Netflix’s See What’s Next: Asia 2018 gave us a glimpse at what we will be streaming in the near future. There are so many exciting new and upcoming titles coming from Asia and beyond, titles Netflix’s 137 million subscribers in 190 countries can enjoy whenever, wherever they want. “We invest in stories and we commission some of the best stories from around the world. We’re bringing the world together through the sharing of content. There’s never been a global television network until now,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
“We’re removing barriers to unlock content for the rest of the world,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix.
Here’s what’s new and what’s next on Netflix—but this is just scratching the surface. Trust us, there’s plenty more to come.
A – Fans of the sci-fi cyberpunk series “Altered Carbon” will be happy to know that they will be getting a double dose of the dystopian tale. There’s a second season starring Anthony Mackie and an anime spinoff in the works.
B – “Busted!” will be back for another season of mysteries, murders and unscripted fun. “We are working hard on season 2,” said show runner Chang Hyuk-jae.
C – Kurt Russell plays Santa like you’ve never seen him before in “The Christmas Chronicles,” a film produced by Chris Columbus, the guy who brought us the now classic Christmas films “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.” It begins streaming on Nov. 22.
D – The docuseries “Dogs” celebrates the strong connection between people and their beloved pups, with tales coming from Syria, Costa Rica, Italy, the United States and Japan and episodes directed by award-winning filmmakers. Watch it now—and make sure you have tissue within reach.
E – Endless comedy choices are available for stand-up comedy aficionados. Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, Ali Wong, John Leguizamo, John Mulaney, Iliza Shlesinger, Patton Oswalt, Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Gervais, Amy Schumer, Jo Koy, Chris Rock, Russell Peters, Kevin Hart and Sarah Silverman are just some of the many, many comedians with Netflix stand-up specials. And because we’re big “Baby Cobra” and “Hard Knock Wife” fans, we also can’t wait to see Ali Wong star with Randall Park in the rom-com “Always Be My Maybe.”
F – Your favorite Filipino films are now available for streaming on Netflix. Watch titles like “Heneral Luna,” “BuyBust,” “Kita Kita,” “That Thing Called Tadhana,” “My Ex & Whys” with more titles like “Beauty and the Bestie,” “Praybeyt Benjamin,” “You Changed My Life” and more coming soon.
G – Ghosts galore. We spent Halloween obsessing over “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Haunted” but for those of us who like watching scary shows all-year long, Netflix still has plenty to offer: “Ghoul,” “Ghost Wars,” “The Mist,” “Scream,” “Glitch” and “Malevolent” are just some frightfully good titles.
H – The sixth and final season of “House of Cards,” also known as “the grandfather of on-demand television,” is now streaming on Netflix—yes, this time minus the diabolical Frank Underwood. “I feel proud, proud of the team that we accomplished our goal which was to make the most conniving, maneuvering, scheming couple in politics that we could and that we were able to finish the show as we intended,” said actress Robin Wright who plays Claire Underwood. “We’ll all miss each other.” And, she added, “I will miss her clothes and her shoes.” We will too.
I – “Sacred Games,” “Lust Stories,” “Love Per Square Foot” are just some of the Indian titles Netflix users have enjoyed over the past year. Netflix celebrates India with more series and movies filming across the country right now. There’s “Rajma Chawal,” a family dramedy, “Selection Day,” based on Aravind Adiga’s book, “Baahubali: Before the Beginning,” “Leila,” “Typewriter,” “Chopsticks,” “Bulbul,” “Upstarts,” “Cobalt Blue,” “15th August,” “Music Teacher” and “Firebrand.”
J – Ji Soo (“Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon”), B1A4’s Jung Jin-young (“Love in the Moonlight”) and DIA’s Jung Chae-yeon (“Drinking Solo”) star in “My First First Love,” an eight-episode Netflix Korean original series about college students experiencing romance. “It’s (about) love in your 20s but it can reach many generations, it’s a heartwarming story,” said Ji Soo.
“We deal with realistic issues like money problems, that’s what I was drawn to. This story is something you can see your friends go through or something you can experience yourself. I hope this can somehow remind you of your forgotten first love,” said Jin Young.
K – Writer Kim Eun-hee (“Signal”) and director Kim Seong-hun (“Tunnel”) join forces to bring forth “Kingdom,” an exciting genre-bending period Korean drama set during the Joseon Dynasty, to life. Mysterious rumors of the king’s death and a strange plague leads the crown prince, played by Ju Ji-hun, on a dangerous journey against evil. “The dynasty had this aura and subtle quietness and I wanted to show that being destroyed by the desire for power,” said Seong-hun. We got an early look at the first two episodes and we can’t wait for the series to start streaming on Netflix so we can watch the rest.
L – What if an app can alert you if someone who has a crush on you is nearby? That’s the premise of “Love Alarm,” a new Netflix original series based on the popular Korean webtoon that premiered in 2014. Director Lee Na-jeong (“Fight My Way”) said, “The idea felt very romantic to me.”
Actress Kim So-hyun, who stars, said, “It reminded me of my first love experience and I wanted to convey the feelings in a vivid way.”
M – Actor, director and motion capture master Andy Serkis is excited for the world to finally see “Mowgli,” his take on Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.” The film, which also stars Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Benedict Cumberbatch, begins streaming on Dec. 7. “It started off with a real desire to make Mowgli the character the true center of the story which he is, but also giving it a visceral, immersive, truthful, emotional journey,” Andy said.
N – If you haven’t watched it yet, stop reading and start streaming “Narcos: Mexico” now. Starring Diego Luna and Michael Peña, “Narcos: Mexico” explores the origins of the Guadalajara cartel. If you were obsessed with the first three seasons of “Narcos,” you’ll love it. But you can also enjoy it even if you haven’t seen a single episode of “Narcos” (but seriously, watch all of it). “It’s interesting because this story runs parallel with the two stories you’ve seen. I would say it’s a new series because we went back in time, the cast is different, the directors are different, the way it looks is different but at the same time there are hints, beautiful things for those who are fans,” said Diego, who plays Mexican drug lord Felix Gallardo in the show.
O – Chris Pine stars as Robert the Bruce in “Outlaw King,” a two-hour action and adventure film about how a defeated nobleman becomes a hero in 14th-century Scotland. Now streaming.
P – Guillermo del Toro is making his lifelong passion project with Netflix: a stop-motion musical feature film version of “Pinocchio.”
Q – Ready to spend more time with the Queen? We are too. Season three of “The Crown” jumps forward in time and while we are going to miss Claire Foy, we’re also very excited to watch Olivia Colman’s portrayal Queen Elizabeth. We can’t wait to watch Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret too.
R – “Roma,” described as director Alfonso Cuarón’s most personal film yet, will be streaming soon. The Netflix film explores the life of a middle-class family in ’70s Mexico.
S – Sandra Bullock stars in “Bird Box,” a Netflix film about a woman who makes a dangerous journey with her two children while blindfolded. The trailer gave us chills. We’ve already marked the release date on our calendar: Dec. 21.
T – Perhaps the most exciting news to be announced at the See What’s Next: Asia 2018 event is the Netflix Original Anime Series based on “TRESE,” the award-winning Filipino comic book series by writer Budjette Tan and artist Kajo Baldisimo. “We are extremely excited to have Jay Oliva as our director and executive producer. He directed the DC animated movies ‘Justice League Dark,’ ‘Batman: Bad Blood,’ ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ and the list goes on. He was also a storyboard artist on ‘Man of Steel,’ ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Thor: Ragnarok.’ We can’t wait to see how he’ll bring ‘TRESE’ to life,” Budjette posted online.
Hungry for more anime news? There will also be “Pacific Rim” and “Ultraman” Netflix Original Anime Series.
U –Based on the award-winning graphic novels by Gerard Way (yes, the frontman of My Chemical Romance), “The Umbrella Academy” is the story of dysfunctional sibling superheroes who are trying to find the truth about their father’s death. “A typical superhero film, they save the day. Our series explores the necessity of failure,” said Robert Sheehan who plays Klaus. The series premieres Feb. 15.
V– It’s Vanessa Hudgens times two as she plays a princess and a baker who look exactly alike in “The Princess Switch,” a Netflix film which started streaming on Nov. 16.
W– Obsessing over witches because of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina?” Watch out for the CAOS holiday special “A Midwinter’s Tale” coming out on Dec. 14.
X– “Explained” (this counts as an X, right?), produced by Vox Media, gives you the lowdown on all kinds of topics, from the stock market and K-Pop to astrology and tattoos and short, bite-sized (well, 16 to 18-minute ) episodes.
Y– “Yasuke,” another upcoming anime series, brings together ronins and robots in the tale of a retired samurai who needs to transport a mysterious child in war-torn feudal Japan.
Z– Zombies. Yes, zombies are coming to Netflix. We’ll tell you more soon.
