The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific today unveiled an unforgettable slate of upcoming movies, series and new APAC titles for Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar at a star-studded event at Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands. Featuring guest appearances from the stars and cast of Disney’s new Korean dramas Big Bet, Connect and Call it Love; Japanese titles House of the Owl, Gannibal, and Dragons of Wonderhatch; as well as Indonesian series Teluh Darah, Mendua, Hubungi Agen Gue, Tira, Wedding Agreement The Series Season 2 and Jurnal Risa, today’s event saw the unveiling of over 50 shows to hundreds of press and partners in attendance.
The showcase featured an expansive slate of global tentpole titles which were first presented at D23 Expo in Anaheim, including:
- Marvel Studios: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Secret Invasion, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Loki Season 2
- Walt Disney Animation Studios: Wish, Iwaju
- Pixar: Elemental, Win or Lose, Elio, Inside Out 2
- Walt Disney Pictures: Haunted Mansion, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Mufasa: The Lion King, Peter Pan & Wendy
- Lucasfilm: The Mandalorian Season Three, Ahsoka, Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season Two, Star Wars Visions Volume Two, The Acolyte, Indiana Jones 5
Closing the showcase was a special presentation of the wildly anticipated Avatar: The Way of Water, directed by James Cameron and produced by Cameron and Jon Landau, starring Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Kate Winslet. The film opens globally in theatres on December 16, 2022.
The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific also announced today an expansion of its long-standing strategic collaboration with leading publishing house Kodansha to include Japanese anime. This expanded collaboration will include licensing exclusive SVOD anime titles based on manga produced by Kodansha that will be available exclusively on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar, starting with Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown Arc.
“Our aspiration is for stories from the Asia Pacific region to be a key pillar for the next 100 years,” said Carol Choi, Executive Vice President of Original Content Strategy, The Walt Disney Company APAC. “Our curated content from APAC is a key part of the unparalleled storytelling and creative excellence The Walt Disney Company is known for, and we look forward to further showcasing storytelling excellence from the region on the world stage.”
Key highlights of the new APAC content slate include:
Japan:
Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown Arc: The first title to be released as part of Disney’s expanded collaboration with Kodansha, Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown Arc will see former bad boy Takemichi use his accidentally acquired powers of time travel to go back and save his high school girlfriend from being murdered by the Tokyo Manji gang, unwittingly changing the destinies of those around him.
Gannibal: A thrilling live-action adaptation of the hit manga about dark and mysterious disappearances in a remote Japanese village, Gannibal is co-produced by Teruhisa Yamamoto (producer of Academy Award® winner “Drive My Car”) and Tatsuya Iwakura, adapted for the screen by Academy Award® nominee Takamasa Oe (“Drive My Car”). This exciting new series will launch December 28 only on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.
Dragons of Wonderhatch: From the mind of director Kentaro Hagiwara and producers Teruhisa Yamamoto (producer of Academy Award® winner Drive My Car) and Hitoshi Ito (The Boy and the Beast, Mirai) and Hideyuki Wakuta comes the first Disney+ original fantasy series from Japan – Dragons of Wonderhatch. Featuring a groundbreaking combination of live-action and anime elements, this series tells the story of a high school girl who struggles to fit in with her classmates before being swept up on an adventure with a boy from another world who will forever change her destiny.
House of the Owl: Starring Min Tanaka and Mackenyu, House of the Owl follows Ryutaro Ogami, Japan’s number one fixer, revered for his ability to guide Japan’s politicians and most senior business leaders through sensational and career ending scandals unscathed. In this gripping fictional drama series we follow the fixer as he faces his most daunting challenge yet – dealing with a chain of events that could forever change Japan’s politics, while also facing his family – the only people he can’t control.
Korea:
Call It Love: Directed by Lee Kwangyoung, the master of romantic dramas, Call It Love tells the story of a mistreated daughter who seeks revenge on her mistress after the sudden death of her father.
