Category: Netflix

The Netflix One Piece Adaptation Has Its Cast Revealed

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Netflix, TwitterLeave a comment
https://twitter.com/i/status/1458192148642234371, Offical One Piece Netflix Twitter account

Netflix has announced who will be playing the main characters in their upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece. Iñaki Godoy of Who Killed Sara? fame will be playing the main protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. Playing Nami, Ussop, Sangi, and Roronoa Zoro respectively are Emily Rudd (Fear Street), Jacob Romero Gibson (All Rise), Taz Skylar (Boiling Point), and Mackenyu.The 10- episode series comes courtesy of One Piece’s publisher Shueisha and Tomorrow Studios. Tomorrow studios is also notably behind Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop adaptation. One piece is the story of the above-mentioned characters as they sail around the sea in search of the ultimate treasure “One Piece”. Steven Maeda of Lost and The X-Files fame is on as the series’s writer, executive producer and showrunner. Matt Owens, best known for his work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Luke Cage is also on as a writer and executive producer. Becky Clements and Marty Adelstein are executives producing this project alongside series creator Eiichiro Oda. Regarding the casting choices Eiichiro Oda was quoted as saying:

 “We’ve been working with Netflix and Tomorrow Studios on the massive project that is the Hollywood live action series adaptation of ONE PIECE! How many years has it been since it was announced, right? I know, I know! But rest assured we’ve been making steady progress all along! It’s not easy when you’re working with people from different cultures! But it’s precisely that process that can yield something special! For now, we’re able to announce the main cast! Rather, we need to hurry and announce it or else it’ll be leaked, apparently! Hilarious, lol. Their face, the size of their mouths and hands, their aura, the way they carry themselves, their voice, their acting skills, their height, the balance amongst the Straw Hat Crew, etc…! We decided on this cast after numerous discussions involving people around the world! These are the people who will be our Straw Hat Pirates! It’ll take a bit more time to get this show done, but we’ll continue to do our best to deliver a show that we’re confident will be enjoyed by everyone around the world! Look forward to more updates in the future!”

Maeda and Owens added to this by themselves stating: 

 “We are so excited to set sail with this amazing and talented cast! Finding the right people to pull off the looks, emotions, and actions of the iconic Straw Hats was a long and challenging (and fun!) process. Much like the search for the One Piece itself. But we have finally found the perfect fits! They have already begun working very hard to bring these characters to life. You will come to know and love them just as much as their manga counterparts. All of us can’t wait to show you what we’ve come up with! Onward to adventure!”

This article interests me because I’m personally unreasonably excited for this show to be released. As a fan of the source material I’m very satisfied with the appearance of all of the actors that have been chosen so far. Also, all of the promotional material the actors have put out since having been announced reflects the fact that they have done research regarding their roles which is good to see.

Rosario, Alexandra Del. “’One Piece’: Iñaki Godoy to Star as Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix Live-Action Series; Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson & Taz Skylar Board Cast.” Deadline, Deadline, 9 Nov. 2021, https://deadline.com/2021/11/one-piece-netflix-cast-live-action-series-inaki-godoy-mackenyu-emily-rudd-jacob-romero-gibson-taz-skylar-1234870853/.

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Netflix’s YuYu Hakusho Live-Action Adaptation Gets A Release Date

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Comics, Netflix, Streaming, UncategorizedLeave a comment
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-11-09/netflix-schedules-live-action-yu-yu-hakusho-series-for-december-2023/.179396, Adriana Hazra

Last Tuesday Netflix announced that it will be releasing its live-action adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s YuYu Hakusho manga worldwide in December of 2023. Akira Morii and Kazutaka Sakamoto, Netflix’s content acquisition directors, are executive producing and producing this project respectively. Sakamoto recounted his own fond experiences with the intellectual property in question and insisted that Netflix is doing its best to do right by the fans he knows the series has all around the world. The series follows a 14-year-old delinquent named Yusuke Urameshi who dies after throwing himself in front of a car to save a child. Because of his selfless act, Yusuke is allowed to come back to the world of the living as a “spirit detective” tasked with defeating demons. For this project, Netflix and TOHO Studios signed a several-year contract to lease two of TOHO’s stage facilities; stage 7 and stage 10. In addition, ten sound stages, two acting centres, and a production centre of TOHO’s will also be used to create Netflix’s original programming. This deal goes into effect as of April first of 2022. 

