EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has signed a five-year deal with Japanese screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto, winner of the Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s competition title Monster.
Sakamoto has already scripted his first Netflix project, previously announced romantic murder mystery film In Love And Deep Water, set to be released later this year.
Netflix is now entering into a broader collaboration with Sakamoto through which he will develop a range of titles to premiere exclusively on the streamer’s platform worldwide.
Directed by Taki Yusuke, In Love And Deep Water takes place on board a luxury cruise ship where a devoted ship butler encounters a female passenger, who claims their respective partners are on the verge of cheating on them. Ryo Yoshizawa (Gintama franchise) and Aoi Miyazaki (Rage, The Great Passage) head the cast.
Monster marked the first time that Korea-eda has directed a film he didn’t write himself since his 1995 debut Maborosi. Kore-eda also has a wide-ranging deal with Netflix, which started with series, The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House, launched earlier this year.
Sakamoto’s previous work also includes popular romantic drama film, We Made A Beautiful Bouquet, and a string of hit drama series, including Tokyo Love Story and Mother, which was remade in several different languages.
Kaata Sakamoto, Netflix Vice President, Content, Japan, said: “Yuji Sakamoto continues to create a variety of masterpieces, ranging from socially conscious works to lighter comedies and love stories, that capture our hearts and minds and keep us coming back for more including Mother, Still, Life Goes On, The Best Divorce, Quartet, Omameda Towako And Her Three Ex-Husbands and Beautiful Bouquet.
“Many people, including myself, have been deeply moved by the stories that Yuji has created; and many more people from far beyond Japan are waiting to immerse themselves in Yuji’s next works. At Netflix, our mission is to entertain the world, and we look forward to bringing Sakamoto’s unique, original storytelling to a global stage, coupled with the very best production environment and creative partnerships to realise his vision.”
Netflix has recently been ramping up its live-action Japanese-language production, including films such as Call Me Chihiro and the upcoming Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead, and series including Sanctuary, First Love, Kore-eda’s The Makanai and the second season of Alice In Borderland, which became the most-watched Japanese show ever on Netflix.
Upcoming Japanese live-action productions include two manga adaptations, Yu Yu Hakusho, which is being remade as a series, and film City Hunter.
