQH\DWOHDVW,VKRXOGQ·W ORVHDQ\7KHQ,WKRXJKWRI ZULWLQJDVFLHQFHÀFWLRQQRYHOµ He smiled. His expression was complex: a mixture of sincerity and wit, just like the man himself. Liu Cixin’s thick build and perfectly round face create an impression of sincerity and honesty, while he often reveals a kind of worldly wisdom as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Multidimensional Utopia: Chinese Logic of the Future Imagination Of
    Journal of Literature and Art Studies, November 2017, Vol. 7, No. 11, 1418-1422 doi: 10.17265/2159-5836/2017.11.004 D DAVID PUBLISHING Multidimensional Utopia: Chinese Logic of the Future Imagination of the Three-body Problem1 ZENG Jun Shanghai University, Shanghai, China The greatest charm of science fiction is not the artistic imagination, but the scientific imagination.Liu Cixin’s the Three-body Problem as a Chinese science fiction novel, reflected Chinese writer how to think science and technology and its possible future of mankind’s imagination. This novel contained “Deconstruction” Utopia, “Transcendence” dystopia and “Composited” Heterotopias, Which fully demonstrated singularity politics’s great ideological tension between post modernity thinking of in this or that and typical Chinese style doctrine and dialectics. Keywords: Liu Cixin, the Three-body Problem, Multidimensional Utopia The best way to discuss Chinese science fiction from global view, is from the begin to understand Liu Cixin’s the Three-body Problem. The reason is simple.The Three-body Problem is regarded as the first novel surpassed western science fiction by itself. It not only responds several important themes of western science fiction, but also gives them new thoughts with distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics.First, “The clash of civilizations”: the invasion of alien civilization and the out way of Earth civilization.Different from the view of “Anthropocentrism”and “earth centered” of western science fiction, Liu Cixin refined the universe of sociology “dark forest rule” and the “theory of evil human nature”which established on the basis of cold logic though the earth civilization and he Three-body civilization once irreconcilable opposed has destroyed.
    [Show full text]
  • Science Fiction Literature in China
    Reynolds 1 THE ELECTRIC ERA: SCIENCE FICTION LITERATURE IN CHINA By Hannah C. Reynolds In partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Arts with Honors in East Asian Studies Wittenberg University 1 May 2019 Reynolds 2 I. Introduction China is no stranger to writing, consuming, and cherishing highly imaginative works of literature, whether it be in the ancient dynastic ages or in modern Chinese libraries. The fantastical adventures of The Monkey King are loved by the entire nation, and mystical romances of A Dream of Red Mansions are being adapted into screenplays more than 200 years after the tale’s conception. Confucian values, while traditionally associated with their realistic and grounded nature, may have boosted China’s cultural fascination with the intangible oddities of life. Many of Confucius’ analects call for people to be realistic and focused on understanding the here and the now: “When you do not yet understand life, how could you understand death?” (Weizhi sheng, yanzhi si 未知生, 焉知死).1 But an important element of Confucian philosophy is the emphasis put on the connection between societal structures and the cosmic order of the universe; the connections between parent and child, husband and wife, and ruler and subject are not upheld merely for convenience—they keep the yin and yang of the universe in balance. Disruption of social order would be, in the eyes of Confucius, a blatant opposition of the higher cosmic order that is intrinsically connected to our mortal existence. Elements of fantasy are also more intertwined in modern, everyday Chinese life than in the lives of Westerners.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Science Fiction Literature Can It Do for China What K-Pop And
    Chinese Science Fiction Literature Can it do for China what K-Pop and Manga do for Korea and Japan? NICKLAS JUNKER There has been little success with exporting Chinese culture abroad, despite considerable eff orts made by the Chinese government. Chinese science fiction (sci-fi) has attracted increasing global attention and may be an important cultural tool to express a Chinese narrative abroad. Previous research has focused on Chinese sci-fi as a national literary product to be consumed within Chinese borders, ASIA IN FOCUS but little has been written on Chinese sci-fi as a transnational product to be consumed globally. In this paper I examine the role of Chinese sci-fi literature as a transnational cultural tool from a bottom-up perspective. I attempt to understand the current role and function of Chinese sci-fi in the Sinosphere by looking into cultural flows within the sci-fi community and examining the routes of this transnational and transcultural voyage. The findings show that Chinese sci-fi is becoming globalised reaching consumers all over the world yet still maintaining its regional context. Thus, this paper contributes to an enhanced understanding of how Chinese sci-fi literature can create a positive and powerful image of China from the bottom-up. Keywords: Chinese science fiction literature, cultural flows, scapes, transnational movement, Ken Liu 24 o date, China’s cultural narrative abroad has to diff erent political movements and the state Tbeen portrayed from a top-down perspective, sponsored visions of China since the late Qing era often dictated by the Chinese government, in the early twentieth century to the present day.
    [Show full text]