The Ronin can reveal that two-time Oscar-winner Andrew Stanton and four-time Emmy-nominee Jeremy Podeswa have joined a group of directors being assembled for Netflix’s high-profile sci-fi series Three-Body Problem (based on the books by Chinese author Liu Cixin) that already had Derek Tsang (Better Days) and Minkie Spiro (The Plot Against America) set to helm multiple episodes.
Three-Body Problem’s creative team consists of writers and executive producers David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo. They are joined by producers Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman, who were behind things like Looper, Knives Out, Glass Onion, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.
The growing cast includes Eiza Gonzalez, Benedict Wong, John Bradley, Liam Cunningham, Jonathan Pryce, Rosalind Chao, Ben Schnetzer, Jess Hong, Marlo Kelly, Alex Sharp, Sea Shimooka, Zine Tseng, Saamer Usmani, and Eve Ridley.
UPDATE: Costume designer Michael Wilkinson is also confirmed to be part of the crew. Wilkinson has previously worked on the Star Wars series Andor, Man of Steel, Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Watchmen, Aladdin, The Gentlemen, and 300.
Of course, Stanton has been a fixture at Pixar being behind things like Wall-E, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and the Toy Story franchise. His recent television credits include For All Mankind, and the second season of Stranger Things. After directing Disney’s ambitious live-action John Carter movie, Stanton hit pause on feature film work as the sci-fi fantasy film became a legendary box office flop. There doesn’t seem to be much bad blood with Disney as Stanton recently reunited with them on the Star Wars streaming series Obi-wan Kenobi, writing the final two episodes.
Podesaw worked on six Game of Thrones episodes at HBO alongside Benioff/Weiss, The Pacific, Boardwalk Empire, and the post-apocalypse drama Station Eleven.
THE RONIN 