Expensive Netflix flop “3 Body Problem”? New sci-fi series from the ‘Game Of Thrones’ makers initially disappoints

Netflix may be the high-flyer among streaming services, but here too great care is taken to ensure that investments in films and series also translate into viewing figures, usage time and new registrations. Now that the streaming service has published the Netflix charts for the week of March 18 to 24, 2024, you should in any case a small question mark about a second season”3 body problem” to make. The science fiction series from ‘Game Of Thrones’ makers David Benioff and DB Weiss was in any case not a resounding success in the first days after its release on March 21.

No chance against the gentlemen

With exactly 11 million views in the first four days after publication, ‘3 Body Problem’ only reached second place in the current weekly charts of Netflix series – behind the Guy Ritchie gangster series “The Gentlemen,” which reached 11.7 million views in its third week. Views are the number of hours watched divided by total playing time, the new metric for most content on streaming services.

One important limitation must be made. “The gentlemen“ had all week to collect views. “3 Body Problem” only premiered on Thursday. So only had four days. But…

In its first week, ‘The Gentlemen’ was viewed no less than 12.2 million times (also within four days). The Gangster series started off better in a very similar time period. In its second week (the first full week), it received up to 20.1 million views. And that brings us to the good news for all “3 Body Problem” fans:

Week 2 boost?

Because even The science fiction series should start again in the second week. This is not only evident from past experiences (see for example “The Gentlemen”), but also “3 Body Problem” also seems to be on the rise. According to the portal At its inception, the series ranked #1 on the Netflix series charts in only 17 countries, on day 2 in 60 countries, on day 3 in 70 countries, and on March 25, 2024 (which is no longer represented in the current weekly charts) in 77 countries.

If “3 Body Problem” can keep up this momentum (although there were “only” 73 pole positions left as of March 26), the series could be quite a success in the coming weeks. Of course, it remains to be seen whether that will be enough for Netflix to open its big red wallet again and order a second season.

Because At $20 million per episode, “3 Body Problem” is one of the streaming service’s most expensive productions to date. And there are certainly certain expectations of success for such a blockbuster series – which have not yet really been fulfilled.

This is also evident from a look at the other major series launches from the recent past. For example, ‘Avatar – The Lord of the Elements’ started off considerably more successfully with 21.2 million views in the first four days and drug baron ‘Griselda’ also had 20.6 million views in the beginning. Not to mention the surprising thriller hit ‘In Eternal Debt’, which even had 37.1 million views at the beginning of this year (but still had three days to do so because it was published on Monday).

What is known so far about the possible content of a second season of “3 Body Problem” can be read in this article: