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The Final Update About ‘3 Body Problem’ Season 2
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Jun 1, 2024,09:13am EDT
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3 Body Problem NETFLIX
Netflix has been very weird about what’s going on with 3 Body Problem, its tremendously expensive sci-fi series based on the famed books. They recently said it was greenlit for “additional episodes” and the creators said they were pleased they would be able to “finish their story,” but after previously saying they needed four seasons to tell it all, it was beyond strange no one even said the words “season 2” during that announcement.
Perhaps they were working out exactly how all this was going to go down, but now we have our final answer as to what’s happening. 3 Body Problem will get three seasons in total on Netflix, so season 2 and season 3 are indeed coming.
“We included a lot of what we loved from the [novels] in Season 1, but the vast majority of reasons we wanted to make this show are in Season 2,” Weiss said during a panel at the Netflix FYSEE space. “We always wanted to get to the final page of the third book, and it’s really, really thrilling to us that we will get to do just that.”’
Three seasons, three books, but there will not be a fourth season to expand that last, very large-in-scope book. We do not have an episode order for those two seasons, but if they mirror the first, they will have eight episodes.
3 Body Problem
Netflix
This represents an enormous financial commitment to the show, which did well, but has not exactly landed itself on any Netflix all-time viewership charts. At a reported $20 million an episode, Netflix has already spent $160 million on the series, and two more seasons at that price would be $480 million, nearly half a billion dollars. But the wild places the next two books go, which would require a lot more visual effects, could balloon those costs even higher.
Still, as I said previously, Netflix was between a rock and a hard place with this show. If you greenlight season 2 you have to finish out the series and not just let the trilogy hang in Netflix’s graveyard of unfinished, cancelled shows. It’s too big a project for that. And the other complicating factor is that this is the first series from Netflix’s high-profile, pricey overall deal with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss, and they would not want to damage that relationship badly by axing a huge show like this they’ve spent years making. So even if viewership may not justify spending $480 million on the show, they may look at is as an investment.
As a viewer, I’m thrilled. I enjoyed season 1, and I love the book series, so I am more than happy for Netflix to spend any amount of money to finish the adaptation. From a business perspective, it doesn’t seem great, but for subscribers? They need to do more stuff like this and finish out series that they start so they have clear endings. In this case, they almost had no choice given the situation they found themselves in.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
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Follow
Click to save this article.
You'll be asked to sign into your Forbes account.
Got it
Jun 1, 2024,09:13am EDT
body
3 Body Problem NETFLIX
Netflix has been very weird about what’s going on with 3 Body Problem, its tremendously expensive sci-fi series based on the famed books. They recently said it was greenlit for “additional episodes” and the creators said they were pleased they would be able to “finish their story,” but after previously saying they needed four seasons to tell it all, it was beyond strange no one even said the words “season 2” during that announcement.
Perhaps they were working out exactly how all this was going to go down, but now we have our final answer as to what’s happening. 3 Body Problem will get three seasons in total on Netflix, so season 2 and season 3 are indeed coming.
“We included a lot of what we loved from the [novels] in Season 1, but the vast majority of reasons we wanted to make this show are in Season 2,” Weiss said during a panel at the Netflix FYSEE space. “We always wanted to get to the final page of the third book, and it’s really, really thrilling to us that we will get to do just that.”’
Three seasons, three books, but there will not be a fourth season to expand that last, very large-in-scope book. We do not have an episode order for those two seasons, but if they mirror the first, they will have eight episodes.
3 Body Problem
Netflix
This represents an enormous financial commitment to the show, which did well, but has not exactly landed itself on any Netflix all-time viewership charts. At a reported $20 million an episode, Netflix has already spent $160 million on the series, and two more seasons at that price would be $480 million, nearly half a billion dollars. But the wild places the next two books go, which would require a lot more visual effects, could balloon those costs even higher.
Still, as I said previously, Netflix was between a rock and a hard place with this show. If you greenlight season 2 you have to finish out the series and not just let the trilogy hang in Netflix’s graveyard of unfinished, cancelled shows. It’s too big a project for that. And the other complicating factor is that this is the first series from Netflix’s high-profile, pricey overall deal with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss, and they would not want to damage that relationship badly by axing a huge show like this they’ve spent years making. So even if viewership may not justify spending $480 million on the show, they may look at is as an investment.
As a viewer, I’m thrilled. I enjoyed season 1, and I love the book series, so I am more than happy for Netflix to spend any amount of money to finish the adaptation. From a business perspective, it doesn’t seem great, but for subscribers? They need to do more stuff like this and finish out series that they start so they have clear endings. In this case, they almost had no choice given the situation they found themselves in.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes Daily: Join over 1 million Forbes Daily subscribers and get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.
Get the latest news on special offers, product updates and content suggestions from Forbes and its affiliates.
Sign Up
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service, and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Forbes is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
