Following The Walt Disney Company’s 2021 APAC Content Showcase which saw the unveiling of 28 new content titles, Disney+ has since premiered Snowdrop, BLACKPINK: The Movie, Outrun by Running Man, and Tokyo MER in several APAC markets. In Indonesia, Susah Sinyal The Series became the number one series on Disney+ Hotstar since its launch. As part of the company’s 2022 content slate, Disney+ today unveiled more Asian language titles, including Anita (Director’s Cut), King of Savvy, Taiwan Crime Stories and Life Long Journey.
“The response towards our APAC Content Showcase and new titles has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Jessica Kam-Engle, Disney’s APAC Head of Content & Development. “There is tremendous appetite globally for high quality Asian content and original stories with great cultural resonance. We will continue investing in the best content and collaborating with the most sought-after creative talent and storytellers in the region so they can shine on the world stage.”
New titles as part of Disney’s 2022 APAC content slate include ‘Anita (Director’s Cut),’ a special edition presented in five 45-minute installments chronicling Anita Mui’s legendary rise to superstardom, to be released on Disney+ starting February 2. One of the region’s most iconic artists known as the “Madonna of the East”, the late Anita Mui is an award-winning Hong Kong singer and actress who changed the Cantopop music scene for her ardent fan base across Asia. This special Director’s Cut delves into her lesser known personal life including her camaraderie with Hong Kong superstar Leslie Cheung, her romantic relationships, and features many signature songs. Anita (Director’s Cut) is directed by Longman Leung, produced by award-winning producer Bill Kong, and features a star-studded cast, Louis Koo and Louise Wong.
An Original under the Star banner, a South Korean series going into production is King of Savvy, a riveting Korean drama about a casino king packed with crime and action. King of Savvy is an exciting tent-pole project for Disney+ where the star of award-winning neo-noir action thriller Old Boy Choi Min-sik, one of the most successful and admired movie stars in Korea, meets the director of South Korean thriller The Outlaws, Kang Yoon-sung. It is a captivating story about survival, taking risks and getting back into the game.
From Greater China, Disney+ will also release A Life Long Journey, a Chinese language drama series adapted from a novel of the same name, which won the 2019 Mao Dun Literature Prize, one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China. A Life Long Journey tells the story of a Chinese blue-collar worker and his family, and the many societal changes they experience across different generations, and stars Lei Jia-Yin and Song Jia.
Currently in production, Taiwan Crime Stories is an Original Mandarin psychological thriller series that started shooting last November. Inspired by four true crime investigations, Taiwan Crime Stories delves into a terror-stricken mass murder of a family, a chilling rape, a murder case, fraud and injustice cases. An international collaboration, the 12-part series is co-produced by CALFILMS (Taiwan), Sixty Percent Productions (Hong Kong), and Imagine Entertainment, founded by award-winning Hollywood director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer. This exclusive series stars Rhydian Vaughan, Patrick Shih, Simon Hsueh, Allison Lin, Frederick Lee, Wang Po-Chieh and more.
Subject to local availability, the new APAC content titles will be available on the streaming service over the next year. These projects are part of Disney’s ambition to produce local language content and greenlight over 50 APAC Originals by 2023. At the full year earnings call in November 2021, The Walt Disney Company said that over 340 local original titles for DTC platforms are in various stages of development and production around the world, and that the firm plans to increase investments in local and regional content that will resonate with worldwide audiences.
