Well, Netflix has certainly had a busy week. With One Piece finally out, director Marc Jobst continued his press tour and gave fans some insight into balancing the series’ trademark goofiness with some darker subplots. Jobst also got the chance to speak about the appeal of Netflix’s Marvel shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones — a far cry from Nicolas Winding Refn, who had harsher words for the streamer. But that wasn’t the only bad news for Netflix: the streamer has lost out on a bidding war with Amazon Studios. Let’s get into it.
One Piece didn’t want to go “too dark”
Director Marc Jobst has been hot on the promotional trail for One Piece. With the strikes continuing into their fourth month, Jobst has been doing much of the promotion for the series. This time around, the executive producer revealed that it was tricky to find the perfect balance for the series, which balances extremely wacky and fun powers with some dark undertones. Jobst explained that finding the right amount of goofiness (such as in Iñaki Godoy’s charming performance as Monkey D. Luffy) was essential because it allowed the show to go darker when introducing characters like Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward).
It looks like Jobst and the rest of the creative team might have struck gold with the idea. Reviews have been great for Netflix’s latest anime adaptation, and viewers appear to be responding well to the series on social media. Many have hailed One Piece as revolutionary; previous anime adaptations, like Death Note and Cowboy Bebop, have been criticized for leaning too far into realism or for aping too much of the original anime’s distinctive style. We’ll have to see if Netflix becomes the go-to for anime adaptations.
Nicolas Winding Refn, who just released a movie on Netflix, had some strong words about streaming
Nicolas Winding Refn is known for producing mind-bending, stylish, controversial fare like The Neon Demon, Only God Forgives, and Drive. He isn’t known for being one of the major directors who’s vehemently opposed to streaming (a la Spielberg, who’s made his stance on streaming quite clear). Refn’s also known for having just released a film, Copenhagen Cowboy, on Netflix earlier this year.
Which is why it was somewhat surprising to hear Refn’s candid thoughts on streaming while the director attended the Venice Film Festival. At the event, Refn made disparaging remarks against streamers, saying they had “devalued content to just a swipe,” “kind of saturated everything,” and have been “overfunded and rotten with money and cocaine” for years. He’s far from the only creative to have issues with streaming — only the latest.
We finally have a release date for Arcane season 2, but there’s a catch
Arcane caught gamers by surprise when it dropped in 2021. Not only was it critically acclaimed (it won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program), but it also did well with fans of the game. The show, which is based on the popular League of Legends video game, is one of the few adaptations gamers will happily admit to watching because it honors and respects the mythology behind its source material.
It’s been nearly two years since the first season dropped, however, and fans are getting a little impatient for the second season. Luckily, Netflix has finally unveiled that Arcane season 2 is closer than ever to release. Unluckily, fans are going to have to wait a while longer — the streamer has set a tentative release date for 2024’s fourth quarter. For those keeping count at home, that’s anytime from October to December. Though the streamer had renewed the program shortly after it launched, the production cycle for an animated series is notably longer than that of a live-action one, which might explain the delay.
A veteran Marvel director explains what made Netflix’s shows so outstanding
Jobst is back on the list — but this time around, he’s explaining what set Netflix’s Marvel offerings apart. While on his One Piece press tour, the director, who had previously worked on some of Marvel’s Netflix projects, explained that shows like Daredevil and The Punisher were beloved due to their realistic take on the characters. Jobst argued that, by giving the characters a relatable human frailty, the audience comes to ‘believe’ them. On the other hand, Jobst also argued that showing superheroes fly off into the sky without any sense of humanity “just looks a bit PG-13 or whatever.”
It’s hard to disagree with Jobst’s logic. Daredevil is still popular four years after its original cancellation, with fans demanding that Daredevil: Born Again be just as gritty, violent, and real as the R-rated original. The fight sequences in the series are undoubtedly one reason the series did so well: seeing Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock go hand-to-hand against opponents who could reasonably kill him made the action all that much more exhilarating, and viewers won’t soon forget how deadly and dangerous a car door can be.
Netflix loses a $100 million bidding war thanks to an ironic clause
It’s not unusual for productions to inspire bidding wars. Studios are hungry for their next, biggest hit — even if their actions lately don’t reflect that — and it looks like Amazon Studios and Netflix are certain Crime 101 could be that hit. Based on a Don Winslow novella about jewel heists connected to a Colombian drug cartel, Crime 101 is set to star Chris Hemsworth and Pedro Pascal.
After reaching a staggering $90 million figure for the rights to Crime 101, Amazon Studios ended up beating Netflix to the punch by offering the film one thing Netflix couldn’t: a theatrical run. While Netflix engages in contractually obligated theatrical runs, they tend to be limited in scope, with their runs frequently lasting just a few days or weeks in selected theaters. It’s an ironic end to the bidding war, given how central Netflix has become in the streaming-versus-theatrical debate.
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