Netflix presented its first international showcase yesterday with a look at what is coming down down the pike. Below is a preview of what’s on deck for feature films. Of note, was the title announcement and treatment of the Japanese movie Bullet Train Explosion. Also made a official was Troll 2, the sequel to the streamer’s most watched non-English language film from Norway. Roar Uthaug returns to the director’s chair.
Also of note, the streamer dated the Mexican movie Los Dos Hemisferios de Lucca from Marina Chenillo for Jan. 31 next year.
Not made official by the streamer was a part two to their widely watched shark movie of 102.3M viewers, Under Paris, from director Xavier Gens and starring Oscar nominated The Artist actress, Bérénice Bejo.
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Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria announced the slate at the streamer’s Tudum Theater in Hollywood alongside Minyoung Kim (Vice President of Content, APAC), Paco Ramos (Vice President of Content, LATAM), Monika Shergill (Vice President of Content, India) and Larry Tanz (Vice President of Content, EMEA).
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Of the stats touted: two-thirds of Netflix’s 650M subscribers are outside the U.S.
“Last year, about 13% of hours viewed in the US were non-English titles — with Korean, Spanish, and Japanese stories attracting the biggest audiences. That’s nearly three times what it was when we launched our first local original ever, Club de Cuervos, in 2015,” said Bajaria.
THE SNOW SISTER / SNØSØSTEREN (Norway)
November 29, 2024
Christmas Eve is approaching. It is also the day Julian turns eleven years old. Usually, it is the best day of the year, filled with the fantastic aroma of gingersnaps and tangerines, the sound of a crackling fire, the decorated Christmas tree, and the flickering candlelight. All the things that make up Christmas. But this year nothing is as usual. Julian and his family have a sadness over them, and Julian feels that Christmas has just been canceled. Then, one day, Julian meets the happy and Christmas-loving Hedvig and begins to believe that there will be Christmas after all. But there’s something strange about Hedvig’s house, and who is the old man who is lurking around the house all the time?
DIRECTOR: Cecile Mosli
WRITER: Maja Lunde & Siv Rajendram Eliassen
BASED ON THE BOOK: Snøsøsteren by Maja Lunde and Lisa Aisato
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Guri Neby
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Anonymous Content Nordic
KEY CAST: Mudit Gupta, Celina Meyer Hovland, Ole Steinkjer Øyen and Jan Sælid
IL TRENO DEI BAMBINI (Italy)
December 4, 2024
1946. Amerigo is eight years old, he has never left Naples and his mother Antonietta. His world, made of streets and poverty, is about to change. On board one of the “trains of happiness” he will spend the winter in the north, where a young woman, Derna, will welcome him and take care of him. At her side, Amerigo acquires an awareness that leads him to a painful choice that will change his life forever. It will take him many years to discover the truth: those who love you do not hold you back, but let you go. From the bestselling novel by Viola Ardone, an epic and heartbreaking film. A journey through the misery, but also the generosity of post-war Italy, seen through the eyes of a child torn between two mothers.
DIRECTOR: Cristina Comencini
WRITER: Furio Andreotti, Giulia Calenda, Cristina Comencini, Camille Dugay
BASED ON THE BOOK: Il treno dei bambini by Viola Ardone
PRODUCERS: Carlo Degli Esposti, Nicola Serra for Palomar
KEY CAST: Barbara Ronchi, Serena Rossi, Christian Cervone and with the participation of Stefano Accorsi
AD VITAM (France)
January 10, 2025
After escaping an attempted murder, Franck Lazarev must find his wife Léo, who has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of armed men. He is caught up by his past as a former member of the French Elite Intervention Squad (GIGN) and pulled into a state affair far beyond his control.
DIRECTOR: Rodolphe Lauga
WRITERS: Guillaume Canet, Rodolphe Lauga in collaboration with David Corona
PRODUCERS: Guillaume Canet, Jean Cottin
KEY CAST: Guillaume Canet, Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes,
Zita Hanrot, Johan Heldenbergh, Alexis Manenti
LOS DOS HEMISFERIOS DE LUCCA (Mexico)
January 31, 2025 RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCEMENT
Determined to help her son Lucca, who has cerebral palsy, Barbara travels to India with her entire family to pursue an experimental treatment for him. Based on a real story.
DIRECTOR: Mariana Chenillo
WRITERS: Javier Peñalosa, Mariana Chenillo
BASED ON THE BOOK: Los Dos Hemisferios de Lucca by Bárbara Anderson
PRODUCERS: Rafael Ley, Monica Vertiz, Ximena Castro
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Mariana Chenillo, Paulina Albarrán
KEY CAST: Bárbara Mori, Juan Pablo Medina, Ari Brickman, Danish Hussain, Julián Tello, Samuel Pérez
ALTERNATE TITLE: Lucca’s World.
