The audiences for “The 3-Body Problem” have been revealed by Netflix for the start of its broadcast. If the series is at the top of the daily top of the platform, the figures are not encouraging. Explanations.
The science fiction series The 3-Body Problem, from the creators of Game of Thrones and Alexander Woo, was the big new release at the end of the month to watch on Netflix. This adaptation of the Chinese bestseller by Liu Cixin sits at the top of the most viewed programs of the moment on the platform's home page.
The latter has just published the audience figures for the last week, and we discover that the series ranks in second position among the most watched English-speaking series for the week of March 18 to 24, 2024, not far behind The Gentlemen across the world . With 11 million views recorded (for 81.7 million hours viewed), the figures are far from shameful on paper, but not necessarily reassuring for the future.
As explained by the newsletter specializing in the analysis of Netflix streaming audiences
It is still too early to comment on the future of the 3-Body Problem, since several parameters can still be taken into account: audiences over the coming weeks and in particular its stability, or even if Netflix wishes to keep a series from the creators of Game of Thrones in its catalog. For now, the series is at the top of the most viewed series in France according to the daily ranking.
In any case, there is material for a second or even a third season, since Liu Cixin's saga has three volumes. Furthermore, the creators of the series announced that they were planning three or even four seasons for their series, in order to best cover everything that happens in the literary saga. They also announced in an interview with Collider that they had started working on writing season 2. However, we will have to wait for confirmation from Netflix to know the future of the series.
In The 3-Body Problem, a disastrous decision made by a young female scientist, disillusioned with the world, in the People's Republic of China in the 1960s will completely upend the world decades later. The laws of nature begin to collapse, a threat then seems to come from the universe, which pushes a group of scientists to combine their forces and their knowledge to save humanity.
When you see the names in the credits, it's very tempting to compare The 3-Body Problem to Game of Thrones. And some spectators might hope to discover a work of the same caliber, as epic, complex and spectacular. In a sense, they would not be wrong, since we find the touch of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss in The 3-Body Problem: the adaptation of a highly complex novel to stage (Liu Cixin is probably at the Chinese SF (what Georges R.R. Martin would be to American fantasy), enormous ambition and grandiloquence, an imposing and spectacular staging and surprising twists and turns. We even find some GOT actors in the series, like John-Bradley West (Sam in the fantasy series), Liam Cunningham (Sir Davos) or Jonathan Pryce (The High Sparrow), even if the characters (invented by the showrunners) are unfortunately much less charismatic than those in Georges R.R. Martin’s adaptation. This is also the main fault of this adaptation which nevertheless proves breathtaking and intriguing from start to finish.
The 3-Body Problem is a pure product of science fiction: cerebral at first, then emotional in its second part. GOT was fascinating thanks to its gallery of characters, to the political chessboard that played out before our eyes season after season. The 3-body problem is so profound in its messages. The mystery will keep viewers in suspense for a few episodes, before offering a reflection on our relationship to the world, to faith, to death, to love or to our reason for being, to science and especially to other, to offer a mirror of what makes humanity. Comparable to Game of Thrones or not, Netflix is in any case releasing a captivating series this week, which has everything to become the new SF obsession of the small screen.
The first two episodes were previewed on March 15 at the Séries Mania Festival in Lilles. The opportunity for the press to share their opinions on the series which will undoubtedly be a hit on Netflix. And the critics are clear: The 3-body problem is a success. “The public will plunge into a fascinating large-scale investigation whose promising beginnings touch on current themes,” notes Allociné, who believes that the bases of the plot “promise to be multiple, complex but fascinating to follow.” Télérama, for its part, hails it as “a virtuoso blockbuster”, while Première judges that it is “an exciting SF equation”, “spectacular and ambitious”. For Numérama, it is “an exciting and disturbing series” in its themes and reflections.
Unfortunately, we cannot please everyone and some dissenting opinions can be found in the press, like Sud-Ouest which believes that “nothing has the panache of GOT”, even if “this series is not devoid of good things” . Première is also measured, noting "certain faults of the creators of Game of Thrones", namely "not knowing how to draw charismatic characters themselves", namely the group of scientists imagined by the duo. If Le Point Pop considers that it is a “captivating blockbuster”, the media does not hide certain frustrations, particularly in the face of Liu Cixin's best-seller which is dense, spread over several centuries, full of scientific explanations , forcing the creators of the series to make “fairly radical adaptation choices”, deploring, like Première, the writing of its protagonists.
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss are back on the small screen with a new science fiction series coming to Netflix on March 21, 2024 at 8:01 a.m. Indeed, the creators of Game of Thrones have teamed up with Alexander Woo for their ultra-ambitious new project. The 3-Body Problem is a sci-fi series adapted from the popular literary saga by Chinese author Liu Cixin.
The novel of the same title, published in 2016 in France, 8 years after having achieved great success in China, constitutes the first part of the trilogy also composed of The Dark Forest and The Immortal Death. The 3-Body Problem series looks at the past, present and future of planet Earth. It's difficult to say more about this program which questions our relationship to science but especially to others. Made up of 8 episodes, this series promises to be a hit when it is released.
The 3-Body Problem is a series that questions our relationship to others over several temporalities. In 1960s China, an astrophysicist makes a discovery that will have irremediable consequences across time and space. The laws of nature are turned upside down, as scientists helplessly watch before uniting to save humanity and the planet.
The 3-Body Problem, an 8-episode series and adaptation of Liu Cixin's trilogy by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, will be available on Netflix on March 21, 2024. To see it and also be able to enjoy the other series and films of the catalog, you must of course subscribe to the streaming platform. Remember that this is paid, the price can vary between €5.99 per month (for a Netflix Essential subscription with advertisements) and €17.99 per month (Netflix Premium subscription).
