3 Body Problem Viewing Figures Prove It Ain't a Hit Y'all Want It to Be

Summary

• 3 Body Problem has generated a lot of buzz before its release, thanks to the source material and the showrunners who created Game of Thrones.
• Netflix is actively promoting the series in many countries around the world, investing an incredible amount of money.
• But although 3 Body Problem has high ratings, they are not enough to call the series a new mainstay.

Whether you've enjoyed the last two seasons of Game of Thrones or not, you've probably heard from all corners of the Internet about 3 Body Problem, the sci-fi series that debuted on Netflix on March 21. The buzz around the project has been incredibly high: first, because of the cultural significance of the book trilogy written by Liu Cixin, and second, because of the big names involved in the project, with many of the cast and crew having previously worked on the iconic HBO series.

But let's find out if 3 Body Problem is really as attention-grabbing as the streaming service would like it to be, and can it be called the new flagship, along with, say, One Piece or Avatar: The Last Airbender (despite all the criticism of the latter)?

Netflix's Highly Advertised Series

After seeing the trailer and the names involved in the project, it's clear how much budget and expectation has been put into this series. As you probably know, the creators are GoT showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (along with Alexander Woo). Other GoT veterans also contributed to the show, including cinematographer Jonathan Freeman, composer Ramin Djawadi, director Jeremy Podeswa and, of course, actors like John Bradley, Liam Cunningham, Jonathan Pryce, Mark Gatiss, Conleth Hill and Kevin Eldon.

The series screened at South by Southwest, and Netflix continues to launch global events, with the phrase 'You Are Bugs' appearing on billboards, tabloids, and even street graffiti in 28 countries. On top of that, the streaming giant even cleared the release schedule for its English-language original series this week.

New Show Receive High Ratings

In fact, 3 Body Problem did quite well upon its release. For the week of March 18-24, the series landed at number two on the Global Top 10 Most Viewed English-language TV Series. It totaled 81.7 million hours and 11 million views.

Guy Ritchie 's The Gentlemen remained number one for a third week. And even though 3 Body Problem had already surpassed it the week of March 25-31, according to What's on Netflix, the premiere of The Gentlemen was slightly more successful with 12.2 million views against 81.5 million hours (the length of each episode is slightly shorter).

But Is It Enough to Become the New Flagship?

In comparison, One Piece got an impressive 19.3 million views in its first week, while the other live-action show that followed it, the new The Last Airbender, got 21.2 million views. In other words, even the last one, despite all the fear and controversy before its release, had a much better launch.

An interesting stat came from What's on Netflix, which compared 3 Body Problem to the canceled 1899 and another hit series, Neil Gaiman 's The Sandman. The former had 79.3 million hours in its first week and 87.9 million hours in its second week. The Sandman, on the other hand, started with an unremarkable 69.5 million hours, but by its second week had amassed a staggering 127.5 million hours. 3 Body Problem is more likely to follow the first scenario, gradually increasing its viewership — but don't forget that 1899 was canceled due to insufficient ratings.

All in all, we will have to wait for Netflix to provide us with statistics for the second and subsequent weeks, as the show could either suddenly break all ratings records or, on the contrary, fall out of the Top 10 quite quickly. All indicators point to the fact that 3 Body Problem may not have interested viewers that much, but, hopefully, Netflix won't suddenly decide to cancel the series.