ESTIMATEDDate confidence: ESTIMATEDA target, not a fixed dateHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all ESTIMATED pins65% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 65%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 6 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins from 50% to 74% confidence30 episodes
Estimated: iQIYI has given no date or window. The drama has had its distribution licence (30 episodes) since mid-2025 and released its first trailer on 23 September 2026, when iQIYI showed it on its 2027 slate. Liu Cixin's other long-delayed series, Three-Body, premiered 14 months after its first trailer and 7 months after its second, while it still waited for approval; Ball Lightning is already licensed, so this uses about nine months after the first trailer: 23 June 2027. Highly uncertain. Re-date when iQIYI announces.[1]球状闪电 (Ball Lightning) is iQIYI's 30-episode adaptation of Liu Cixin's science-fiction novel, produced by Chen Sicheng and directed by Dai Mo, starring Wang Anyu (王安宇) as Chen Guang, who chases ball lightning after it kills his parents, with Tong Yao (童瑶), Zhou Yiwei and Yang Lixin. Shot in 2022 and licensed in 2025, it released its first trailer in September 2026. No air date has been announced, so the premiere shown here is an estimate.
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