Almost five years after jumping ship from HBO to Netflix and signing their big multi-million dollar development deal (rumored to be worth somewhere between $200 million and $300 million) “Game Of Thrones” creators David Benioff & D.B. Weiss are finally ready to reveal their ambitious and costly new sci-fi series, “3 Body Problem.”
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Describing the series is difficult; it’s so sprawling, but it’s about a young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China that reverberates across space and time into the present day. And when the laws of nature inexplicably unravel before their eyes, a close-knit group of brilliant scientists join forces with an unorthodox detective to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.
“3 Body Problem” premieres on Netflix on March 21, and the expectations are high. The series is one of the most expensive projects Netflix has ever attempted; according to a new Wall Street Journal article, the budget is apparently in the $20 million range per episode (it’s eight episodes long, so that would be $160 million and change, depending on how much that number falls or rises per ep).
“It is a big bet for me and the company,” Peter Friedlander, the head of scripted content at Netflix, is quoted as saying about the project, which is arguably the theme of the overall article: whether after “Game Of Thrones,” Weiss and Benioff can produce in the same way.
“There’s definitely pressure, but then again, when ‘Thrones’ was coming out, I remember having insomnia and being terrified,” Benioff said, echoing the idea of rising expectations about the pair delivering. “It’s nerve-racking when it’s your first big thing, and it’s nerve-racking when you’ve been at it for a while, and people are like, ‘Well, do they still have it?’”
They’re also looking beyond just one season, and it sounds like it would get even more expensive as it goes on.
“The first season of ‘Thrones’ was relatively low-budget and was not huge in scope and scale compared to what came,” Benioff said. The co-showrunner said potential future seasons of “3 Body Problem” will really “ramp up” the effects.
“3 Body Problem” has been at least three years in the making, too, as WSJ said Benioff, Weiss, and Woo started the adaptation process back in March 2020. Expectations may be high and arguably through the roof, but the article also details a lot of confidence in the creators.
“You could throw those guys the keys and come back in two years and be very comfortable that they are going to deliver something remarkable,” Former HBO chief executive Richard Plepler, who worked with them closely on “Game Of Thrones,” said.
“Reading this was a transformative experience for me,” Netflix’s Friedlander said about their scripts. “I had to talk about it all the time.”
Can Benioff and Weiss strike lightning twice? Maybe Netflix will give them time to grow with additional seasons? We’ll find out soon enough. “3 Body Problem” debuts March 21 on Netflix and will debut episodes at the upcoming SXSW Film & TV Festival. Watch the trailers below if you haven’t seen them yet.