Soon-to-be viewers of Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi series are wondering if the 3 Body Problem book series is finished, especially since two of the show’s creators are David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Most well-known for co-creating HBO’s mixed-bag adaptation of Game of Thrones, Benioff and Weiss are collaborating with former True Blood writer and producer Alexander Woo on 3 Body Problem. Even so, the Game of Thrones creators’ track record is giving some sci-fi fans pause. Notoriously, the fantasy epic suffered a stark dip in quality once Benioff and Weiss ran out of George R. R. Martin books to adapt.
When Game of Thrones aired its eighth and final season in 2019, Martin hadn’t finished The Winds of Winter — the highly anticipated sixth entry in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Five years later, book six remains unpublished, despite Martin’s decade-long attempt to finish it. This meant that Benioff and Weiss had to fashion an original ending for the eight-season epic. Although the duo garnered some insight from Martin, the conclusion to HBO’s ultra-successful series left a lot to be desired. Naturally, this has raised concerns about the Game of Thrones co-creators’ sci-fi series, 3 Body Problem.
Yes, The Three-Body Problem Books Are Already Finished
Based on computer engineer-turned-writer Liu Cixin’s Hugo Award-winning The Three-Body Problem, the upcoming Netflix series must live up to the massive expectations set by its source material. Unsurprisingly, the internationally acclaimed sci-fi novel has served as the inspiration for a handful of other adaptations, including a TV series from Chinese streaming platform Tencent Video, and an unreleased feature film, which Amazon Prime Video tried to nab the rights to several years ago. The first English-language attempt at translating Liu’s work to the screen, 3 Body Problem could be Netflix’s next big hit.
10 Most Exciting Things To Expect From The 3 Body Problem
Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is set to release in early 2024, and there are many reasons why audiences should get excited for this new sci-fi series.
Thankfully, the odds are in Benioff, Weiss, and Woo’s favor. Not only is Liu serving as a consulting producer on the Netflix project, but the co-creators are working with source material that’s complete. The Three-Body Problem is the first installment in Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. The other two books in the series, The Dark Forest and Death’s End, were both published over 10 years ago. That said, unlike Game of Thrones‘ source material, the 3 Body Problem books are finished, allowing the TV series’ creators to work from a fully-realized blueprint. Given the sci-fi trilogy’s complex story, that’s a huge boon.
What Mistakes Benioff & Weiss Still Need To Avoid With 3 Body Problem
Even though Benioff, Weiss, and Woo have a complete trilogy to work from, they aren’t completely out of the (dark) forest. Told in a non-linear fashion, The Three-Body Problem centers on Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng; Rosalind Chao), an astrophysicist who saw her father brutally killed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, only to be conscripted into the military as an adult due to her scientific expertise. The protagonist’s decisions reverberate across time and space, pushing a present-day group of scientists to face a remarkable threat. That said, the co-creators need to adapt Liu’s intricate narrative faithfully. Too many changes could easily result in 3 Body Problem‘s failure.
