Netflix Remaking French Film ‘Les Émotifs Anonymes’ As Japanese Series With Korean Production Team, As Data Highlights Ongoing Asian Boom
30.05.2024 - 23:47
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Netflix‘s latest original is a Japanese series adaptation of 2011 French film Les Émotifs Anonymes (Romantics Anonymous).
The project, going under the working title of Romantics Anonymous, will feature talent from Japan and Korea — two of the core countries at the center of Netflix’s strategy in Asia. Shun Oguri (Godzilla vs. Kong), Han Hyo-Joo (Moving), Yuri Nakamura and Jin Akanishi have been cast in the series, with Sho Tsukikawa (Yu Yu Hakusho), who’s also known for numerous romantic films, attached to direct.
Yong Film — the Korean producer behind the likes of Believer 2, The Call, 20th Century Girl and My Name is Loh Kiwan — has developed the project as its first Japanese series.
Lee Ha Jun (Parasite)will lead the production design, including the central chocolate boutique set. Yang Jin Mo (Parasite) will serve as editor, and Dalpalan will work on the music. Production has begun ahead of a 2025 debut, with Yong Film’s Lim Seung Young the showrunner.
The story begins with a chance encounter between a man and a woman sparked by their mutual love for chocolate. However, both live with their own anxiety disorders: the man can’t physically touch others, while the woman can’t make eye contact.
Oguri plays Sosuke Fujiwara, the son of a major confectionery magnate whose germophobia complicates his new job at popular chocolate shop Le Sauveur. Han plays gifted chocolatier Hana Lee, who conceals her identity from the Le Sauveur members, except for the owner, and battles her own fears of social interactions. Nakamura plays a renowned psychologist and author who not only serves as Sosuke’s physician but also becomes a counselor to Hana, despite her own struggles with alcoholism and romance. Akanishi portrays