The popularity of YuYu Hakusho’s 19 volume manga (1992-1995) has led to the creation of an anime adaptation, two live-action films, two animated films, and a stage play that ran from August to September of 2019. Said films and anime have all been dubbed and distributed in various languages and territories by Funimation, Media Blasters and Central Park Media respectively. The series notably acquired fans domestically by way of its airing on Adult Swim’s Toonami block. Further emphasizing the popularity of this property is the fact that new animated material for it has been released as recently as 2018 to celebrate the series’s 25th anniversary.

This article interests me for two main reasons. For one, I’m generally happy to hear that an older property like YuYu Hakusho is getting a Netflix live-action adaptation. For another, I think Netflix’s partnering with TOHO Studios speaks well of the potential for more live-action anime adaptations going forward. This especially in the event that the soon to be released Cowboy Bebop and One Piece adaptations do well.

Erskine, Donovan. “YouTube to Make Dislike Counts Private on All Videos.” Shacknews, Shacknews, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.shacknews.com/article/127617/youtube-to-make-dislike-counts-private-on-all-videos.

Did A Chinese Streaming Company Make A Knock Off Squid Game?

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Brand, China, coverage, Distribution, Netflix, Streaming, UncategorizedLeave a comment
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58991127, BCC NEWS

The Chinese streaming company Youku Has recently begun pushing promotional material for its new series “Squid Victory”. The promotional material in question is a poster that looks remarkably similar to the poster for Squid Game. Squid Victory is a variety show In which contestants compete in large-scale childrens’ games. Netizens were quick to chastise the “shameless” Youku for the obvious thievery of intellectual property at play. In response, Youku has issued an apology and alluded to the idea they will change the poster at the heart of this issue stating it is, in their words, just a “draft” poster. Regarding this issue The company also stated:

“Due to a work error, the first draft of the new Game’s Victory show – which was shot down before – was mistakenly used in promotional activities at a trade fair,”

This statement which was written on the Chinese Twitter equivalent “Weibo” was posted alongside a notably distinct poster design for their newly re-titled program “Game’s Victory”. These steps however have done little to quell online outrage.

“It sounds like such a lame cover-up. Obviously, they had tried to rip off Squid Game because of how popular it is,” another Weibo user posted.

 This debacle has brought up the fact that many Asian citizens are “fed up” with how often Chinese producers plagiarize Korean content. Netizens cite the similarities between the South Korean program “Show me the money” and the similar Chinese program “The Rap Of China” as being a particularly egregious example of this trend as well.

“Why can’t our producers come up with our own ideas? This is so embarrassing,” another poster on Weibo commented.

 This all comes as a result of Squid Game’s becoming a nationwide phenomenon in China despite its not officially being released there. As Netflix is not available in China the show has gained a following exclusively through illegal means such as torrenting sites. Youku being one of China’s most popular streaming platforms with between 90 and 100 million active users decided capitalizing on Squid Game’s situation was potentially very profitable. This controversy comes on the heels of a multitude of similar culturally-based arguments that China and Korea have taken part in in recent years. Last year for instance Korea accused China of “stealing culture” when the country stated it “led the kimchi industry”. This controversy was born of The language barrier between the two countries. In China, kimchi is called “pao cai” – this being the same name as a Chinese pickled dish. China was also criticised for stating that the Korean national dress handbook originated there.

To answer the question posed by the title of this article “no”. I’m writing this article because I firmly hold that opinion. I don’t think taking surface-level elements from a popular television program and incorporating them into a show of a completely different genre is as bad as it’s being made out to be. To be clear, I’m glad that the name “Squid Victory” and the poster that represents the centre of the controversy were changed because they were deliberately misleading. I would however like to call into question why the Chinese and Korean governments are bickering like children about cultural stuff?  Lastly, I beg the question, who cares if some Chinese body makes a rip off of a game show or of a drama that can’t legally be accessed in China? If said shows aren’t good enough to stand on their own merits won’t they just be cancelled anyway? Is mimicry not the greatest form of flattery?

