Which one excites you the most?
Are we at the turn of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy or the Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy moment for anime adaptations that made comic book movies go mainstream and critically accepted globally?
We are 3 years post this message from Oda before the release of OPLA S1.
Has this worked out as he had hoped for? Has OPLA managed to weave OP into the wider cultural zeitgeist outside of Japan like the Harry Potter movies did for the books or the MCU did for the Marvel brand?
I will never understand how this performs poorly compared to Bridgerton and Netflix's other Euphoria inspired knock off teen dramas in viewership figures.
HOW IS IT ONLY THE #7th MOST WATCHED NETFLIX SHOW THIS YEAR, DESPITE HAVING A SEASON RELEASE IN MARCH?!?!
How are Inaki, Mackenyu, Taz and Emily not international celebrities like Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Holland, Emma Watson and Tobey Maguire were after their big novel/comics adaptation debuts??
Is it just popular enough, but not in a way that grabs headlines like you would imagine the adaptation for a 25+ years old established IP would or should? Strange.
How do the ROIs compare?
BND had a budget of $225 million vs an expected final box office run of $2.1-$2.3 billion. Marketing charges included ($150m approx), it's still a massive return!
This does not even include streaming and broadcasting rights sales, merchandise /Blue ray DVD sales and brand collabs revenue which all easily add another billion (prolly 2) at the very least.
Now, both seasons of OPLA had a budget of $144m each, totalling $288m and approx $50m for marketing campaigns for both seasons(almost 90% of that was just S1).
OPLA has already incurred costs FAR higher than BND, but does it also generate billions in revenue for Netflix like a Hollywood blockbuster does?
With the immense success of Brand New Day, both in terms of critical appreciation and box office numbers, coupled with the director's highly acclaimed indie drama past credentials, are we genuinely hopeful for a 'Once in a lifetime' Hollywood adaptation of Naruto.
The story and especially the character of Naruto seem to be incredibly personal to him (as per the Rolling Stone interview).
Just to bring to notice that how much Naruto means to him, there were reports before the release of BND, that Marvel wanted to lock his schedule up for a Spiderman trilogy, but he apparently didn't commit because he was solely focused on the Naruto live action.
He seems to have already used the Marvel platform to promote his upcoming Naruto movie with the poster Easter egg and getting Kishimoto featured in the Spiderman documentary.
A passionate fan of the series who happens to be an A-list Hollywood director working extremely closely with Kishimoto himself...does it all seem too good to be true?
Does it fall under the same category as classics like GOT/ Mad Men/ Sopranos or does it even sit on the same table as modern greats like Severance, Pluribus, Succession or HOTD?
If the answer is no, then would that just be because of the story and characters or something more. Because Netflix is clearly pumping in as much money as any other Prestige Drama deserves, you can't fault them for their ambition at the very least.