Disney+ Unveils New Content from Asia

January 6, 2022 Jamie Stalcup Top Stories
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Disney+ has revealed a slate of new content from South Korea and Greater China, including the five-episode special Anita (Director’s Cut).

Directed by Longman Leung, Anita (Director’s Cut) chronicles Cantopop superstar Anita Mui’s rise to stardom and delves into her lesser-known personal life, including her camaraderie with Hong Kong superstar Leslie Cheung. The five 45-minute installments are set to release on February 2 on Disney+.

Also on the slate, the South Korean drama King of Savvy, an original under the Star banner, centers on a casino king and is focused on survival, taking risks and getting back into the game. It stars Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) and is directed by Kang Yoon-sung (The Outlaws).

From Greater China, Disney+ will release A Life Long Journey, adapted from a novel of the same name. The series tells the story of a Chinese blue-collar worker and his family and the societal changes they experience across different generations. Lei Jia-Yin and Song Jia star.

Taiwan Crime Stories, an original Mandarin psychological thriller series, is also set for Disney+. Inspired by four real investigations, the series delves into various crimes from mass murder to rape to fraud. The 12-part series is co-produced by CALFILMS (Taiwan), Sixty Percent Productions (Hong Kong) and Imagine Entertainment. Rhydian Vaughan, Patrick Shih, Simon Hsueh, Allison Lin, Frederick Lee and Wang Po-Chieh star.

These four projects are part of Disney’s goal to produce local-language content and greenlight more than 50 AsiaPac originals by 2023.

“The response toward our APAC Content Showcase and new titles has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Jessica Kam-Engle, Disney’s head of content and development for AsiaPac. “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.”