NEWS, BBC. “Squid’s Victory? China Streaming Site Accused of Copying Squid Game.” BBC News, BBC, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58991127.

Squid Game is Netflix’s Most Popular Series

On By emmaspaethIn Movie, NetflixLeave a comment

Photo via The New York Times

The popular Netflix series “Squid Game” has become their biggest title ever released. The South Korean show about indebted people participating in a deadly content for a cash prize, reached 111 million global views within the first 17 days of release. According to figures estimated by Bloomberg, Hwang Dong-Hyuk’s thriller will generate almost $900 million for the company. “Squid Game” reached the number one position on Netflix in 94 countries.

Compared to other original series produced on Netflix, “Squid Game” was relatively cheep to produce. Each episode cost roughly $2.4 million to produce, a total of $21.4 for the whole series according to Netflix’s performance metrics for the series. The document illustrated how successful the international series has been for Netflix as one of the most popular show ever.

With the success of many of its foreign films, Netflix has invested efforts in translating and dubbing foreign language films for international consumption. “Squid Game” further opens the door for international film production as more American’s consume foreign films and television. Netflix saves millions of dollars and avoids strict union regulations by filming internationally and hiring local talent and production crews.

Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ has taken the world by storm and makes other streaming platforms eager to explore international business

On By Marlene TurreyIn Disney, Netflix, StreamingLeave a comment
Image via CNBC

Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ took the world by storm since its release and is now considered Netflix’s biggest launch ever, by reaching more than 111 million viewers worldwide. With this incredible success, the South Korean series further opens the doors to non-U.S. productions, which might save a lot of money for giant streaming platforms in the future.

In the past, U.S. productions often used international locations to bypass American taxes and avoid their strict union regulations. Moreover, many countries that are looking for bumps in tourism and recognition “will give you free marketing through government channels or support at festivals. They may even give you free local co-producers.”  (Ajaj Mago, corporate and technology lawyer)

While earlier U.S. productions used international locations as stand-ins American sets, they are now starting to realize the potential of foreign language films and series, which have typically been viewed as niche content only.

“They’d come around to Canada or some place that offered tax incentives, and they’d drop in some American mailboxes and street signs, change the license plates on cars, and voila. What’s happening now is there is local content from these regions. Studios are no longer masquerading.”

Domenic Romano, entertainment attorney and managing partner of Romano Law

All nine episodes of ‘Squid Game’ only cost §21.4 million (in comparison just one episode of Disney’s ‘Wanda Vision’ cost $25 million), partially because of South Korea’s 52-hours workweek rule. With ‘Squid Game’s worldwide success, other video streaming giants are investing in local international productions too:This week, Disney announced its plans for 27 productions in the Asia Pacific region for their streaming platforms.

CNBC noted that these changes in movie and series production “may also be a boon for creators that have felt stuck in an industry that has relied on superhero movies and reboots of old TV shows for reliable revenue. Tapping the world for new stars and ideas allows for new avenues of growth that can mutually benefit artists and studio executives.”

It will be interesting to see, whether the streaming platforms’ content will really become more diverse and ‘creative’ in the next years.

Hollywood’s Behind-The-Scenes Staff reach Tentative Deal with Studios, adverting strike scheduled for Monday

On By alanapotIn Cable, Media Covergence, Movie, Netflix, Regulation, TelevisionLeave a comment
IATSE President Matthew D. Loeb, Image via AdWeek/IASTE

IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, recently came to a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), adverting a scheduled strike for this upcoming October 18th. IATSE is a union representing about 60,000 crew members including hairstylists, costumers, gaffers, propmakers, cameraworkers and other behind-the-scenes jobs on set. The union had been negotiating pay, work schedules and more with AMPTP, an organization that represents companies such as Netflix, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, since May.

Prior to the tentative agreement, IATSE President Matthew Loeb said in a statement posted on Twitter: “We will continue bargaining with the producers this week in the hopes of reaching an agreement that addresses core issues, such as reasonable rest periods, meal breaks and a living wage for those on the bottom of the wage scale” 

If the strike had occurred it would’ve been the first time Hollywood’s Behind-The-Scenes workers had held a strike since World War II and would represent the largest cease Hollywood’s workforce since a 14-week writers’ strike in 2007.

