Is Billionaires' Bunker inspired by real events? Details from the Netflix series explored

Billionaires' Bunker has gained a huge fan following ever since its premiere on Netflix. The show has been described as a genre-bending drama, which is a perfect blend of emotions, mystery, and survival thriller.

The Spanish series revolves around elite families who move to an underground bunker as a nuclear threat looms over the world. Meanwhile, two families with a troubled past connection find it difficult to overcome their traumas while living under the same roof.

The intriguing concept of the series has made the audience wonder if Billionaires' Bunker is inspired by real events. While the show is not explicitly based on a true story, creators Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato got the idea to create the series due to a real-world incident.

Is Billionaires' Bunker inspired by a real story?

Billionaires' Bunker is not based on a true story. Instead, it is an original creation of showrunner Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato. The story and the characters in the show are entirely fictional. However, Pina came up with the idea of making a series based on a bunker occupied by elites due to a real-life incident.

In an interview with Deadline, he revealed that when the COVID pandemic happened in 2020, he learned that some powerful and rich people were preparing to build bunkers to protect themselves from apocalyptic situations. This inspired him to make Billionaires' Bunker. He said:

“They started building buildings that went 13 floors underground and we thought this was a wonderful reason to tell this story. We wanted to make a show that was naughty, witty, and about rich people during an apocalypse.”

Pina then added his own creativity to the show by introducing the story of Max, who is imprisoned after being in a car crash that killed his girlfriend. While he serves his sentence, the world outside is threatened due to a potential nuclear war.

His father then convinces him to move with him to Kimera, a luxury shelter for the rich, where his girlfriend’s family is also living. As the two families live under the same roof, emotions run high, and past traumas come out. Talking about how the setting of a bunker helped explore some important themes, Esther Martínez Lobato said:

“Their money becomes almost worthless, so you can dig into their identity, their hearts, and their personal relationships. And visually we have two teams wearing two different colors, so you challenge the audience from the beginning of the show.”

Multiple shows have been set in underground shelters in recent times, including Apple TV+’s Silo and Hulu’s Paradise. Billionaires' Bunker has a similar setting but creates its own unique identity by focusing on interpersonal relationships.

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Hence, Billionaires' Bunker is not adapted from a real-world event, but its setting takes inspiration from the COVID pandemic. The show stars Pau Simon as Max, along with Miren Ibarguren as Minerva, Joaquín Furriel as Guillermo, Natalia Verbeke as Frida, Carlos Santos as Rafa, Montse Guallar as Victoria, and Alícia Falcó as Asia.

All episodes of the show are now streaming on Netflix.

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