The Billion Dollar Code: Release Date, Cast, And More

Netflix has acquired the worldwide distribution right for a German miniseries you won't want to miss. Based on true events from the 1990s, "The Billion Dollar Code" tells the story of the men behind the virtual representation of earth based on ART+COM's networked satellite images, aerial shots, altitude data, and architectural data, Terravision. If Terravision sounds like Google Earth, it's because the program was a predecessor to the technology, and "The Billion Dollar Code" highlights just what happened when the creators of Terravision came looking for credit against the technological goliath known as Google. Here's everything you need to know before the series premiere.

Two German computer pioneers are forced to fight in court in order to be recognized as the algorithm used to make Google Earth 25 years after inventing the code to make it work. "The Billion Dollar Code" highlights this major lawsuit that has been essentially wiped from the annals of history, explores the hacker scene in post-reunification Berlin in the '90s, as well as dismantles the idealism present in the early days of Silicon Valley by de-romanticizing one of tech's greatest giants.

Showrunner Oliver Ziegenbalg was interviewed by the German outlet SerienJunkies.de who had this to say about the project:

As a filmmaker you always long to find this one truly incredible story that has never been told. And suddenly it is there. And those who told it had no idea how big it is. Because the great thing is that the story of Terravision not only tells something about the inventors and their incredible struggle for justice, but also about the entire Internet age and the digitization of our world, from the naive beginnings to what has become of it today.

While Google Earth definitely improved upon the building blocks set up by Terravision, their influence cannot be denied. Terravision was the first system to ever provide seamless navigation in a large spatial data environment. Without Terravision, there is no Google Earth.

Oliver Ziegenbalg and Robert Thalheim created the show together, both serving as writers and showrunners and Thalheim taking over the directorial duties. The duo also serve as executive producers alongside Andreas Banz and Annie Schilling has also signed on as a producer. The series features cinematography from Henner Besuch, editing from Stefan Kobe and Anja Siemens, and music from Uwe Bossenz and Anton Feist.

"The Billion Dollar Code" is a combined effort from Kundschafter Filmproduktion GmbH, Sunnysideup Filmproduktion, and Netflix.