In the war of 2034, China has won the first battle without firing a shot

By Jamie McIntyre
17 June 2021

Stavridis is the co-author of a critically acclaimed bestseller, 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, a scarily plausible imagining of how the United States and China could be drawn into a war and how badly it could turn out for both sides.

With a cast of complex, finely drawn characters and true-to-life depictions of current and future military capabilities, it’s just the sort of made-for-Hollywood technothriller that seems destined for a big or small screen near you.

The book had been out only a few months, when sure enough, Stavridis’s phone rang.

“I was called by the CEO of one of the largest studios in the country on a Friday who said, ‘I’m reading the book. I love it. The only question in my mind is whether we’re going to do a movie or we’re going to do a miniseries. Who’s your agent?” he said.

As Stavridis recounted last month on the podcast Chatter on Books, he spent the weekend scrambling to get an agent with experience negotiating movie rights and called the CEO back on Monday.

But by then, something had changed.

“Bad news,” said the CEO. “I read to the end of the book, and you know, I just can’t sell this in China.”

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