According to IATSE, the 3-Year contractual agreement with AMPTP includes living wages for the lowest paid workers, higher wages, daily 10 hour rest periods and weekend 54 hour long rest periods along with other basic benefits. Prior to this, streaming TV and film productions featured lower pay scales for workers which reflected budgets at the beginning of the medium and platforms. However, streaming is now a very large chunk of the market and worker’s felt their wages should reflect that. The increased production and volume of streaming entertainment had also made for grueling, “around-the-clock” and “around-the-calendar” (Sutton, 2021) working conditions.

Overall, this situation between IATSE and AMPTP reflect the truth behind what is going on behind the scenes of the public’s favorite shows and streaming platforms. It also reflects streaming as medium that is here to stay and in need of regulation for it’s workers.

Del Barco, Mandalit. “Hollywood crew members reach a tentative deal with major studios, averting a strike” NPR, 16, October, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/16/1045711954/hollywood-crew-members-iatse-reach-deal-no-strike

Sutton, Kelsey. “TV, Film Workers Set Oct. 18 Strike Date as Negotiations With Studios Stall” AdWeek, 14, October, 2021. https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/tv-film-workers-set-oct-18-strike-date-as-negotiations-with-studios-stall/

Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ may be on track to be the Most Popular Show on the Platform

On By alanapotIn NetflixLeave a comment
(Picture sourced from / Image via Netflix) https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/09/28/netflix-says-squid-game-is-on-track-to-be-its-most-popular-show-ever/?sh=5bf477e97c67

Netflix’s Korean-Language suspenseful, thriller Squid Game has been the #1 show in several countries since it’s release in mid-September and might be on track to be the most watched show on the platform as a whole. According to a recent Forbes article, the current list of highest viewed Netflix shows includes titles such as Bridgerton, Stranger Things, Money Heist and Lupin, which is a French-Language series. Ted Sarandos, CEO of Netflix, recently teased that Squid Game is ranking within the range of those shows and may pass them in total viewership.

Squid Game is a dystopian, thriller series that currently has one season. It follows a group of cash-strapped Korean citizens that are brought to play a series of deadly children’s games for a cash prize of 45.6 Billion South Korean won (38.6 million U.S. dollars). Watch the Official Trailer below:

This is the first time a Korean Series has reached first place in the United States in Netflix weekly rankings. It is interesting to see foreign language media gain such a high level of popularity in the United States. I think this was bound to happen sooner rather than later, seeing the success BTS and K-pop has had with music listeners and the great success and accolades of the Korean film, Parasite. The small peninsula East Asian country of South Korea is making their mark on the 21st century Western World with entertainment and media.

Tassi, Paul. “Netflix Says ‘Squid Game’ Is On Track To Be Its Most Popular Show Ever.” Forbes, Forbes, 28 Sept. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/09/28/netflix-says-squid-game-is-on-track-to-be-its-most-popular-show-ever/?sh=5bf477e97c67.

Lopez, Camila. “Squid Game to be Netflix’s most-watched international series, CEO says” Market Research Telecast, 29 Sept. 2021, https://marketresearchtelecast.com/squid-game-to-be-netflixs-most-watched-international-series-ceo-says/167105/ .

Netflix’s One Piece Adaptation Has its Logo Revealed

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Brand, Comics, Netflix, TwitterLeave a comment
https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/series/netflix-unveils-logo-one-piece-live-action-adaptation

Last Friday the NetflixGeeked Twitter account posted twice pertaining to the upcoming live-action adaptation of the One Piece property. The former of the two posts revealing the official logo of the series and the latter being a picture of the front page of the first episode’s script. The official logo’s post was captioned “no matter how hard or how impossible it is, never lose sight of your goal”, a quote attributed to the series’s protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. The logo itself is a slightly altered reimagining of the manga’s logo. The key difference in said logo being that, where Luffy’s silhouette is the “i” in the manga’s logo in this one he instead assumes his iconic stance in the nose cavity of the skull present. Meanwhile, the script reveals the first episode’s working title to be “Romance Dawn”; this being a name it shares with both the first chapter/story arc of the manga as well as One Piece author Eiichiro Oda’s previous one-shot project that later itself became One Piece. One Piece is significant for being the best selling manga of all time, running for nearly 25 years, and having an excess of 950 anime episodes based on it. With this context it becomes obvious why Netflix would want to approach Oda to create a live-action adaptation. This adaptation was announced in 2020 and little has come out about it since. Fans are nothing if not skeptical seeing as the history of manga to live-action adaptations has been disastrous. Train wrecks the likes of Dragon Ball Evolution, Netflix’s Death Note adaptation, and the live-action attempt at a Full Metal Alchemist film have left fans of manga feeling hopeless. The fact that Eiichiro Oda is on as an executive producer for this project, fans hope, signals that this time will be different.

