Netflix announced on Wednesday that it had “renewed” “3 Body Problem,” but the streamer notably didn’t refer to the extension as a “Season 2.” Instead, it appears to be more of a case of Netflix ordering “additional episodes” instead of a new, full Season 2 order.
Per a press release, the exact number of seasons and episodes will be announced at a later date.
It appears that the order will take the series to its finale, as creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo noted in a statement that they “get to tell this story through to its epic conclusion.” In an April interview with Collider, Benioff said the team would “need at least three, maybe four seasons to tell the whole story.”
The news came via Netflix first-ever presentation upfront presentation, during which it was also announced that Benioff and Weiss have extended the overall deal at they entered at the streamer in 2019. The two are currently working on “Death by Lightning,” a historical drama about the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.
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Based on the novels by Liu Cixin, “3 Body Problem” follows how a decision made by a young woman in 1960s China reverberates across space and time into the present day, driving a group of scientists to join forces with an unorthodox detective to confront a major threat to humanity.
The cast includes Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jess Hong, Marlo Kelly, Alex Sharp, Sea Shimooka, Zine Tseng, Saamer Usmani, Benedict Wong and Jonathan Pryce.
The series debuted in March and spent three weeks in the No. 1 position on the Netflix Top 10, plus another four weeks lower on the chart. It scored a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Variety‘s review saying that “at the same time that ‘3 Body Problem’ grounds its story in a crew of curious young people, the show also imbues a sense of geeky grandeur.”
Benioff, Weiss and Woo executive produce with Bernadette Caulfield; Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman and Nena Rodrigue for T-Street; the late former Yoozoo Group chairman Qi Lin and Three-Body Universe CEO Jilong Zhao plus Xiaosong Gao and Lauren Ma; Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner for Plan B Entertainment; and Rosamund Pike and Robie Uniacke for Primitive Streak. Derek Tsang and Andrew Stanton direct and co-executive produce, with additional directors including Jeremy Podeswa and Minkie Spiro.
“3 Body Problem” marks Benioff and Weiss’ first new project since “Game of Thrones,” while Woo is known for projects such as “The Terror: Infamy” and “True Blood.”
“We’re thrilled that we get to tell this story through to its epic conclusion,” the creators said. “Ever since we read the last page of Cixin Liu’s magnificent trilogy, we hoped we’d be able to bring the audience to the end of the universe with us. Here we go!”
“The extraordinary ‘3 Body Problem,’ brought to life with the deft hands of Benioff, Weiss and Woo will soar to never-before-seen heights as they tackle the rest of the mind-blowing journey through ‘Death’s End,'” said Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s vice president of scripted series in the U.S. and Canada. “Their brilliant vision as storytellers is matched by their amazing partnership — and, just like the fans, we can’t wait to see what they have in store.”
