Next in Innovation for Q&A Site Zhihu: Sci-Fi Television

The popular knowledge-sharing platform has announced its first original series, giving hope to China’s long-suffering sci-fi fans.

Imagine if Quora decided to take on Netflix.

That’s effectively what has happened in China, where Zhihu, the country’s biggest knowledge-sharing community, has announced it is developing its first television series.

During a live broadcast of its 10th anniversary gala event Friday, the Q&A site on steroids aired a cryptic 60-second teaser video for “Hanmei Project 2021,” a cerebral sci-fi thriller and the platform’s first foray into television and film. While details about “Hanmei Project 2021” remain scant, it will reportedly be based on “Sad People,” a 2015 novel by sci-fi writer He Xi.

Following Friday’s teaser, a full 3-minute trailer was released Sunday, along with official announcements of the upcoming project on Chinese social media.

In the clips, actor Li Guangjie, known for his role as a tough soldier in the 2019 sci-fi blockbuster “The Wandering Earth,” plays a scientist at a top-secret laboratory carrying out thousands of vague “observation” experiments. At some point, he appears to have traveled back in time as part of one such experiment.

“You may have been forgotten by your generation, but I will prove your value,” Li narrates as the camera shows a first-person view from the bottom of a grave.

Both Zhihu and the film’s production company told Sixth Tone they’re currently not accepting interviews, as the show is still in the very early stages of production. But Zhihu told Sixth Tone that “Hanmei Project 2021” is one of two original series now in the works. In a thread on Zhihu, Li the actor revealed that he had only joined the production in late December. Continue to read the full article here

 

– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone