How Game of Thrones Creator’s Netflix Show Is Similar To HBO Franchise Detailed By Stars

The cast of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem have explained how the new sci-fi show compares to showrunners’ David Benioff and D. B. Weiss’ previous Game of Thrones adaptation. Based on the Chinese novel by Liu Cixin, the ambitious science fiction show marks Benioff and Weiss’ first major project for Netflix since signing an exclusive deal with the streamer in 2019. Currently slated for a March 21 release, early reviews of the show praise it for its deft handling of the complex source material.

At this year’s SXSW, Screen Rant interviewed 3 Body Problem cast members Alex Sharp and Liam Cunningham about how this new show compares to HBO’s critically acclaimed fantasy. Sharp, who plays middle-school teacher Will Downing, suggested that, just like Game of Thrones, the new show offers a series of intricate interpersonal relationships and fleshed-out characters. Meanwhile, Cunningham, who also played Game of Thrones’ Davos Seaworth, suggests that Benioff and Weiss have repeated their penchant for adapting books written “to be unfilmable.” Check out their comments below:

Alex Sharp: I think one of the first things I thought when I read the scripts was how, intricate and moving the different sort of interpersonal relationships were, and how fleshed out a lot of the characters were. And that was one of the things I loved about
Game of Thrones
was that there were dragons, that it was very otherworldly — it was a spectacle — but you’re following these characters through epic journeys, both in the literal sense of sort of traversing wildlands and creatures, but also in terms of their character development. The second I read the script, I felt that and that’s why I fell in love with my characters’s journey, the psychological, spiritual journey that he goes on. I was really moved by it, because it was kind of this very simple, but profound, quite intimate human story in this epic scope of spectacle, and I think that’s what they do best.

Liam Cunningham: When George R.R. Martin wrote
Game of Thrones,
he specifically wrote it to be unfilmable. So, these two insane characters, David and Dan, went and visited him and said, “We’d like to film this,” and he was convinced by them. So, they didn’t rest on our laurels. It could have been very easy to lay on a beach in Malibu after the success of Game of Thrones, and they turned around and go, “Let’s do this to ourselves again.” They have adapted this incredible story and they have such a concern for the characters and the humanity of it. This is a huge project, but it’s nothing without you feeling some sort of emotion and sympathy for the people involved in it. And that’s what they’re incredibly good at.

Will 3 Body Problem Repeat Games of Thrones’ Success?

Widely regarded as one of the most influential television shows of the modern era, Game of Thrones is still the benchmark against which nearly every other prestige show is measured. Despite some less than enthusiastic responses to 2019’s truncated season 8, Benioff and Weiss’ adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books remains one of pop culture’s most readily identifiable properties.

While HBO has continued to explore Martin’s Westeros following the departure of the original Game of Thrones showrunners, the question remains whether the pair will be able to replicate the overwhelming success of their prior fantasy series with this new sci-fi epic alongside co-creator Alexander Woo. Boasting an impressive budget of around $160 million for a total of 8 episodes, the resources Netflix have allocated to this new show dwarf even that previously provided to the pair by HBO.

Yet, while 3 Body Problem’s sizable budget and stellar cast may point to impressive production values, the show’s real success will ultimately be determined by Benioff and Weiss’ ability to translate Cixin’s book into an accessible tale for wider audiences. Given the original book’s high-concept sci-fi premise, and nonlinear plot spanning multiple eras, the source material could have the potential to prove far too unwieldy for less seasoned showrunners. However, given their experience adapting Martin’s own “unfilmable” tale, Benioff and Weiss may find themselves delivering another potential hit.

3 Body Problem begins streaming on Netflix on March 21.

3 Body Problem

3 Body Problem is a Netflix original series from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with Alexander Woo. Based on the novel of the same name by Liu Cixin, 3 Body Problem centers on a detective who joins forces with a group of scientists after an unknown force begins killing scientists around the world.

Cast

Saamer Usmani with Shailene Woodley , Jess Hong , Jovan Adepo , Benedict Wong , John Bradley , Eiza González , Liam Cunningham , Sea Shimooka , Tsai Chin

Release Date

March 21, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

David Benioff , D.B. Weiss , Alexander Woo

Directors

Minkie Spiro , Derek Tsang

Creator(s)

David Benioff , D.B. Weiss , Alexander Woo