BULLET TRAIN EXPLOSION (Japan) *TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT
A reboot from the original movie Bullet Train 50 years ago, this film inspired the Hollywood film Speed. Director Shinji Higuchi, known for merging spectacular visuals with human drama like Shin Godzilla, yet again creates a panic-suspense thriller depicting the struggles of people racing to save lives in extreme conditions.
DIRECTOR: Shinji Higuchi
BASED ON THE FILM: Bullet Train directed by Junya Sato and produced by Toei
KEY CAST: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
ALTERNATE TITLES: 新幹線大爆破
FRENCH LOVER (France)
Abel Camara (Omar Sy) is THE biggest star of the moment, and when Marion, who is the definition of the girl next door, does him a favor one day, neither of them suspects this will be the beginning of a great love story.
DIRECTOR: Nina Rives
ARTISTIC PRODUCER Hugo Gélin
KEY CAST: Omar Sy, Sara Giraudeau, Pascale Arbillot and Alban Ivanov
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Zazi Films / Federation Studio France / Korokoro
Productions with the participation of TF1
MANTIS (WT) (Korea)
Mantis, an ace assassin and a former colleague of Gil Boksoon, returns to a collapsed-order hired killer industry after his vacation. Upon reentering this anarchic world, Mantis encounters Jae-yi, his fellow trainee and rival, and Dok-go, a retired legendary killer, and realizes they are all vying for the top spot among the killers. A spin-off film of Kill Boksoon (2023).
DIRECTOR: Lee Tae-sung
WRITER: Byun Sung-hyun, Lee Tae-sung
PRODUCTION COMPANY: SEE AT Film Co., LTD
KEY CAST: Yim Si-wan, Park Gyu-young, Jo Woo-jin
ALTERNATE TITLES: 사마귀 (Sa-ma-gwi)
REVELATIONS (Korea)
Revelations follows a pastor and a detective, each driven by their own beliefs. The pastor believes it’s his divine calling to punish the culprit behind a missing-person case, while the detective assigned to the case continues to be haunted by visions of her dead sister.
DIRECTOR: Yeon Sang-ho
WRITER: Yeon Sang-ho, Choi Gyu-seok
BASED ON THE COMIC: Revelations by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok
PRODUCER: Yang Yoomin Hailey
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez
KEY CAST: Ryu Jun-yeol, Shin Hyun-been
ALTERNATE TITLES: 계시록 (Gye-si-rok)
TROLL 2 (Norway)
The anticipated action-adventure sequel to Troll, Netflix’s most watched non-English film. Roar Uthaug returns to the director’s chair.
DIRECTOR: Roar Uthaug
WRITER: Espen Aukan
PRODUCER: Espen Horn & Kristian Strand Sinkerud
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Motion Blur
KEY CAST: Sara Khorami, Jon Ketil Johnsen, Gard B. Eidsvold, Kim S. Falck-Jorgensen, Aksel Almaas, Trond Magnum
UN FANTASMA EN LA BATALLA (Spain)
Inspired by the lives and experiences of several members of the Civil Guards directly involved in the fight against terrorism and grounded in the historical, political and social context of the 1990s and 2000s, Un fantasma en la Batalla tells the story of Amaia, a young civil guard who spends more than a decade working as an undercover agent within ETA, with the aim of locating the band’s hideouts in the South of France.
DIRECTOR: Agustin Diaz Yanes
WRITER: Agustin Diaz Yanes
PRODUCERS: Belen Atienza, Sandra Hermida, J.A. Bayona
KEY CAST: Susana Abaitua, Andrés Gertrúdix, Iraia Elias, Raúl Arévalo and Ariadna Gil
VINI JUNIOR (Brazil)
In this biopic, we will unveil the inspiring story about Vinicius Jr, one of the main soccer players in the world today, with unique access and intimacy. During an entire year we will witness the fierce kid from São Gonçalo, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, who rose to global acclaim at an early age, starting in Flamengo, and then becoming the star player of Real Madrid. We will show through the pivotal moment of his life from the moment he accepted to leave Flamengo at 16 and go to Real Madrid, marking the biggest deal ever for a player under 18, an event that set the stage for his meteoric rise. His story is not merely about his extraordinary talent, but also his resilience and determination to become the world’s best soccer player. Vinicius had to tackle several incidents of racism, thrusting him into the global spotlight and making him an international figure in the anti-racist fight.
DIRECTOR: Andrucha Waddington, Emílio Domingos
WRITER: Carolina Albuquerque, Emílio Domingos e Sergio Mekler
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Luísa Barbosa e Renata Brandão
KEY CAST: Vinicius Jr.
ALTERNATE TITLES: Vini Junior