Can 3 Body Problem do for Netflix what Game of Thrones did for HBO? Creators behind both series think it can

Netflix’s Peter Friedlander approached David Benioff and D.B. Weiss – who adapted Game of Thrones for HBO – and Alexander Woo with the idea for 3 Body Problem

The eight-episode series, which cost a reported US$160 million to make, is adapted from sci-fi trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Chinese author Liu Cixin

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From left: Netflix series 3 Body Problem executive producers and writers Alexander Woo, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. The latter pair created HBO series Game of Thrones and believe the Netflix science fiction series can match its worldwide success. Photo. Ed Miller/Netflix

Published: 4:15am, 28 Mar 2024Updated: 4:40am, 28 Mar 2024

When Netflix executive Peter Friedlander finished reading the popular Chinese science-fiction trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past in 2016, he was sure it would be a great TV show.

The books, in which Earth is faced with an alien invasion, told an epic, high-stakes story with intricate world-building, time-jumping and powerful themes.

Three years later, he found a team of filmmakers who could turn it into a streaming TV phenomenon: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the pair who’d adapted George R.R. Martin’s sprawling fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire into a game-changing hit at HBO.

There’s an opportunity for this show to be wildly popular, and I think it’s because it’s so bold

Peter Friedlander, Netflix

He introduced them to Alexander Woo, co-creator of The Terror: Infamy, who joined as a co-producer.

It was clearly a risk. The resulting show, 3 Body Problem, would be expensive to produce, involve significant visual effects and be shot in England, Spain and the United States.

But Friedlander saw an opportunity to entice Netflix’s global audience to watch a sci-fi story that included different genres including drama, fantasy elements, mystery and history.

From left: Jovan Adepo as Saul Durand, Alex Sharp as Will Downing and John Bradley as Jack Rooney in a still from 3 Body Problem. Photo: courtesy of Netflix

“There’s an opportunity for this show to be wildly popular, and I think it’s because it’s so bold,” Friedlander says. “It’s so innovative. It’s so entertaining and it’s been written and created to bring people onto the ride.”