2 Years Later, Netflix's 'Unfilmable' 8-Part Sci-Fi Series Remains A Perfect One-Weekend Binge

Published Aug 27, 2026, 7:01 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. Although one successful sci-fi book was deemed unfilmable after becoming a critical hit, Netflix proved that these claims were never accurate two years ago with its hit adaptation. Even though Star Trek: The Original Series started 60 years ago, it is clear that the 2020s represent an exciting new era of unprecedented invention when it comes to the world of small screen sci-fi storytelling. Streaming services have given the green light to some of the most ambitious, experimental, and expensive sci-fi TV shows in history in recent years, and each successful series seemingly emboldens them to give another a chance. Apple TV alone has the multiverse thriller Dark Matter, the Isaac Asimov adaptation Foundation, the dark sci-fi satire Severance, the ambitious Monsterverse prequel Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and the modern classic Silo. While Hulu refuses to be outdone with its pair of dystopian hits Paradise and The Handmaid’s Tale, Prime Video’s upcoming Blade Runner: 2099 proves it is also a major industry leader. Meanwhile, although Netflix’s cyberpunk thriller Altered Carbon highlighted the streaming service’s sci-fi bonafides back in 2018, it is their ambitious adaptation of a supposedly unfilmable novel that proves their commitment to the genre. The book is Chinese novelist Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth's Past, and the adaptation that supposedly could not be made is 2024’s acclaimed 3 Body Problem. 3 Body Problem Was Long Thought To Be Unfilmable Before Netflix’s Adaptation Named after the Newtonian physics problem, 3 Body Problem follows a diverse array of characters as they come to terms with the existence of extraterrestrial life after an alien species begins to initiate contact with humanity. While a globe-spanning group of academics from various disciplines dubbed the “Oxford Five” are initially the show’s focus, 3 Body Problem’s plot soon sprawls out to incorporate an astrophysicist whose work will play a vital role in this story. While the sheer scale of 3 Body Problem’s story was a major issue for the creators, this wasn’t the biggest problem with the book’s adaptation. HBO’s Game of Thrones had proven that sprawling stories with numerous locations and a massive ensemble of interrelated main characters could work, and the show runners of 3 Body Problem had even worked on that iconic fantasy hit. Instead, the main issue was that Remembrance of Earth's Past was a dense, heavily theoretical book that bounced between different historical periods and virtual realities without warning. A tremendously abstract book that is as concerned with philosophical ideas as action and narrative, the novel’s plot didn’t fit a traditional TV format at all. However, there’s a good reason that this wasn’t a deal-breaker for the creators. Streaming Services Have Adapted Numerous Supposedly Unfilmable Books In recent years, intrepid writers and directors have turned some of the most impenetrable and supposedly unfilamble sci-fi books into successful adaptations through daring reinventions of their stories. While 2015’s Humans borrowed from Asimov for its story of humanoid robots, it was long agreed that the author’s Foundation series was too dry, academic, and lacking in human drama to make for compelling TV. That was, until Apple TV turned the series into a blend of The Expanse and Game of Thrones that wasn’t just dramatic, but one of the most addictive and compelling sci-fi shows of the last decade. Meanwhile, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Man in the High Castle overcame their limited source material by expanding their fictional worlds and telling entirely original new stories after their first season finales, while 3 Body Problem gave a human face to the book’s theoretical complexity. As Apple TV’s Neuromancer prepares to bring another sci-fi book that was long considered unfilmable to the screen in 2027, it is clearer than ever that the genre is flourishing. One of the most compelling pieces of evidence for this comes in Netflix’s 3 Body Problem and its daring willingness to push the genre’s onscreen boundaries in 2024. Release Date March 21, 2024 Network Netflix Directors Minkie Spiro, Jeremy Podeswa, Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung, Andrew Stanton Writers David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo, Madhuri Shekar, Rose Cartwright Creator(s) David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo