Even after years since the last Game of Thrones episode was aired, the show continues to be one of the most popular ones to date. The fantasy drama TV series, which aired for eight seasons, is an adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire.
Fans of the show have been eagerly waiting for Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Daniel Weiss to make a comeback. The wait has finally come to an end as the creators’ latest project, 3 Body Problem, premiered on Netflix last Friday. In an interview, they revealed the major issue they faced with the making of this new series.
Game of Thrones Creators on the “Primary Challenge” They Faced in the Making of 3 Body Problem
3 Body Problem is a Netflix show based on bestselling Chinese author Liu Cixin’s sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem. This is the second live-action adaptation of the novel following 2023’s Chinese TV series. The creators of Game of Thrones teamed up with Alexander Woo to work on the project.
The show follows an astrophysicist Ye Wenjie who witnesses the murder of her father during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Due to her scientific background, the military keeps her in a secret radar base, but her actions there spell trouble for the scientists of the present day.
According to The Hindu, the novel was labeled as ‘unfilmable’ for years. Upon being asked about the challenges they faced in the making of the show, Alexander Woo said:
“The primary challenge is that it was written in a novel format, and we are telling the story in a television format, and the two are not the same. The flow and the pace are completely different.”
Although this is not the first time David Benioff and Daniel Weiss have adapted a novel for a show, the challenges must have been different because The Three-Body Problem is a sci-fi novel, unlike A Song of Ice and Fire, which is a fantasy novel series.
Alexander Woo on How The Creators Worked on 3 Body Problem
Much like Game of Thrones, 3 Body Problem features an ensemble cast. The cast includes Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Benedict Wong, and Jonathan Pryce among others.
Speaking on how they overcame the challenge of adapting the novel into a series, Woo told The Hindu:
“We saw each other on Zoom just like this every day and wrestled with all these challenges of how to tell a story that spans billions of years. No one’s ever tried this on television before; to tell a story with so much science.”
The True Blood producer said that the creators met at the end of February 2020, and then did not see each other in person for two years which led them to work through the challenges on Zoom calls. Woo also expressed his hope for fans to enjoy the show.
3 Body Problem is available for streaming on Netflix.
