Netflix Inks Multi-Picture Deal With Japanese Studio Babel Label

Netflix is ​​further boosting its Japanese live-action content slate with a multi-picture deal with Tokyo-based studio Babel Label. The partnership gives Netflix exclusive access to multiple titles produced and created by Babel Label for the next five years.

The studio, a subsidiary launched in 2013 by Japanese media company CyberAgent, is home to creators such as writer-director Michihito Fujii, winner of best director and best film at the 2020 Japan Academy Awards for The Journalist. The film was later adapted by Netflix as a series in 2022.

Netflix has grown increasingly bullish on Japanese live-action content over the past few years. The second season of the streamer’s Japanese sci-fi thriller series Alice in the Borderlands set a new record as the company’s most-watched Japanese show ever, taking the top spot on Netflix’s global non-English TV list with 61.2 million viewing hours over its premiere weekend in late December 2022. Last week, the company kicked off its 2023 Japanese releases with the launch of The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko Housethe first streaming series from acclaimed Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters, Broker). ...continue reading