The series is based on Roberto Saviano's non-fiction book of the same name, which examines the global cocaine trade across continents.

The title 'ZeroZeroZero' refers to '000', the whitest, finest-milled type of wheat flour, which is also the nickname among narcotraffickers for the purest cocaine on the market.

The series was created by Stefano Sollima, Leonardo Fasoli and Mauricio Katz as an international co-production for Sky Atlantic, Canal+ and Amazon Prime Video.

Filming took place across five countries — Mexico, Italy, Senegal, Morocco and the United States (Louisiana) — over 148 days of shooting.

The first two episodes had their world premiere out of competition at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on 5 September 2019.

The soundtrack album was composed and performed by the Scottish band Mogwai and was released on 1 May 2020.

The series received generally favorable reviews, holding a 94% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes (8/10 average) and a 75/100 'generally favorable' score on Metacritic.

Critic Mike Hale of The New York Times described the show as 'three shows in one': an Italian mafia saga, a Mexican narco thriller, and an American family drama, comparing it unfavorably to Saviano's earlier series Gomorrah while praising Riseborough and DeHaan's performances.