This article interests me because I’m a big fan of the One Piece manga. One Piece being a surreal dystopian super power-driven sci-fi fantasy epic I’m excited to see how the crew behind it is going to spend the purported 9-10 million dollar per episode budget. One Piece has already enraptured the world’s populous to such an extent that despite being a single creator run series it has more circulating copies than there are for Batman comics. If this adaptation takes off and launches One Piece into the American mainstream it could have game-changing implications for the future of media comparable to what the first Iron Man film did back in 2008.

Bulten, Izak. “Netflix Unveils Logo for Its Upcoming One Piece Series.” Game Rant, 7 Sept. 2021, gamerant.com/netflix-logo-one-piece-series/.

Valentine, Evan. “One Piece Sales Might Have Just OVERTAKEN Batman at Last.” Anime, Comicbook.com, 21 July 2021, comicbook.com/anime/news/one-piece-sales-overtake-batman-dc-comics/.

Tseros, Peter. “One Piece’s LIVE-ACTION Tv Show Will Cost a Lot of Money.” Anime, Comicbook.com, 5 Sept. 2017, comicbook.com/anime/news/-one-pieces-live-action-tv-show-will-cost-a-lot-of-money/.

A new ‘Angry Birds’ series is flying into Netflix

On By Mónica G. RodríguezIn NetflixLeave a comment
Image of The Angry Birds Movie (2016).

The popular franchise Angry Birds has gone from mobile video game to movie, and now, to television series. Netflix ordered a new series titled Angry Birds: Summer Madness to be produced by Cake and Rovio Entertainment, the same companies that have nurtured the popular animation since its early days on the phone screen. It is scheduled to premiere globally next year.

Angry Birds is an insanely popular brand, that not only produces digital content, but also toys and clothing. This all equals potential revenue. The market most attractive to advertisers tends to be children’s media because of the possibility to basically sell toys and fun, cool accessories.

For the past few years, Netflix has been heavily investing in children’s content in order to compete with Disney+ and possibly the upcoming Peacock.

It is really interesting to witness and observe the changes in children’s content as media consumption moves to digital platforms and streaming.

Source: https://deadline.com/2020/02/anita-hill-hollywood-commission-sexual-harassment-gender-bias-1202857732/

They’ve Gotta Have Us

On By David SonIn Diversity, Marketing, Media Covergence, National coverage, Netflix, Streaming, Television, UncategorizedLeave a comment

A new documentary series on Netflix has just been released yesterday. It takes a deep dive into understanding how African-Americans were portrayed in media entertainment. Ever since the #Oscarssowhite movement that took place around five years ago, anti-discriminatory notions have taken over social media. With African-Americans feeling they have not been properly acknowledged for their part in the movie entertainment industry, They’ve Gotta Have Us looks into how the perception of having people of color in films has changed.

This documentary series discusses the effects having African-American cast members had earlier in the movie industry. The idea that having people of color in movies would result in less sales and less popularity across seas is changing. Notable African-American films are having major success such as Moonlight’s and Get Out. These films have changed the script for African American producers dreaming to make it big in the film industry. (“The color the really care the most about is green.”, Don Cheadle) The film industry will really change for what the people want.

Another highlighted point of this documentary is that having African Americans in front of the camera is not enough. More recognition has to be made for the African Americans who are also excellent producers and writers. Essentially, the directors and producers are the ones who call the shots. They make the big decisions and in order for African American people to be shown true appreciation, the people behind the cameras need their recognition.

With the growing number of streaming services, more creators of any color will have the opportunity to put their work out there.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/entertainment/theyve-gotta-have-us-black-movie-history/index.html