Sep 20, 2025, Posted by: Ra'eesa Moosa
Netflix locks in an ambitious two-season shoot for 3 Body Problem
Netflix isn’t easing into the next chapter of 3 Body Problem—it’s going all in. The streamer has kicked off a back-to-back shoot for seasons 2 and 3 in Hungary, a rare move that locks the show’s production calendar through August 2027 and signals real confidence in the series.
Filming for both seasons began in July 2025, shifting the production hub from the UK—where season 1 shot at Shepperton Studios with extra work in Spain, Panama, and the United States—to Hungary. The switch isn’t just about scenery. Hungary’s production incentives are among the most aggressive in Europe: a 30% rebate on eligible spend, with up to 25% of that spend allowed to be non-Hungarian. According to filings with the Hungarian National Film Office, the combined budget for the two seasons is $267 million, with $80 million coming via indirect subsidy.
Creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones) and Alexander Woo (True Blood) are using the back-to-back setup to keep momentum—and continuity. It’s a practical solution to a common streaming problem: long gaps between seasons of effects-heavy series. Shooting straight through lets the team hold onto sets, props, and crews, and it reduces the risk of scheduling clashes with a growing ensemble cast. It also gives post-production a steady pipeline of footage rather than waiting for a traditional stop-and-start cycle.
Fans won’t see new episodes immediately, though. The plan points to a late 2026 launch for season 2, with the third season following faster than usual thanks to the continuous shoot. The calendar tells you a lot: from July 2025 to August 2027 is a long runway, and a show this technical needs it. Complex visual effects, large-scale set builds, and space-driven sequences are time-hungry even before you add sound design and color finishing.
Season 1—based on the first book of Liu Cixin’s Earth’s Past Trilogy—premiered in March 2024 and became one of Netflix’s buzzy sci-fi titles of the year. It ended on a knife’s edge: the San-Ti threat still looming, global institutions scrambling, and Will’s consciousness beamed toward a probe that never reached the alien fleet. That cliffhanger gives the new seasons a clear mandate: go bigger, go stranger, and keep the science ideas front and center.
Why Hungary, what’s changing on screen, and who’s joining the cast
So why anchor in Hungary? Beyond the 30% incentive, Budapest offers experienced crews, modern soundstages, and easy access to locations that can double for multiple continents or near-future settings. For a series that needs contemporary labs one day and deep-space sequences the next, compressing logistics into a single production ecosystem saves real money without squeezing production value. Consolidating in one primary location also avoids the travel-heavy patchwork of season 1, which split work across the UK, Southern Europe, and the Americas.
The budget—$267 million across two seasons—puts this run in the same league as Netflix’s top-shelf genre bets. That kind of spend doesn’t just mean bigger explosions. It means longer prep for practical sets, more time for simulations and rendering, and room to iterate on things viewers might not consciously clock: the way alien tech refracts light, the texture of future materials, the unnatural stillness of a digital sky. VFX houses prefer continuity, too. When assets roll straight from one season to the next, you get consistency on screen and fewer expensive rebuilds.
The cast is growing. Game of Thrones alum Alfie Allen has signed on in a role the team is keeping under wraps. He’s not the only new face: David Yip, Jordan Sunshine, Claudia Doumit, and Ellie de Lange are joining the ensemble. Allen has hinted the plans for these episodes are “pretty epic,” which tracks with where the source material goes next. Expect the returning core to anchor that expansion, with fresh characters widening the geopolitical and scientific lens.
Benioff, Weiss, and Woo have said they’re aiming for scale and continuity across the remaining chapters of Liu Cixin’s trilogy. Readers of the books know the next steps aren’t small. The Dark Forest and Death’s End push into time dilation, existential deterrence, and the unsettling logic of survival when civilizations collide. The show won’t drag viewers through a physics lecture, but the science ideas are part of the tension—and the spectacle. Back-to-back filming helps thread that needle, lining up story arcs so payoffs land in months, not years.
There’s a business story under the creative one. Locking two seasons at once is a hedge against the uncertainties that have dogged big TV: price inflation on crews and materials, calendar chaos, and shifting audience attention. If Netflix wants to finish the trilogy—something the renewal all but promises—this is how you do it without losing viewers to a two- or three-year gap.
Hungary, for its part, continues to position itself as a major pipeline for global productions. The country’s rebate structure is predictable, and local vendors are used to handling international shows that need both precision and speed. For a series that jumps from a lab bench to the edge of the solar system, that reliability matters. Fewer location moves also mean fewer continuity risks—no re-dressing a set months later and praying it matches shot 27 from scene five.
What should fans expect on the calendar? If season 2 hits late 2026, the third season could follow with a notably shorter wait than the jump from 2024 to 2026. That doesn’t mean a quick turnaround—render farms and sound mixes still take time—but it does mean Netflix can market the final stretch as one continuous experience rather than a stop-start saga.
The creative stakes are just as high as the financial ones. Season 1 built its tension around a global awakening to a slow-moving existential threat. The next two seasons have to broaden that frame: more countries, more competing strategies, and harder choices about how far humanity will go to survive. That’s where production design and VFX become story tools, not just eye-candy. The design language of San-Ti tech, the starkness of space, even the silence between signals—those choices sell the fear and the wonder.
