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An animated Ni No Kuni movie is coming to Netflix later this month.
Although the movie already debuted in Japan at the end of last year, it’s now coming to Netflix in America and the UK on January 16th, 2020 (thanks, Anime News Network, via Eurogamer). Featuring a score from Studio Ghibli collaborator and composer Joe Hisaishi, the film features an original story.
“Two average teens go on a magical quest to save the life of their friend and her counterpart from another world,” Netflix says via the show description. “But love complicates their journey.”
This is just one of several game IPs coming to screens both big and small. Most recently, Ubisoft announced it is reimagining even more of its gaming franchises as TV shows; Mars-set Rabbids Invasion special follows four seasons of the France 3/Netflix/Nickelodeon kids show, as well as a kid-friendly Watch Dogs series, and a “comedy-adventure” inspired by the popular Rayman franchise. There’s even plans to adapt its mobile game, Hungry Shark, and Far Cry 3 spin-off, Blood Dragon.
In July we reported that a Cuphead series was coming to Netflix, and in June it was confirmed Ubisoft was strengthening its TV offering with a series and a Netflix movie in the works. Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet will be Ubisoft Film and Television’s first live-action comedy series, whilst a Netflix film based upon Tom Clancy’s The Division starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain is headed to Netflix. The Division will be directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2), with Rafe Judkins (Marvel’s Agents of Shield) working on the screenplay.
A live-action series based upon Square Enix’s MMO RPG Final Fantasy XIV is also in development by Sony Pictures Television and Hivemind, the company that brought the highly successful The Witcher series to Netflix. The live-action television series will reportedly tell an original story set in the fantastic world of Eorzea.
Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering creator Wizards of the Coast has also announced it is partnering with Netflix and the Russo Brothers to produce a Magic: The Gathering animated series. The Russos will oversee “the creation of an all-new storyline and expand on the stories of the Planeswalkers, which are Magic’s unique magic-wielding heroes and villains as they contend with stakes larger than any one world can hold”.
