Producer, 39, on Netflix’s The Three-Body Problem dies after ‘being poisoned by co-worker’

The producer of an upcoming big-budget Netflix series has died after allegedly being poisoned by a co-worker.

Lin Qi, the producer on Netflix’s The Three-Body Problem, has died following reports that he was poisoned.

The Chinese producer, 39, who was also the chairman of Chinese company Yoozoo Group, was allegedly poisoned by his co-worker.

According to Chinese media, police said that one of Mr Lin’s colleagues, giving only his surname as Xu, was a key suspect.

The suspect remains in police custody.

Mr Lin was rushed to hospital after the suspected murder, and yesterday his condition was described as stable.

However, the producer died today, according to Caixin Global.

Online game company Yoozoo has just confirmed that Chairman Lin Qi passed away today. Yesterday, Lin was reported hospitalized due to suspected poisoning. A police post said one of Lin’s colleagues, giving only his surname as Xu, was a key suspect, and was in police custody. pic.twitter.com/96RqT7Asph

— Caixin Global (@caixin) December 25, 2020

According to local media, an executive split led to the assault on Mr Lin, which was allegedly carried out with poison in a cup of pu-erh tea.

His death has now been reported among many local news outlets, including China News.

Yoozoo Group sold the adaptation rights of the best-selling sci-fi books to Netflix.

Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Problem saga – which consists of the three books Remembrance of Earth’s Past, The Dark Forest and Death’s End – tells the story of Earth’s first contact with an alien civilisation.

Praised for its originality, Three-Body Problem became an international bestseller and has been translated into dozens of languages.

The trilogy also made history as the first Asian novel to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Local media have confirmed the 39-year-old's death. Picture: Supplied

Done with this year. Friend, mentor, visionary - Lin Qi the Founder and CEO of Yoozoo Games - passed away today. Always treated us with respect and generally just a great guy. Heartbroken. Rest in Peace Lin. #RIP pic.twitter.com/1tF7TMsuMs

— Anuj Tandon (@Anuj_Tandon) December 25, 2020

Yoozoo Group and its subsidiary Three-Body Universe had previously acquired the rights to the books’ adaptations in 2015 – but the big-budget English-language version was later acquired by Netflix.

It was announced in September that Netflix had called on Game of Thrones producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to take on the job.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission