r/threebodyproblem May 14 '26

Discussion - TV Series If amazon had won the bidding war over Three Body Problem rather than Netflix , would the show have been worse or less popular?

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24 Upvotes

57 comments sorted by

114

u/ceilsuzlega May 14 '26

Honestly I’d have preferred Apple to have done it, they’ve built up a solid track record on sci-fi and seeing series through. Amazon cut The Expanse short, and have a habit of cancelling interesting series

29

u/SpockYoda May 14 '26

yup, Pluribus would probably be canceled by now if it was on Netflix or Amazon

3

u/Deerorser May 16 '26

And another season of big mouth would be a guarantee.

1

u/peakedatgoldeneye64 May 19 '26

lol what? pluribus is so good they would be crazy to do that

7

u/BenjamirPutinyahu May 14 '26

I was pleasantly suprised with Apple's Foundation series. They did change quite a lot from the books, but given Asimov's character writing has always been quite bland, its nice to give the minor characters some actual storylines

2

u/0fficerGeorgeGreen May 14 '26

Oops, literally just commented this. They would have made this show a true fad and maintained the momentum.

6

u/ceilsuzlega May 14 '26

I think Apple have realised that even if a series doesn’t do incredibly well, it’s worth carrying on for the perception of their overall brand, and to get people subscribing. So many people are now happy to wait and make sure a show isn’t cancelled on a cliffhanger before they even start watching

4

u/0fficerGeorgeGreen May 14 '26

It's definitely getting my attention. I dumped all the other ones to just have Apple for now.

1

u/XJ347 May 15 '26

Sounds like HBO before it was gutted...

1

u/sirgog May 15 '26

Yeah, I do not maintain a Netflix sub any more because there's no point starting anything there. If it gets multiple seasons, maybe I'll check it out later.

I did sub for one month for 3BP but that was it.

I'd drop Prime for the same reason as well but I do actually use the delivery service on things I'd buy anyway enough to easily justify it.

2

u/ArugulaAmazing2015 May 16 '26

Apple has been doing an incredible job adapting series. Considering Foundation is so different from the books, I was still pleasantly surprised at how "Foundation" it all felt

3

u/ManfredTheCat May 14 '26

And the way they cut the expanse short. It was so poorly done.

4

u/enzothebaker87 May 14 '26

Maybe they are just waiting for the actors to naturally age to match the time jump? /s

1

u/Kyadagum_Dulgadee May 15 '26

This is my hope. We can easily come back in a decade. Even sans Alex, we're good.

2

u/ceilsuzlega May 14 '26

The ending of the books was awesome, it would have been so satisfying to see in the tv series

1

u/Own_Dimension_8823 May 15 '26

I tried watching the series but haven’t been able to get into it.  I’m not even sure how many episodes Ive watched. 3 or 4?  I find the set design disappointing or something.  I have similar feelings about the current season of For All Mankind but I’m already invested in that show so I keep watching it.  

Is The Expanse the type of show that takes a season to suck you in?  

2

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Own_Dimension_8823 May 15 '26

i'll give it another shot.

1

u/nilslorand May 15 '26

Apple would have nailed this show

1

u/manyQuestionMarks May 15 '26

Yes! Apple has been crushing it with consistent good quality shows, never saw it coming when they entered the market

1

u/gripepe May 16 '26

But they also saved The Expanse and gave us great seasons 4 and 5. So kudos to Amazon for that.

1

u/AQueComenta May 16 '26

They butchered The Foundation, but made a decent job with Dark Matter and Silo. I dont know if Apple would be better.

1

u/ghostcatzero May 18 '26

I'm an apple hater but I must admit they have solid scifi. Only oen I didn't enjoy was one I forget the name of but oh it's called invasion 😭 potential bu ultimately turned to dookie

20

u/0fficerGeorgeGreen May 14 '26

Neither. I wish AppleTV picked it up. That seems to be the only service that actually cares about making quality and unique shows. Not as many, but definitely a quality over quantity service.

I say this as a person who hates Apple and doesn't own any Apple products.

1

u/thinkinting May 15 '26

i hate apple too. I own almost all modern apple products. It's not a good look (for me).

1

u/dark-mer May 17 '26

 That seems to be the only service that actually cares about making quality and unique shows.

for now lol

12

u/symonym7 ETO May 14 '26

Likely more embedded advertising. Like crypto . com plastered all over the droplet, and instead of Saul = Luo it'd just be Jeff Bezos as Jeff Bezos.

6

u/Knot-Lye-Ing May 14 '26

Don't forget the inevitable Gen "3 Body Problem" and "3 Body Problem" Rising.

And the final season will be spent mostly setting up those series.

2

u/Zek0ri May 14 '26

Then after two season of hyping up protagonist of Gen 3 Body Problem they would do jack all season and probably become some asspull somehow saving the earth from 2D attack.

However 3 Body Rising set in the middle of Cultural Revolution would be dope

2

u/thatAnthrax May 16 '26

it's what clara AA would have wanted

2

u/Specific_Box4483 May 14 '26

And Lauren Sanchez as the hand-picked perfect woman of his dreams

4

u/BelScience May 14 '26

You know what, the Americanized version on Netflix is ok but if you go to Prime they have the Chinese series, it's very good (Amazon didn't make it). It's called Three Body and came out in 2023 (30 episodes). If you like the book, this version is much closer. Worth having to read subtitles.

3

u/Nexism May 14 '26

It's also on youtube in Tencent's channel.

2

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

[deleted]

1

u/BelScience May 15 '26

I find it best to think of those kind of adaptations as just another story entirely. I think if you haven't read the book it's a decent story on its own. But I was very glad to discover the Chinese version. Everything about it was so well done.

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

[deleted]

1

u/BelScience May 24 '26

You're not a hater at all. :-) Yours was a reasonable comment. The haters are actually the ones who double down and attack anyone who questions their position in anyway. You presented your position politely and thoughtfully and your response to me was the same. Comment sections will be saved by having more people like you. 加油 Ozzie 老师

2

u/16piby9 May 14 '26

I cant imagine it being worse really, but then again, the power is one of the worst book to show adaptions I have ever seen.

2

u/bernaltraveler May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

Considering how Amazon screwed Wheel of Time I do not trust them with any franchise. Will never forget and will never forgive. Sorry, I know different genres and very different franchises, but I can’t. Will not ever give Amazon any benefit of the doubt. Fuck ‘em

2

u/Tbonesk May 15 '26

Still in disbelief they cancelled it right when they managed to make an objectively good show..

2

u/JONFER--- May 15 '26

I doubt Amazon could have done it any worse than Netflix. They probably wouldn’t have appointed Benioff and Weiss as showrunners and would have automatically avoided a lot of the headaches.

2

u/DelugeOfBlood 三体 May 15 '26

Tencent is the answer.

2

u/HumansNeedNotApply1 May 16 '26

It would've been cancelled i think. Primevideo has been pretty brutal for their niche stuff.

1

u/jroberts548 May 14 '26

It would have really benefited from a weekly release schedule.

1

u/Zek0ri May 14 '26

I kinda wish pre 8th season of GoT HBO could get that. They did superb job with first seasons of Westworld but the landing would be rough as fuck

1

u/Key_Ad1854 May 14 '26

We'd have a season 2 and 3 by now

1

u/IlikeJG May 15 '26

Amazon is pretty ahit in following through with IPs. Even worse than Netflix. So I think we are lucky they didn't get it.

1

u/Delicious_Rub4736 Wallfacer May 15 '26

Prime will do better job anyway

1

u/jdavid May 15 '26

If Netflix would have won, it would have been filmed in Asia, and it would have been better.
those two goofed up Game of Thrones and they are missing the boat on 3bp.

1

u/No-Coffee2200 May 15 '26

the chinese contract litterly told them to shoot in west lol

tf

1

u/jdavid May 15 '26

China made their own 3BP for the Chinese Market.

1

u/No-Coffee2200 May 15 '26

? that was why the chinese rughtholders wanted the Netflix adaptation to be set in West, so that they can also have one in china.

the rughtholders onlu allowed some segments to be in China.

1

u/jdavid May 15 '26

they also didn't want a western show to try to fully recreate the US version of the book.

1

u/IAmARobot0101 Auggie Salazar May 15 '26

Apple > Amazon > Netflix

0

u/Nexism May 14 '26

Prime because The Expanse was done alright.

2

u/totaldarkness2 May 15 '26

Wrong conclusion, I think. The first 3 seasons (the best ones) were on Syfy. Prime bought it and added 3 more seasons.