Moving: Starring Ryu Seungryong, Han Hyojoo and Zo Insung, Moving is based on a popular webtoon by Kang Full and tells the story of three teenagers who discover they’ve inherited unusual powers from their secret agent parents
Worst of Evil: Set in 1990s Korea, The Worst of Evil follows an investigative task force as their undercover officer, Park Joonmo, infiltrates a new criminal organization responsible for fuelling a trafficking triangle. Starring Ji Changwook, Wi Hajun and Lim Semi, production is currently underway on this exciting new crime drama.
RACE: Written by acclaimed screenwriter Kim Roori, RACE is about a mediocre employee who unleashes her potential after discovering she was hired at her top-tier publicity company for diversity reasons.
SUPER JUNIOR: THE LAST MAN STANDING: On November 6, 2005, a K-pop group SUPER JUNIOR 05, made their debut. First leaving their mark on Asia, they rapidly grew, becoming SUPER JUNIOR, and amazed audiences across the world. In SUPER JUNIOR: THE LAST MAN STANDING, viewers are taken behind-the-scenes in a one-of-a-kind exploration of SUPER JUNIOR and its members, offering new insights into the modern K-pop industry.
BTS MONUMENTS: BEYOND THE STAR: An exclusive Disney+ original, this music docu-series will chart the incredible journey of 21st century pop icons BTS. With unprecedented access to a vast library of music and footage over the past nine years, the series will feature the daily lives, thoughts and plans of BTS members, as they prepare for their second chapter.
j-hope Solo Documentary (working title): Following pop star j-hope in the lead-up to his recently released solo album, this upcoming documentary features never-before-seen interviews with j-hope, a behind the scenes look at his solo album preparation process, his 2022 Lollapalooza performance and a unique look at the album’s listening party.
Indonesia:
Hubungi Agen Gue! (The Talent Agency): An adaptation of the hit French series Dix Pour Cent (Call My Agent!), this dramatic comedy follows four agents in an Indonesian talent agency as they struggle to save their business following the unexpected death of the company’s founder. Starring Donny Damara, Hannah Al Rashid, Yoga Pratama and Lydia Kandou, each episode will feature A-listers guest-starring as themselves. Produced by legendary producers Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza (Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?) and SK Global Entertainment (Crazy Rich Asians), and directed by one of Indonesia’s top directors, Teddy Soeriaatmadja.
Wedding Agreement The Series Season 2: After a wildly successful first season, Wedding Agreement The Series returns with a gripping new story. Starring Refal Hady as Bian and Indah Permatasari as Tari, season two opens three years after the first, with Bian suddenly deciding he needs to start over.
ANZ:
The Artful Dodger: The Artful Dodger is an international premium character drama set in the frontier colonies of 1850s Australia. Across eight episodes the scripted series explores the adult double life of Charles Dickens’ famous prince of thieves – The Artful Dodger – now a surgeon, who can’t shake his predilection for crime. From high-octane heists to life-and-death surgeries, glittering parties to colourful streets, this series is a rock’n’roll tale with an Aussie twist starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Pistol, The Queen’s Gambit), David Thewlis (Landscapers, Fargo), Maia Mitchell (Good Trouble, The Fosters) and Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Judy and Punch).
The Clearing: Based on the acclaimed novel In the Clearing by J.P. Pomare, and inspired by cults throughout history, this is a story of buried trauma and the effect of being raised under the oppressive spell of Adrienne, a rare female cult leader. When Freya uncovers a secret plan to resurrect the long-dormant ‘Kindred’ with the kidnapped little girl from the news and her precious son Billy in their sights, her own warped childhood resurfaces. Set in the gothic isolation of the Australian bush, a forbidding landscape of dark-edged myth and speculation, The Clearing is an emotional and psychological thriller that burrows under the skin and inside the mind, blurring the lines between past and present, reality and nightmare.