One reason the back-to-back plan matters: character continuity. When you bridge seasons without a long break, performances don’t drift. Relationships land with the same energy they had at the cliffhanger, and arcs that rely on small shifts in trust or ideology don’t get lost in the gap. It’s a practical win for the writers’ room too; they can seed setups and payoffs knowing cameras will be rolling again in weeks, not years.
If you’re looking for spoilers, the production isn’t giving them. Plot details are under wraps, and the new roles are intentionally vague. But the coordinates are clear enough: a longer shoot window, a bigger budget, an expanded cast, and a playbook designed to deliver two seasons that feel of a piece. After a breakout first season, Netflix is betting that consistency and scale will carry 3 Body Problem across the finish line of Liu Cixin’s trilogy.
For now, cameras are rolling in Hungary. The finance is locked, the schedule is set, and the showrunners have a runway to build a world that matches the ambition of the books. If all holds, season 2 lands late 2026, with the final season not far behind. The wait won’t be short, but it should be smoother—and for a series this dense, that’s half the battle.
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Comments
One Love
YESSSS!! 🎉 Finally some real commitment from Netflix! No more waiting 3 years for the next season! This is how you do sci-fi right! 🚀
September 21, 2025 AT 12:12
RANJEET KUMAR
Hungary’s becoming the new New Zealand for big sci-fi. Smart move. Less travel, more focus, and that 30% rebate? Chef’s kiss. 🙌
September 22, 2025 AT 04:18
Vaishali Bhatnagar
I love how they’re keeping the science real not just flashy the alien tech details the silence between signals those are the things that make it haunting not just cool
September 22, 2025 AT 19:11
Sourav Zaman
Honestly if you read the books you know this is barely scratching the surface but hey at least theyre not turning it into a Marvel movie with aliens doing handstands
September 22, 2025 AT 23:17
Abhimanyu Prabhavalkar
So they spent $267 million to make sure the lighting on the alien probe looks exactly right in season 3... and we still don’t know who Alfie Allen is playing. Classic.
September 23, 2025 AT 04:56
Priya Classy
The precision in the production design matters. The way the San-Ti tech refracts light isn’t just VFX-it’s psychological storytelling. Every shadow is a question. Every silence, a threat. This isn’t spectacle. It’s dread rendered in pixels.
September 23, 2025 AT 23:22
Sourav Sahoo
I can’t believe they’re doing this. After season 1 I thought I’d be waiting until 2029 for the next one. Now I’m already planning my watch party for late 2026. This is the kind of patience that builds legends.
September 24, 2025 AT 00:19
Disha Gulati
They’re filming in Hungary because the government is hiding something. The 30% rebate? It’s a cover. They’re using the sets to build alien tech that’s already been recovered. I’ve seen the leaks. The San-Ti aren’t coming… they’re already here.
September 24, 2025 AT 23:20
Mansi Mehta
So the same people who made Game of Thrones are now making a show where the aliens don’t talk and the tension comes from math and silence… and you’re surprised they’re doing it right? I mean… they didn’t even kill off the main character last season. Progress.
September 25, 2025 AT 00:05
Ramya Dutta
Why are we letting billionaires spend hundreds of millions on a TV show when kids in India don’t have clean water? This isn’t art. It’s arrogance dressed up as science.
September 25, 2025 AT 13:16
Dipen Patel
This is the kind of show that reminds you why you fell in love with sci-fi in the first place 🌌 Keep going guys we’re all rooting for you!
September 25, 2025 AT 16:37
Bharat Singh
Alfie Allen as the guy who realizes the aliens are just trying to communicate through quantum entanglement and no one believes him
September 25, 2025 AT 19:24
Avijeet Das
I wonder if the writers are reading the books in order or if they’re just piecing it together from summaries. The Dark Forest is next and it’s… a lot. Hope they don’t simplify the deterrence theory into a villain monologue.
September 25, 2025 AT 22:20
Sachin Kumar
The logistical efficiency of back-to-back production is not merely a cost-saving measure-it is a strategic imperative for narrative cohesion in serialized, effects-intensive storytelling. The preservation of actor continuity, set integrity, and visual language is paramount.
September 26, 2025 AT 00:40
Sathish Kumar
People think aliens are scary because they look weird. Nah. They’re scary because they don’t care. That’s the real horror. Not the tech. Not the ships. Just… silence.
September 26, 2025 AT 15:04
Amit Varshney
The decision to consolidate production in Hungary reflects a mature understanding of global production economics and creative continuity. The utilization of local infrastructure, combined with fiscal incentives, exemplifies best practices in international co-production. This model should be studied by other studios.
Author
Ra'eesa Moosa
I am a journalist with a keen interest in covering the intricate details of daily events across Africa. My work focuses on delivering accurate and insightful news reports. Each day, I strive to bring light to the stories that shape our continent's narrative. My passion for digging deeper into issues helps in crafting stories that not only inform but also provoke thought.