Hulu Japan Takes Russian Zombie Drama

Hulu Japan has licensed a Russian drama series for the first time, picking up the rights to the zombie thriller The Day After.

The OTT service will launch the series on October 5, day and date with a DVD rollout from FOX Home Entertainment Japan. To help promote the show, Nippon TV (majority owner of Hulu Japan) will air the first episode of the series as part of its Hulu Episode-1 Theater block. The show will also be made available on TVer, the AVOD service operated by five terrestrial broadcasters, on a catch-up basis for one week. BS Nippon will then launch the series beginning November 10.

“We believe The Day After has a huge potential in Japan given the popularity of The Walking Dead and other zombie dramas here,” said Kazufumi Nagasawa, chief content officer at Hulu Japan. “Needless to say, exclusivity is something we do care about, as others do, so it is very unusual that a series is premiered in Japan on OTT, DVD and TV simultaneously. However, we thought that there could be a huge synergy for promotion due to the multiple exposure achieved by launching across multiple platforms and have decided to prioritize overall exposure this time. We hope that the show will be enjoyed by as many users as possible in Japan and that we continue to be able to introduce outstanding shows from around the world.”

Hulu Japan inked the deal with Russia’s Art Pictures. The Day After has run for three seasons on CTC.